Stale Chromebooks being sold as new?

[George K]

Google, Amazon rebuked over unsupported Chromebooks still for sale

Google resisted pleas to extend the lifetime of Chromebooks set to expire as of this June and throughout the summer. Thirteen Chromebook models have met their death date since June 1 and won't receive security updates or new features from Google anymore. But that hasn't stopped the Chromebooks from being listed for sale on sites like Amazon for the same prices as before.

Take the Asus Chromebook Flip C302. It came out in 2018, and on June 1—about five years later—it reached its automatic update expiration (AUE) date. But right now, you can buy a "new," unused Flip C302 for $550 from Amazon or $820 via Walmart's Marketplace (providing links for illustrative purposes; please don't buy these unsupported laptops).

That's just one of eight Chromebooks that expired since June while still being readily available on Amazon. The listings don't notify shoppers that the devices won't receive updates from Google. The US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) pointed this out in a press release Wednesday, sharing screenshots of the models:

“Parents and teachers buying back-to-school laptops don’t expect devices to have a ‘death date,’ and sellers don’t advertise the lack of support,” Lucas Rockett Gutterman, the US PIRG's Designed to Last director, said in a statement accompanying Wednesday's release.

“It’s absurd that a new laptop, with all the features students need to do basic school work, is already unsupported. Students, and the planet, deserve better.”

[Axtremus]

Yeah, not environmentally friendly of Google to end support for hardware only five years new.
Apple, Inc. is not much better, they cut off support 7 years after a model is last sold.
Microsoft appears to be the most environmentally friendly vendor by this criterion.

[George K]

@Axtremus said in Stale Chromebooks being sold as new?:

they cut off support 7 years after a model is last sold

Obsolete models are those that have discontinued for more than seven years. However, I don't think any of them are being marketed or sold as "new" as the Chromebooks are.