well am in the tech industry, and i would like to own a fairphone purely for the repairability and replaceability and the extended life span. Agreed, the camera might be sub-par, but with this level of repairability, if fairphone can enable certified third-party parts, then we could replace the camera ourselves with certified better quality cameras in the future right ?
Also, the phone industry, especially the biggies are into planned obsolescence of their products in pursuit of more and more profits. I personally do not prefer replacing my phone every few years, and going through the hassle of backing up the files and setting up the new phone etc. I want a device that just works and isn't a botheration to maintain and upkeep for long.
The lifespan of products were much longer not too long ago, before the corporate interests figured out planned obsolescence. I remember as a kid, the products we purchased at our home, lasted much through my adolescence and into my adult life. For example, the radio which we bought worked for years without wasting much time of fixing it up every now and then, just a couple of batteries would last a really long time. All it needed was large batteries. I would prefer products that have a longer lifespan than being at the cutting edge, and wasting precious time chasing the latest and greatest. I have better interests to attend to :)
Actually, iphones which are much costlier sell well in India! In fact, all the top-end phones sell well in India.
Indian population seeks value, and are pretty smart about their choice of investment. An iphone even though is much costlier in India, has longer os / security updates than any budget phone. So over a period of time, this would translate to a higher value for the device and hence the purchasing decision. Usually Indians try to ascertain the price to value ratio (something that Nothing phone ceo has acknowledged publicly) while making these decisions.
Definitely Fairphone has the appeal of repairability (which again is valuable for the average Indian) and the longer os / security updates are a boon.
Fairphone would easily be a big hit in the Indian Market, i figure. If there are any fairphone folks here, please do consider to bring this phone in the Indian market. I would love to own a Fairphone.
At the bare minimum, all smartphones should allow for easy battery replacement like they do in Fairphone. (This was the norm, before the iphones and the androids took over)
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Quit. Been there myself, and it became obvious what my manager was upto, i helped the new team members get upto speed just like you, and taught them everything i knew about the product, but along with that, i also quit the organization. I knew this wasn't the kinda workplace i wanted to be in. I didn't receive a single hike or promotion for 3+ years, even though i was considered critical to the team before the arrival of the new team members (whom i eventually trained).
I raised concerns about my stagnation and brought up issues with the team and also confronted about the new team members getting personally trained on the product by me without showing me a roadmap for myself to get to the next level. He was acting smart i felt, and then eventually decided to move on.
Once i quit, i was offered ridiculous sums of money to withdraw my resignation however, i didn't accept the counter offer and left the place. Post my resignation, a lot of people resigned from that team, and subsequently that manager was fired (i came to know after i had left the org).
Money changes you, and big money alters you completely (at least from what i saw!). No regrets actually :) They had to go, and i cannot put up with people who look differently upon friends purely based on monetary status (are they friends really ?)
I have had a couple of my college buddies startup and work on their own and become wealthy, the side effect of this was their attitude change and entitlement and them looking at me differently because i was working a job. At some point, i decided to cut my ties with them because they had utter disregard to my life context and why i had to choose a job over starting up. I still want to work on my own, but my responsibilities,dependencies and life context is different, which is why i continue to work a job to save and buy some time to do things on my own. I will take time, meanwhile they can bask in their glory. Unfortunately, they don’t have a place in my life. Just sharing my experience here.
I am pro remote working as i do not see a need for physical presence in office for software professionals. The commute kills my soul, and the pointless dressing up for office chores do not excite me at all. And i have observed that am far more effective / productive working from home than i am working from office and the commute time which got freed up, i can spend with family which is great for me. But i can understand if some would like to work out of office. I guess it is individual preference and i hope in the near future both choices are available to employees with no disparities in pay between remote and office workers since value shouldn’t be determined by location.
Option 2, have faith in your abilities and take the leap. Toxic workplaces can affect your mental makeup and the effects can last longer than one might realize. Always keep some money in your savings and quit if you ever get stuck in a toxic / BS job. And don't worry about age, there are companies which are open minded enough to hire talented and experienced people - the world isn't doomed yet for 30+ software engineers :) Just sharing my opinion with you :) Good Luck to you!
You mention that you have enough saved up for 4-5 years (8-10 years if conservative) - and then you also mention "quit my job for a few months".
So my suggestion would be to get clear on the timeline you are looking at for your break. For example, i am taking a year off no matter what.
Once you are clear on that, moving to the next aspect of your story is that, you have everything that a typical professional would aspire for "pay, great boss, good work" etc. So when considering this, it could also be that your mind is playing some tricks on you.
Give it a few more months (maybe 6 months?) and see if you feel the same way. If you think you won't be able to push that far, then you are ready to quit.
Obviously, quitting during a pandemic (and with no clear signs of when the economy would recover) is not ideal, if you think you might change your mind later and would want to get back to work. Since the unemployment rates are high right now, your place will be taken up by someone else pretty quick, and you would have to wait for openings etc (which could get frustrating)
But if you decide on the time you want off, you can always plan around that. 6 months to 1 year off and things can start recovering by then, and jobs will be available etc.
Honestly, if you have enough saved for 4-5 years, you can take a break. But decide what you want to do after you have quit. Since you cannot travel much during these times, so you would be pretty much stuck at your place for most of the days, and during a pandemic sitting at your place with nothing to keep you busy could quickly drive you nuts. So that's there. So have a plan like the non-profit project after you have quit.
Also, the phone industry, especially the biggies are into planned obsolescence of their products in pursuit of more and more profits. I personally do not prefer replacing my phone every few years, and going through the hassle of backing up the files and setting up the new phone etc. I want a device that just works and isn't a botheration to maintain and upkeep for long.
The lifespan of products were much longer not too long ago, before the corporate interests figured out planned obsolescence. I remember as a kid, the products we purchased at our home, lasted much through my adolescence and into my adult life. For example, the radio which we bought worked for years without wasting much time of fixing it up every now and then, just a couple of batteries would last a really long time. All it needed was large batteries. I would prefer products that have a longer lifespan than being at the cutting edge, and wasting precious time chasing the latest and greatest. I have better interests to attend to :)