29 Comments
User's avatar
Joel Seber's avatar

Even though it would be, among other things, a massive challenge to perserve water tightness and the dust/dirt issues this kind of design would have to face in real-world usage, the user replacement of batteries would be one of the most welcome features I could ever think of. Also, the USB-C port for iPhones should have been done years ago. I imagine a smartphone that can have a wide range of accessories attached seamlessly, as we have had for PCs and Macs for years.

Expand full comment
Jerry's avatar

He about a SIM card slot for memory cat. The price difference for more memory is crazy!

Expand full comment
Rick 'The Cheapskate' Broida's avatar

No argument here!

Expand full comment
cs's avatar

This is great news! I used a Samsung Stratosphere II for about 7 years. Refreshing it with a new battery as needed extended its useful life for years.

Now I'm lucky to get 2 years out of a phone before the battery starts running out so I'm delighted to hear we'll have user-friendly batteries available again!

Will also be so convenient to have one standard port to cut back the seemingly endless proliferation of proprietary cables/accessories cluttering up my travel gear.

Expand full comment
Mark C's avatar

I would love for Apple to provide a (more easily) user replaceable battery!

Expand full comment
DebbieNap's avatar

Temu. I've been using them for about a year. I was very cautious at first, but they've come through again and again. Typhoon slowed delivery, bang, $5 credit. Their merch is great about 80% of the time. But like you and the blender, you have to be careful. Read what t-shirts are made of and check reviews. Most of them are soft, a couple can only be worn in winter due to polyester content. Read, read, read, before buying and you should be ok. Mostly.

Expand full comment
Jeremy's avatar

Thanks for the Temu review, I have been skeptical about it myself.

Expand full comment
Bill W's avatar

I think the replaceable battery requirement is needed worldwide. Higher profits aren't an acceptable reason to put tens of millions of functional phones in landfills every year. Recycling old electronics should be required too.

Expand full comment
Rick 'The Cheapskate' Broida's avatar

Totally agree!

Expand full comment
EEE Mang's avatar

EU could also require all phones include a microSD card slot to allow placing all photos and downloaded music on memory cards (as well as the "off-line cloud storage") where it would be instantly usable on a new phone as soon as the card is swapped into it and the new phone powers up.

Forget all that cloud storage; which at some point will be strictly for monthly subscription to users. That is also coming.

Expand full comment
EEE Mang's avatar

I changed my own battery on a "non-user replaceable" Motorola Atrix HD years back with a larger Motorola battery I got on ebay and it worked for about 3 more years. I eventualy got a $75 trade in from Samsung on a new Android phone for it so I was happy. I got video instructions on ebay on battery swap. It was glued in but slowly released the flexible Cycolac plastic back and the new thicker battery fit in and all worked (I did it slowly to not break anything)

But I applaud the European Union for pushing this on mobile phone firms since our US Congress is bought and paid for by BigBusiness to never advocate for consumers in this way.

Expand full comment
Fran George's avatar

I love Temu. I was also concerned about the items, but have only had to “return” a few. They are super nice and gave me a credit and told me to keep or donate. I did unsubscribe to the texts. They were too much!

Expand full comment
sawa's avatar

Well...I too wanted to see about that blender 😂 - same experience. Lol. ( Luckily, someone came up with a special on the real one 👍).

But now, to Temu in general...I had ordered tons from them! All kinds of makeup, all kinds of travel doodads, all kinds of kitchen aids, etc etc. They've almost 98% been great! I think some of the people who complain about stuff don't actually read carefully the descriptions and the reviews. I do spend a lot of time checking things out, and the time goes by way too fast, and the items get added way too much....but, I'm hooked on Temu. Yes. 👍

Expand full comment
Carol M's avatar

I absolutely love Temu. Don't listen to the hype about "buying from China" , getting hacked, they know too much, blah, blah, blah. I've been ordering for months and only had to return one product, which Temu told me to keep and refunded my money (PayPal) within in hours. Be aware that Temu ships everything (that I've gotten) wrapped in plastic shipping bag. That means that some items may come bent. BUT, they will issue a refund, so win win. I figure I'm only cutting out retailers like Amazon and Dollar Store, so...win for me. Temu was smart enough to set up a corporate office in the US so they can look like an American company.

Expand full comment
Gail Deshields's avatar

I have ordered several times from Temu and have been very happy with what I have gotten from them. I order kitchen stuff that I've been needing and all the things I've gotten have been excellent! I've needed socks to wear with my tennies and they have excellent deals on socks that I've been thrilled with. Temu is a keeper! I've ordered from another Chinese company that was HORRENDOUS to deal with and will never ever order from them again. I LOVE Temu!

Expand full comment
C Gomez's avatar

FYI, Wired.com did an article on how they are losing money trying to get into the US market: https://www.wired.com/story/temu-is-losing-millions-of-dollars-to-send-you-cheap-socks/

Expand full comment
Caroline's avatar

My Temu experience: the off-season clothing storage bags in various sizes were a bargain and I’d order again, though shouldn’t need to as I got a lifetime supple for $14! However, Temu now knows how to reach me and won’t leave me alone. Texts received almost daily about a $4.99 credit and new products Temu thinks I’d like. Awk!

Expand full comment
Rick 'The Cheapskate' Broida's avatar

Yeah, I definitely had to opt out of their marketing emails, and I never opted in for texts! :)

Expand full comment
Peter Frank's avatar

I have had good luck with Temu so would recommend.

Expand full comment