If You Can't Open Your Smartphone, Do You Really Own It?

A mile-long line formed outside London's flagship Apple store last month in the now-ritualistic rush of fans eager to be among the first to get the latest iPhones.

The global release also condemned millions of older smartphones to an existence of gathering dust in a drawer or sitting in a landfill. Some are likely to be in perfect working order, while others will have a cracked screen or a faulty battery. But why bother repairing it when you can just have a new one?

Regarding electronic devices as disposable items is a mentality Ugo Vallauri wants to change.

"If the front wheel on someone's bike breaks, no one in their right mind would throw it away without trying to fix it," said Vallauri, an Italian researcher. "But if it was the screen on an iPhone that broke, people are more likely to just give up on it." Read more...