Story of electronics: the afterlives of gadgets

In keeping with our earlier post on the Self-Repair Manifesto, here’s “The Story of Electronics.” The latest animation from the Story of Stuff Project, it paints a stark picture of the afterlives of our obsolescing gadgets. The sheer volume, not to mention the economic waste and chemical toxicity, of electronic refuse is disturbing to contemplate. As the blog unconsumption points out, however, the film may be a trifle glib when it comes to weighing waste as a price of useful innovation. And yet its diagnosis of the gadgetsphere’s waste cycle can’t be ignored.