at logan on my way to tokyo i spotted this sony-branded vending machine selling cameras, memory cards and ebook readers. it is a strange experience to see these expensive electronics being commodified and it points out the worrisome disposable nature of these increasingly commonplace material- and resource-intensive products. maybe a more sustainable solution would be a trade-in machine: you can leave your slightly outdated camera or memory card and receive a new one with a little more pixels, and the manufacturer could be incentivized to use modular construction and re-usable materials so that they can extract something of value out of the used device.
