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Gadget Gollums: A guide to help tech hoarders let go of their precious devices [Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn. :: ](Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 14--Staying technologically current in America is a bit like hopping on the world's slowest merry-go-round. Thanks to two-year upgrade plans and a seemingly neverending flood of advertising hype about the imminent arrival of next-generation devices, there's plenty of incentive for consumers to stick around for another rotation. According to Recon Analytic's State of the Wireless Union 2014, Americans replace their cellphones every 22.4 months, more frequently than any other country. This cycle of continuous upgrades keeps U.S. households tricked out with tip-top tech, but it also contributes to a mindset that gadgets become outmoded as soon as they are outclassed by newer devices. In their rush to move forward, owners may forget about their older gadgets, but they don't always get rid of them. A recently released poll of 1,000 Americans by online used electronics marketplace uSell.com found that 68 percent of respondents had held onto an outdated device for two or more years without actually using it. According to uSell.com, only one-quarter of pollees describe themselves as "device hoarders," but many Chattanoogans readily admit that they've got more than a few flip phones and VCRs rattling around in their closets. "Last year I finally got rid of an old Qualcomm phone I got brand-new back in 1999," says Chattanoogan Marie Tuggy. "I got $15 on eBay for it, [but I'm] kind of ashamed that I kept it this long. ... I had a bet with a friend that no one would ever buy it." For some, deciding not to replace a device is less a matter of laziness or a compulsion to hoard than of sentimental attachment. Patrick Moore, 25, has held onto the Sony Walkman portable CD player his parents gave him for his 11th birthday, even though he long since began listening to music on his iPhone and iPad. "I don't think I could ever give it away," the East Brainerd resident says. "It helps me to remember my roots, not to mention ... how fast our society has technologically progressed just in my lifetime." The glut of unused, dated devices constitutes what experts refer to as "e-waste." And there's a lot of it out there, whether sliding around in sock drawers or clogging up landfills. According to consumer technology recycler and repurchaser E-Cycle, the U.S. discards about 130 million phones annually. In 2012, e-waste removal advocate STEP (Solving The E-waste Problem) reported that Americans generated 21 billion pounds of e-waste, more than any other country and the equivalent of about 250 iPhone 5S's per person. In all, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about 384 million electronic devices in America had reached the end of their life cycle, but only 19 percent of them were recycled. One of the major contributors to this growing pile of outdated tech is the underlying cost inherent in upgrading, says Richard Patricio, an Atlanta-based IT professional whose daughter, April Ramsey, lives in Chattanooga. Despite regularly opening their wallets to pay for new phone or TV, consumers continue to feel the sting of their previous purchases and are reluctant to let go, he says. "They have got so much money invested in that device that, even though they're not using it, it seems almost criminal to throw it away," Patricio says, "so most people hold onto them." At his home in Hiram, Ga., Patricio has an office that doubles as storage for a few -- "30 or 40" he admits, laughing -- outdated desktop PCs and laptops, which he scavenges for parts to repair other computers. Many of them, he says, were given to him for free by people who hadn't used them for years but were afraid to get rid of them out of concern that thieves could recover data off their hard drives. The fear is a legitimate one. In 2012, the British Information Commissioner's Office conducted a study of the vulnerability of residual data from the previous owners of used electronic devices. The office collected 200 hard drives, 20 memory sticks and 10 mobile phones and found that 48 percent had not been properly erased. About 10 percent were found to contain personally identifiable information that could contribute to identity fraud or theft. With this in mind, before Patricio adds a used computer to his parts stockpile, he runs its hard drives through the ringer, permanently erasing the data and readying it for life in another machine. "Without them being properly erased, you're in danger when you let something like that go," he says. "Most people don't know how to do that and are afraid to get rid of them, and rightfully so." Not all hoarders see anything wrong with stockpiling old tech. Ooltewah resident and engineer Debra Kirkland Fisher is unapologetic about her collection of aging electronics, which includes ancient video game consoles like the Atari 800XL as well as decrepit printers, MP3 players and phones. In fact, she says, her collection would be even larger were it not for a "water heater incident" in 2010. When it comes to technology, change is pretty much the only constant, but Fisher says there's no telling when an older device might prove handy once again. "I have kept some of it for sentimental reasons, but most of it is still here because I am a huge tech geek," she says. "It is hard to part with anything electronic because it might be useful someday. "Yeah, right," she adds, laughing. Contact Casey Phillips at [email protected] or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP. ___ (c)2014 the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.) Visit the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.) at www.timesfreepress.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |