Your next phone could lead to another pandemic
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- Опубліковано 6 лип 2020
- We’ve all heard a lot about China’s “wet markets” as a potential source of pandemics like COVID-19. But there are many other places where viral “spillovers” can happen. We look at one surprising situation that’s directly connected to the electronics we all use every day.
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Do we need a new phone model every year?
Bro you're basically a review channel.
Still using the 2017 SE
Absolutely not
iphone SE gang, gonna use it for one or two more years
No, another reason I hate apple. It penalises users who don't buy a new model every year with updates, and there's a culture of getting the latest iPhone every year for a lot of people. The biggest problem is people don't recycle their electronics, especially mobile phones, as long as they're not shipped to some poverty stricken country for some poor people to inefficiently extract the minerals out of phones whilst getting Mercury poisoning then they should be recycled, the mineral value alone in your phone is worth spending the money to recycle.
Reasons why I don’t buy iPhones every year:
1. Still works
2. Still has storage
3. Fully paid off and don’t want to be in debt over a phone
4. Don’t want to spend 1k
5. Don’t care what people think about me having an “old” phone, if they aren’t paying my bills
6. New reason: this video. I care deeply about public health and the eco system and feel badly for purchasing an iPhone in the first place
In short,we are smart and dont spend money needlessly while conveniently protecting the nature
Realistically no one needs a new phone for at least 3 years (unless it breaks). And even after 3 years it's usually the battery that forces people to upgrade. I'm gonna try to replace it myself this year and see if I can make it last 4 years like my last phone!
People constantly buy new phones cause of marketing, bragging, or to fill a hole in their lives.
B G you can’t just blaming iPhone to the only one who use coltan in the their electronic device, everysingle device in your house might have a chances having it(look it up “but tantalum capacitors are used in almost every kind of electronic device”). Every smartphone now-days can have coltan inside it, I totally agree about that no-one should buy a new phone every single years( hack my iPhone 5s still rocking after 6 years). That why recycle is an important. But to be ashamed of buy an iPhone, than you should be ashamed of yourself buying all of electronic devices in your house :)
Ed you know that you could easy replace the battery by yourself right, i guess we not living in the same places. I have replaced my iPhone 5s battery once and it cost me about 20$ (if I convert it right) about 4 years ago now and it rocking baby :)
@@CaptainRinoXD learn to read plz
I actually wrote my master's thesis on this!!!! There's a strong correlation between Coltan mining, violence in Eastern DRC, and major tech supply chain.
There was a spike in violence in Eastern DRC in the leadup to the release of the PlayStation 2 for example, as the PS2 used an inordinate amount of Coltan on its board (thus increasing demand and price suppliers were willing to pay for it).
Awesome!
Coltan maybe. But not species viral infection it doesn’t work like that.
Hello, what did you major? Any link to your thesis? Or just explain what was your datasource. Thanks :)
@@AP-yx1mm Thesis was done through Rutgers University but I doubt it's published - maybe available through JSTOR? In any case I overlaid a graph of violence cases over time (hard to calculate this fully, but I used MONUSCO data) with major console cycle releases (with a ±2 year deviation to account for supply chain) and found that there was indeed overlap. I wasnt able to prove causation unfortunately, but the correlation is there. As for the PS2 thing, the video even mentions offhandedly that the biggest spike in violence around Coltan was around the turn of the millennium, which is when the PS2 was being produced and first released.
As for why the PS2 was so Coltan heavy, it's because it was extremely power-inefficient. The jump from PS1 to PS2 graphics was much more significant than the jump from PS2 to PS3, however the PS3 had a more modern chip architecture, that could use power more efficiently and effectively. In order to draw the amount of power the console needed without frying the board, the first gen PS2 was essentially covered in little Coltan resistors that could manage the chip's power demands without causing the whole thing to explode.
Marc Eric Lane Thank you very much.
Honestly, we as a race are incredibly wasteful with technology waste. We should start working to recycle old electronics.
Most recycled electronics dont even get recycled.We need to embrace repairing old tech.
Fairphone
it's also how our world works.
Companies want profits, so they need to be always releasing stuff. And people also want to buy new thing all the time.
Like, if Apple wanted, they could just release one flagship phone with the best they can give every 3 years for example.
But they have to plan out the next 5 or more years, and choose which model is getting which feature and stuff like that.
It's just business
It has to be strongly incentivized. The profit motive is going to outweigh those concerns until then.
Apple does that now
Me: *Has a headache*
My mom: It's that damn phone!
The Verge: She's right.
*My life everyday tbh* 😑
Lol
i was looking for this comment:))
FACTS
Sell your phone then. no one forcing you to have one
Another pandemic
2020-2021: WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN
22, 23,24,25....... great business for BIG PHARMA!
Plague inc: just like the simulations
Xanthochroic Child - I doubt it.
For two reasons
1. If it’s natural it will only take the vulnerable just like all ordinary illness.
2. If it’s man made, only a madman would release something that could potentially kill their own kind.
CHARLES THE FRENCH
Sadly, we’ll still be dealing with the current pandemic into the next year unless something gives. Also, the seasonal cold/flu pandemic concurrently. Fall is going to be a very difficult one to go through. Stay safe y’all.
With the price of the phone that I paid, I demand that at least those miners can live a good life, not in a condition where they have to rely on bushfood.
Zero apple is not responsible for this. Thoses workers are not related to Apple.
@@FlorenceSlugcat pretty sure they are well aware of this and is still sourcing metals from mines like this. Many companies don't really care much about the environment nor the low end workers life if it makes their investors happy and is cheap.
The price of phones has little to do with components & more to do with getting back the money the company spend on R&D and manufacturing equipment/ facilities. Yes, I'm sure Samsung & Apple have tons of cash reserves (in the billions), but if I were a company I'd want to maintain positive cash reserves for as long as possible. This is the unfortunate reality.
Edit: This isn't to say people working in those mines shouldn't get better pay & health benefits/ life insurance-type thing.
B-b-but how will the CEOs buy their third Ferrari??
Who knew destroying everything would destroy everything?
5:44 “He says we need to think about the connection between our demand for electronics, the destruction of habitats, and the consequences.”
We should extend this idea further to encompass our demand for everything. I’m sure this idea can even be extended to something as basic as the demand for food, the demand for clothing, the demand for shelter - let alone the demand for things that are comparatively non-essential. I think reducing consumption and waste would be our biggest saviour and hope.
Personally I find the demand isn't really the issue, consumers are meant to consume as they do that's how a healthy economy functions. Now regulators whom collect our taxes are supposed to prevent these issues by changing how producers and waste management is conducted. Imo this is where the failure is occurring. We employ regulators who do essentially the bare minimum required, and this is at an institutional level the individuals involved are simply forced to fall in line
@@xxportalxx. That is a really good point :). Ultimately, the actions of regulators could deeply affect consumer demand - in both quality and quantity. I agree that the current state of these systems often seems to leave consumers with essentially a Hobson's choice. By "we" and "our", I meant society/humanity as a whole and not just people who are not in power.
I never buying a new phone just because it’s a new trend. In fact, new doing ANY trend based shopping...I think our consumption as a whole for humans needs to become more and more need based instead of WANT based.
almost everything you have is a want though, the fact that you have internet is a want. Yes it gives you more oppertunities but you dont need it to live.
it should be want-based, you just need to understand what's a trend and what's something you really like
The whole idea of consumerism only risen in the last 50 years. Instead or repairing and preserving the items we have, we instead get buy and replace the new ones we have
Manasth sounds like a communist ideologue.
@@really7046 In a modern society or if you have any work/school obligation the internet is a necessity. Obviously, the fundamental caveats for life are quite simple, but we didn't grow and evolve as a species to live off of the bare necessities.
Seeing how smartphones have more or less plateaued in terms of innovation the past few years, is it even worth the risks outlined in this video to release new models every year? I'm using a 3 year old phone and I bet I can last another 5 - 7 years if I don't break it. Wouldn't it be better if the tech industry invested more in optimizing their softwares than releasing their "new flagship"?
Thats limited to consumer and the environment. How is the industry going to profit out of it?
@@adilammarbaig That's a valid point. Maybe companies could release new models every two years instead of annually. Or maybe they could research into finding an alternative for Coltan which does not pose the same risk as it does.
@@rohansth the second option is more viable
_Even a more radical option:_
we have to accept that having a new phone every year or even every 2 years is *not viable.*
It's not sustainable, humane, environmently friendly and actually not consumer friendly. *If* we want to enjoy this earth for longer we simply have to accept that we have to say goodbye to some companies and bussines practices...
Everything an Apple phone can do can also be done with a more modulair phone, where u can take out parts and replace them if broken or outdated. This technology is out there, heck there is even a company selling those!
That the major companies like Apple haven't done anythin' with that technology is their own fault so we shouldn't take pity on them.
*Adapt to new times or you will go extinct...*
The battery in your three year old phone will last another year but during that year you'll be noticing that it needs charging more and more. With current phone designs it's not reasonable to expect the average person to be able to replaced the battery.
In this regard modern phones are a major step back compared to ones from 10 years ago.
Animal Agriculture is MUCH more likely to cause the next pandemic than 'your phone' (what he really means is habitat degradation, but even then a lot of habitat destruction is not because of mining, but because of the 60 billion animals people eat each year)
Exactly. This video is quite frankly offensive in stigmatizing rural Africans for a possible zoonotic spillover event - one that hasn't even happened yet! - when in fact most of our major diseases come from keeping billions of farm animals in close confinement. Yet another reason to go vegan.
Just no. Intensive animal breeding is more controlled than what you think. Don’t talk if you don’t know.
It has happened, the 1918 influenza was traced back to a farm in Kansas. The big difference I think is that domestic animals (under theoretical, perfect conditions) are in controlled, hygienic environments. Of course we know that’s not the case in all farms, but most spillover events are much more likely to happen in the wild.
4:57 if yellow regions are the hotspots, then, WTF nearly all of India is a hotspot for pandemics?
🤣 thinking the same thing. Like wtf?
they think that the whole country is mining ground
I think population density is also a factor because all of Japan is also in yellow and south-east Asia is the densest regions in the world.
@@yashkatare3303 there is something wrong with the graph used here the whole country including cities this cant be true
@@priyanshu6566 It is fine. The whole of India is fairly densely populated. If you see there are no yellow regions in the Western ghats, Himalayas or the Thar desert. Also the Northeast is not yellow.
Another really interesting way to look at our relationship with our environment and how we affect each other, thanks!
"And now, in the middle of COVID 19..."
Corona: **casually sips tea** *honey, we haven't even started yet...*
If you think this is a large risk of zoonotic diseases causing pandemics, you should really worry about animal farming.
Yeah exactly. It’s farmed exotic species in China that is the risk, not coltan miners in DRC.
I mean, the video isn't saying this is definitely the only issue and that clearing that issue will stop pandemics from happening ever again, they're just shining a light on a particular issue people aren't aware of. They could have talked about a million other things, sure, but they chose this one and it's fine.
@@dolphin069 you think that there's exotic farming just in China?
HaX Von Cydow So, you’re not wrong. But we must remember that the biggest outbreaks of zoonotic diseases has emerged from all around the world, most of which are directly linked to animal exploitation.
But I’m also talking about the far too quick rise of antibiotic resistance thanks to high meat consumption, which western countries are equally responsible for.
Here’s a good video on the topic:
ua-cam.com/video/aIoBAS6bLy8/v-deo.html
Kévin Le Gall And I’m just making a point that the animal industry is a bigger problem, and both should be considered.
If you could get past the video title, this is actually a short but very very informative video. I do have a small critique about the presentation of the story regarding miners eating bushmeat, as it could have been explained in a way where community miners are not put into defense of how they consume food. This precedent could lead to discrimination to the working poor, when the emphasis could have been to large tech companies who practice exploitation of labor in coltain mining.
On the one hand, I agree that spillover of virus is highly possible with the interaction of human to wild ecosystems. On the other hand, to put the burden of a possible new epidemic to miners from distressed countries erases their culture and means for survival. Imagine saying this to farmers who are used in consuming primary and secondary consumers within the food web - frogs, rodents, and insects which are all edible. Aside from it is an economic choice to consume them (because they cost zero than buying fish, poultry, or red meat), there could also be a cultural rationale as to why people consume these food. We are also forgetting the fact that part of the reason why some people resort in consuming bushmeat is because they only earn a few bucks to none to support their family's nutrition.
That being said, wild animals still have more complex viral history compared to crop animals. While the video succeeds in explaining the danger of consuming wild animals, it still falls short in explaining how tech companies bear greater responsibility in the disruption of natural ecosystems. The question is: what are tech companies doing in order to improve the wages and working conditions of their suppliers' workers so that those who were left to consume bushmeat won't have to do so anymore?
I agree. I’d even go as far as saying the title of the video is misleading, or at least simplifying the many problems associated with coltan.
This is the first time I actually enjoyed reading a long comment. Definitely agree
Agreed
Very good critique. It was spot on and digestible
Verge: Apple is causing spillover.
Apple: We got you covered for staying home for another year.
Causing? Certainly a contributing factor in a web of factors that all work together to create spillover.
@@sabelch don't nitpick that comment it's clearly a joke and doesn't matter. Like seriously you know what he means
Apple: Okay we'll stop shipping charging bricks inside the box of the next iPhone
The title is very misleading, also this tantalum problem is a bit exaggerated. Tantalum capacitors are relatively expensive, thus rarely used, and also can be replaced with electrolytic ones in most cases. They are used in smartphones, that's true but every other device uses it too e.g. tvs, computers. I understand that this is a problem but that's just one of many problems, some posing even bigger threat of new pandemic.
Please stop baiting people with inappropriate titles.
The title is definitely over-exaggerated, but the point is that tugging on this one thread reveals an entire tangled mess on small-scale rare-metal mining for electronic components in everything. Tantalum capacitors in smartphones is a small corner of a small part of what could be a very large problem. I agree that the answer isn't "don't buy another smartphone" - but the fact is, this is an issue that *should* be addressed in large by the electronics and natural resources industry.
@@tomfeng5645 I agree with you, OP seems to miss the main point of the video - a droplet of water still can cause a glass to overspill. Even if the tantalum problem is still not quite big, it still can leads to bigger issues in the long run.
And beside, why not try and solve the problem while it's still small? And then crying out when it gotten big enough?
Yes I also thik you are right
Moreover The ore that is extracted doesn't come directly it is refined and in the process of refining ore a lot of harsh chemicals are used
And who the hell opens the phone like this
So there is no chance that this would start another pandemic
@@arpitsureka2341 you got it wrong, they are not telling that you'll get a virus from your phone. the pandemic will start with the mine workers!
@@arpitsureka2341 you're kidding, right? The actual pandemic would come from the workers 🤦🏿♀️🤦🏿♀️
Hi, I love your channel. It's very enlightening. But will be wonderful if the links of scientific papers used could be find on the description directly
True
I’m still using my old old old iPhone 5S tho. and it’s working perfectly with some lagging of course
The older ones don’t seem to have problems, mine is 20 years old.
I have one too!
And terrible battery too
Battery on old IPhones is disgraceful
Battery replacement cost around $15 in unofficial service center, and don't forget about my 8000mAh power bank 🤔
This feels like how a Spider-Man villain comes from an avengers movie 😂😂
6:08 "found 1200 viruses in animals, including more than 140 new Corona viruses"........................ they WHAT????
'They found 1200 viruses in animals, including more then 140 more coronaviruses'
Sad how those miners live in extreme poverty when their coltan is literally running the world
The explanation to the title really starts at 2:00.
omg this is actually scary. thank you for exposing these
While I've always been aware of the negative effects & destruction of habitats in mining of minerals for electronics, I never thought about this connection. As a nurse, this is fascinating in a horrific way.
I actually had to study about this “spillover” and “covid” because i had a 8000 words essay as my finals ...its a headache especially when you are given very limited sites also not to mention corona is still something under study ...
This guy actually knows what each thing on a blue berry pi does
I need to share this to all my contacts
As an electrical engineer, I always design with tantalum capacitors. They have high reliability and low derating requirements. They can be small form factor and typically have low ESR.
All of this has been a long time coming. Coupled with climate change. It will only exacerbate any endeavours we make no matter how constrained the harvesting process is.
Ill hold onto this phone for a few more years. I dont really need the newest phone. I still have a Samsung Galaxy S8.
OnePlus 3! Let's do it brother!
Hey, me too! Dropped it thousands of times, and only has a few scratches. 😎✊
Same I’ve had my iPhone 8 for about 2 years now. It still works and nothing is wrong with it. If it’s not broken I don’t need another phone
And if you need a new one, just ask a friend or family member if they have an old phone lying around somewhere. That way you have a new one for free!
I only changed my phone when it's no longer usable
Gold, diamond and all other mining cause spill over too. Why not stop that?
Because money
That is so sad. Thank you for sharing. Something has to be done it’s not fair to the workers that they are being used and exposed and killed by companies making billions.
damn i thought he meant our phones would be nasty in terms of hygiene lol
Thanks for explaining 😊
up next: how waking up from a nap could lead to another pandemic
Allegedly 😂
Could you share thel link of the hotspot map shown in the video?
This is one of many reasons, as well ecological impact, why Apple strives to reclaim what is typically referred to as conflict minerals and/or rare earth minerals. With each new iPhone, Apple works hard to use as many materials from old recycled iPhones. And they hope to one day be making all of their new iPhones out of old iPhones..one day 🤞🏼
For those interested, this is the environmental report for the latest iPhone from Apple. They release these every year for those who are interested in caring about how their product was made..
Main page: www.apple.com/environment/
iPhone 11: www.apple.com/environment/pdf/products/iphone/iPhone_11_PER_sept2019.pdf
It would be cool if turning in your old phone could get you a discount on the new one.
@@arx3516 They actually do through trade-ins.
This video doesn't this point out but its also important to remember that Coltan is a blood mineral linked to forced child labor. And that's something we don't think about when we're buying our new phones and computers etc.
You guys are cherry picking. Actually anything we use or have around us could potentially lead to another pandemic, but the fact is they almost NEVER DO
Agree, this is fear mongering !
'almost never' - you realize that by ignoring the issue you make it more and more likely to happen, right?
a2pabmb2 - and we survived this long how?!
@L N ......by not having 7.8 billion people exploiting the planet to the brink. and it’s only getting worse.
it takes something like a worldwide pandemic to bring attention to problems we are facing.
@@OMGAnotherday Tell that to the hundreds of thousand who have died due to Covid 19. Never mind the frequent incidents of plague in history.
Excellent reporting .
Love your videos Verge. You always bring a different perspective or new insight. Keep up the good work!
The clear communication of the chain of causation speaks for itself. All in 7 minutes! Public education conducted with excellence! You do good! :-)
I got lost when he said gold is a good conductor of electricity. Gold plating is used as a preventive measure from rusting.
Tantalum capacitors are expensive and notoriously unreliable because they could burn at higher frequencies.
Electrical Engineers nowadays always prefer ceramic capacitors over tantalum capacitors because they are cheap and reliable.
Your next phone can lead to another pandemic
Plague inc: That's another one for apocalypse bingo.
👍🏼✌️✊🏼😂 zombie apocalypse.... not!
Excellent video! This is something everyone should be aware of - there are consequences to consumption and growth.
this is why my stand is just make good software that can use old hardware and replace shops of selling new tech around the clock and replace them repair shops
to be fair Apple is the only phone manufacturer that still update their phone for 5 years so you can continue to hold on to your phone.
some other manufacturer wont even give update to their new phones forcing their users to buy new phone every year...
Marburg is actually a city in Germany. 😅
coincidence? *_I think not!_*
Lol wo? :D noch nie gehört xD
sapkra not surprising since the Marburg virus came from there.
@@bngr_bngr I wasn't sure, but it was also my guess. I just wanted to note the small fact, because it was not mentioned in the video.
bngr bngr It was first identified there. Marburg probably originates from East Africa.
Very eye opening report..
Great content
You forgot to mention how Africa gets exploited for all it's mineral resources but i guess that doesn't bother you
How's that related?
Yes but you miss the main topic of the video. This isn't a history video telling about how Africa was looted by other nations.
For those who want to understand more about Coltan exploring, a tv series called Widow, staring Kate Beckinsale, streaming in Amazon Prime is highly recommended
This was really eyeopening! I think it brings up a really important social issue that a vast amount of the general public is unaware of. Thank you Verge!
Reads title, chucks phone across the room
The Verge doesn't tell you ONE obvious thing because they want to to share this pathetic story with your friends: The months that take place between raw material procurement, manufacturing, shipping, retail, and ownership mean that this hypothetical superbug would have to not only spillover into the supply chain, but then also survive in extreme conditions until it reaches its next host.
I am surprised my country is a viral hotspot 😂 this must definitely be an error
Though, I have a question which I hope many can take it lightly, is there a way that Apple could disinfect these materials before putting it into use?
Not looking forward to the future comments saying
*they warned us in 2020*
this is really interesting! :)
Gold isn't used for its conductivity, it's used for its low reactivity, just the first misconception I saw in the first 30s
There are other phone manufacturers besides Apple, you know
6:27 I wonder what the distribution of viruses was like. There was a close call in 2004-or-so with similar circumstances to 2020 and a close relative of the current coronavirus, but it didn't go anywhere because there wasn't much asymptomatic spread. There's a close call every few years with zoonotic H1N1.
Please please link the research papers in the description. Please.
it’s cool that new phones come out every year, but it doesn’t make sense to buy a new every year. still using an iphone 7 and it’s great. sister uses an iphone 6s. Speaking of 6s, apple is updating the software for an extra year. just imagine ios 14 on a device with a headphone jack.
I mean Apple is hardly the only company doing contributing to it, any kind of mineral extraction/ farming can increase someone’s risk of spillover. Not everyone in the world is privileged enough to live in urban centers
well, 2021 looks great...
oh
well i won't be remembering this
I think I remembered a movie where people listens to there Phones and turns into zombies lol
There was an entire season of Jack Ryan based on Tantalum
Yeah
I really don't get Americans buying a new phone every year. Here, in Europe (or in my country at least) most people use their phones for 3 or 4 year, some use more. You don't need the newest device every year. Your iPhone supports 4 years and you can keep using it without any problems for 2 more years after the software support ends.
Thankfully the only phone that really got me excited is way to expensive (new moto razr) for me to actually spring for it.
This is very important
The scary thing is, there are MANY products that require the harvest raw materials in remote areas all the way from make up to cell phones. The greed of humans knows no bounds.
Planned obsolescence in electronics is unethical. We should be making them as reliable and as durable as we can, so they last longer and we need less materials to keep building them. We need to factor in the social and environmental costs to production.
Great great video.
Why use anti-corrosion materials when you need to change your iphone every years?
😂
Only Americans change their phones every year
I used my last phone for 5 years
Bruh why ppl so needy, like i have a 2012 model of samsung galaxy E7 which definately laggs even for general task but hey it still works, and i can even play light games on it .....
Interesting case study. As stated it isn't just mining.
For all the people asking about India, lots of India (and China) are hotspots for new pandemics, due to lots of factors, not just the ones in the video.
The majority viruses come from eating different animals but you might not know that in India there are a lot of people who are vegetarian. Meaning only eat plants and consume dairy products.
Thanks. I was just getting comfortable with sleeping soundly again.
If it is bad to release one phone a year, then think about companies releasing more than 15 phones a year. End of humanity.
This actually makes way more sense than "bat soup" just for the LOLs.
Most people be like: Oh No, anyway...
I was thinking about buying a new phone. But now I will use my old phone.
It's almost like they know this is going to happen.
There is a really good book on this, called Spillover, give it a read.
That joke of a hotspot map..
I'm confused.... He didn't remove the battery before doing anything else? Or at LEAST unplug it?
We see ourselves outside of the industry but we really are, even if we changed our habits of consuming, which can be easy for an individual, it's not easy to be done in a whole population, I've tried to start with the trends other persons start to live more Eco but others are so into consumerism that they will never pay attention... the change is too weak to come from below, if it doesn't come from above in the industry, how is it going to stop? At this rate it will be too late for when it happens :(
We need to start respecting our beautiful earth and all of the animals on it with us.
Guess I should've listened to my mom
Wow this all makes sense to me now 😶
Try to use phones and other electronics for as long as possible guys!
Okay but you need to get some water.
Very comforting after working in a donation center
People have to realise that less is more