Also quietly amused by the hypocrisy of your comment.
The top voted comments criticizing them all have clearly valid claims. it does not matter if the "ethical" product is good if the company behind them isn't ethical.
I'm making the position that cutting off your nose to spite your face isn't productive.
I think I can provide an explanation for their increasing popularity: people have figured out that it gives a cheap boost to the "legitimacy" of their comment without adding any actual substance, partially because it stirs a feeling of guilt and wanting to "be better" (either than the rest of HN, or as an individual).
Needless to say, it's just another form of emotional manipulation that doesn't add anything to the discussion.
The guidelines already discourage this kind of thing: "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community."[1]
It seems to me that you're arguing the only way to not demand ideological purity is by demanding that the only factor that should be considered is end user experience.
Which, ironically, is demanding far more ideological purity than the person you replied to is.
If a company, even one that is disliked, does something good - then that effort should be congratulated. That's how you change an industry - to treat such as pariahs merely proves that such efforts are not compelling to users and hinders progress.
Also the author (and most of HN) seemingly forgets that wired headphone options exist for the USB-C port.
The headphone jack is a signal. When Apple removed it people like me pledged to never support such a customer hostile move. Google's flip flop on that issue just made this conviction stronger. To remove that port is simply unacceptable, especially in a product aimed at minimizing waste.
I wonder whether this position is rare, or if FP just does not know its customer base.
They are not a regular company that needs to do such moves, and besides: The Framework laptop shows that there usually is a way, despite what companies say.
There's no chance that this is true. They're buying the same components from the same suppliers, and they're laughably small compared to Google, nevermind Apple or Samsung.
https://www.fairphone.com/en/2021/02/08/fair-mining/
I've seen some videos of ASM lithium mines, stuff is nightmare inducing. The videographers spotted a handful of children in the hills trying not to be seen.
I think it's doable, it'd be similar to setting up and auditing your own green coffee beans; it wouldn't be particularly capital intensive.
"We are working with our battery supplier to integrate lithium from IRMA-assessed mines into our battery supply chain" this line could mean anything from actually doing something to "we sent one email". Before you believe that someone is making a difference, be sure they are. Fp is not.
Edit: The main reason to be wary of "fair" brands is that they put extremely huge markups and motivate that by paying a tiny bit more for their parts, making them really profitable. You'd need to show people that it is better to pay for a fairphone and that they actually deliver on their promises, over paying for a cheap phone and donating the difference to a good cause.
What rules are there at the moment on planned obsolescence? I don't think there are any to change?