[ExtremeTech] - Thousands of Chromebooks Are ‘Expiring,’ Forcing Schools to Toss Them Out

What an absolute scam.

“They’re designed to be disposable,” Berg said.

How the fuck is this legal

Welcome to late stage capitalism. It’s the Wild West here, and everything is plastic.
Maybe the EU's right to repair laws will have something to say about this?

Fwiw, they aren't expired, they just stop getting feature updates after a while. They still get security updates and they work perfectly, software gets updates etc. Essentially the same as MacBooks. So no, not at got as getting a Windows laptop but not as bad is getting screwed by apple

No my man, they stop getting security updates. If you think cash strapped K12 institutions would happily toss useable Chromebooks out because they don't get feature updates, then you are dead wrong.

There is going to be a massive K12 money issue coming in about 3-4 more years. Everyone who didn't have a 1 to 1 program in effect took all that COVID money and threw it at their Tech depts to enable 1 to 1. Those grants, for those amounts, aren't gonna be here 3-4 years from now. I honestly have no idea what poorer districts are gonna do, but it's gonna be a fucking reckoning.

Source: Former Ed-Tech Tech
- Interesting, I bought my Chromebooks from schools and they all are still getting security updates haha, so I guess it's a moot point. They get supported past the period at which a school keeps them before replacement. 6 years does seem like a long time for schools to hold on and that's just for feature updates. If the security updates are lasting longer... Well. There that. And considering the basis of all things on them are based around the browser, which will get updates indefinitely then I guess the concern just isn't there. I actually am a contractor for one of the poorest public schools in the US and even they don't keep their computers around for more than 4
My 2015 MacBook got its last major update last year - that’s 7 years. It still gets security updates.

This article says the Chromebooks get 3-6 years.

Anyway, now that I know this I’m going to look out for second hand chrome books. Think I could run a Plex server on one?
- Anyway, now that I know this I’m going to look out for second hand chrome books. Think I could run a Plex server on one?
  
  You can refer to https://mrchromebox.tech/ for a listing of what chromebooks that firmware can be flashed on to (refer to Supported Devices on the left). Chromebooks ship with a modified BIOS that will only work with the Chrome OS that installed on those devices. Their BIOS/firmware is also in read only mode but that can be disabled usually by removing a screw somewhere on the motherboard. After that, you have to flash that alternative firmware over so that the computer can have a BIOS that is compatible with other operating systems (consequently making the computer unable to run Chrome OS).
  
  The FAQ (linked below) mentions that there is a "handy spreadsheet" compatibility list as well. Notably, some Chromebooks are not quite compatible with Linux and show this by literally frying their speakers (supposedly) if you try to use Linux on them... so you may have to be selective in what you purchase.
  
  https://mrchromebox.tech/#faq
- As a Plex guy myself, I'm sure you could, you will need to transmit over WiFi or get a USB nic. Inversely is you are looking to make a Plex server I would suggest looking at used HP elite desk mini's, they have much beefier CPU's, 6th and 7th gen i5 processors and gigabit nics. You also have the added benefit of m.2 slot and typical data 2.5" caddy
- https://www.govdeals.com/

This is the end of official updates for them, they're not bricked.

Older Chromebooks do have a shitty support lifecycle, it can't be denied. Newer (post 2020 launch) Chromebooks come with at least 8 years of updates, although that's from product launch, not from when you buy them. That is comparable to Apple's support lifecycle.

It is possible to install ChromeOS Flex on out-of-support Chromebooks, though likely you will lose some features. You can also install generic Linux on them, but it's got to be said it's a slightly annoying experience.

Installing Linux to continue receiving support sound like the best option out there.
yeah, the headline is incredibly misleading

Back in 2008 my school were throwing away about 200 workstations, with monitors. We asked if we could buy some, but they told us no; they were being donated to a charity which ships them to Uganda.

I'm hoping these Chromebooks aren't "recycled" but instead have a similar fate as those desktops from my school. I'm in Indonesia right now and could give away thousands of Chromebooks in a heartbeat.

They'll do this kind of sh*t, but they won't include chargers with their Pixel phones so that they appear to care about the environment. These large corporations are just trying to hoodwink people.

It's astonishing how much time and money my school must have spent on repairing, replacing, and performing software/IT maintenance on these piece of shit computers instead of just using brands that work.

Chromebooks are nothing but junk thin clients Schools need to invest in real laptops on a rolling maintenance and replacement schedule

Chromebooks are just budget-spec laptops. Hardware-wise, they ought to be fine for anything a K-12 student needs to do on a day-to-day basis (and for anything they can't do on it, it's probably a good teaching point for them to learn how to use a server or VM or cloud instance).

This is a business decision on Google's part because they sold the machines at low or negative profit in order to build what they thought would be an ongoing revenue stream for them, which has not seemed to materialize.

OTOH, the real questions should not be aimed at Google, as much as it was local schools who signed the contracts with them without considering the e-waste and other downstream effects of what they were signing up for. That's the sort of thing that I think needs to be factored into municipal and corporate purchasing: it's all focused on the immediate spend, not on the long-term cost (and in the case especially of a municipality, that should be the cost to the community at large).

But hey... I bet a lot of them are going to turn up on eBay. As in the 90s when corporations were turning over hardware every 18-24 months, someone else's poor decisionmaking can be a great subsidy for hobbyists. Not good for the planet, though.

I want to get my kid a new Chromebook, but the naming convention is super fucked

I have no idea if one I'm looking at is the same as the one I bought, 1 year newer, last year, even older, who the fuck knows

2 core CPU before, 4 slower cores, 4 faster cores of a different architecture/company..

Why can't it just be like anything else. Thinkpad 420. Next year, 430. Next year, 440. Cool, but Chromebooks are a pain in the ass

tfw Chromebooks are expected to last 3-6 years which is how long my full sized laptops normally last :(

I love Chromebooks, I buy them cheap then install Windows on them. I have about 8 now, all kicking ass

what are you using 8 chromebooks for
What are you doing with 8 Windows Chromebooks?
- I responded to the other guy who asked the same question

I didn't know that there was an expiration. I purchased a ThinkPad Yoga Chromebook second hand for $20 shipped and my youngest uses it to play his PBS Kids app and watch PBS Video. I guess I'll have to install Linux on it, if it's even possible.

I went through this with a Dell Chromebook recently. MrChromebox's website was really helpful. Tons of info and useful scripts to make the process a whole lot easier.
- I used this And got Linux working in like3 hours. Mainly because I had no idea what I was doing.
It is. I use it as my main computer now.

Eh, how so, you can just install Linux on them last I heard.

Why would you just throw out something you can put an up to date OS on?

Yeah, but you cant expect your average teacher to know how to install or use Linux.

Really they should be selling them on or donating them to people in need?
- They don't need to have the teachers to install Linux (though that'd be welcome to do as part of classes). Just hand them over to a reputable IT that will get them ready and going with a good distro.