Google resisted pleas to increase the lifetime of Chromebooks set to run out as of this June and all through the summer time. 13 Chromebook fashions have met their dying date since June 1 and will not obtain safety updates or new options from Google anymore. However that hasn’t stopped the Chromebooks from being listed on the market on websites like Amazon for a similar costs as earlier than.
Take the Asus Chromebook Flip C302. It got here out in 2018, and on June 1—about 5 years later—it reached its automated replace expiration (AUE) date. However proper now, you should purchase a “new,” unused Flip C302 for $550 from Amazon or $820 by way of Walmart’s Market (offering hyperlinks for illustrative functions; please do not buy these unsupported laptops).
That is simply certainly one of eight Chromebooks that expired since June whereas nonetheless being available on Amazon. The listings do not notify buyers that the gadgets will not obtain updates from Google. The US Public Curiosity Analysis Group (PIRG) pointed this out in a press launch Wednesday, sharing screenshots of the fashions:
“Mother and father and lecturers shopping for back-to-school laptops don’t anticipate gadgets to have a ‘dying date,’ and sellers don’t promote the shortage of assist,” Lucas Rockett Gutterman, the US PIRG’s Designed to Final director, stated in a press release accompanying Wednesday’s launch.
“It’s absurd {that a} new laptop computer, with all of the options college students must do fundamental college work, is already unsupported. College students, and the planet, deserve higher.”
The US PIRG’s launch highlights eight ChromeOS gadgets from Asus, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Samsung, all simply purchasable on Amazon regardless of their expirations. We additionally discovered a few of these fashions bought by Walmart.
Here is the US PIRG’s full record of just lately expired Chromebooks, which totals 13:
The US PIRG has been imploring Google to increase the lifetime of Chromebooks, and there are 51 Chromebooks scheduled to run out subsequent summer time. The advocacy group’s newest launch highlights how simple it’s to purchase expired laptops, which might result in safety threats, e-waste, and wasted cash.
Gutterman instructed Ars Technica:
We’ve been monitoring the precise Chromebook fashions listed within the June letter that just lately expired this summer time and have been shocked to seek out them nonetheless on the market with no warnings. Retailers must make adjustments to guard clients, since Chromebook assist expiration dates might be unclear if they don’t seem to be included on itemizing pages.
Nonetheless, our most important focus is Google’s capacity to increase assist. We simply needed to seek out one retailer nonetheless promoting these expired fashions for instance. … We might keep away from this difficulty if Google have been to increase assist for the 13 fashions listed within the June letter.
Gutterman urged retailers to obviously point out expiration dates to shoppers, acknowledging that it is not simply Amazon carrying expired Chromebooks.
“Retailers ought to embrace assist finish of life dates for all tech merchandise that they promote, however Chromebooks are notably essential to point as a result of assist ends after an expiration date moderately than on account of {hardware} necessities,” he added.
It is troublesome to consider the tech novices, college students, and buyers with finances constraints losing sources on a tool that may quickly turn out to be out of date. It is also regarding to contemplate how simple it’s to purchase these merchandise with just some clicks on among the hottest and profitable on-line marketplaces.
On-line marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart are already notorious for carrying fraudulent and poorly vetted tech merchandise. The PIRG’s newest launch emphasizes but one more reason buyers have to be alert when shopping for tech from such websites. It additionally underscores the significance for OEMs to vet what’s made accessible of their identify on-line and raises the query of whether or not on-line marketplaces ought to require EoL dates on product listings. Walmart’s Market even has a particular “Restored” part for refurbished tech that Walmart claims is “professionally inspected and examined to work and appear like new by top-rated, performance-managed suppliers.” Nonetheless, Ars discovered an expired Chromebook on the market by a Restored vendor with no discover of its lack of assist.