Device renewal account for a large part of the environmental impact of IT. This is particularly the case for smartphones, depending of countries and lifecycle analysis, hardware (from fabrication to end of life) accounts from 60 to 90% of the impact (the rest being transportation and energy consumption during use).

Fashion, desirability, and breakdowns can explain a significant part of device renewal. But software issues are also an important factor, this involves "bloat", bugs and slowdowns, compatibility issues, or storage limitations. The goal of this research is to map out and historicize factors leading to software obsolescence qualitatively and quantitatively. We will also seek to design remediations to extend device life, and study those in-situ.