TKA Bahasa Inggris Tingkat Lanjut Paket 2

Text 1: Phones should be built to be repaired (rekaan)

Three years after buying her phone, Rina noticed that it could no longer last a school day. Everything else still worked: the screen was sharp, the camera was fine, and her apps ran smoothly. A repair shop told her that the battery was glued inside the body and that opening the phone might crack the back glass. Because the repair would cost almost half the price of a new phone, she bought a new one. Stories like Rina's are common, and they lead to a simple conclusion: phone makers should design phones whose batteries can be replaced easily and cheaply.

First, the battery usually wears out before anything else. Lithium-ion batteries lose some of their capacity each time they are charged and discharged, so after a few hundred full cycles they hold noticeably less energy. The processor and the screen do not age in this way. When the battery is difficult to change, a phone full of working parts is thrown away because of one tired component.

Second, easier repair would reduce electronic waste. Only a small share of old phones is recycled properly; the rest end up in drawers or rubbish. More importantly, most of the environmental cost of a phone comes from making it: mining its metals, producing its chips, and shipping it. Every year that an old phone stays in use is a year in which a new one does not need to be made.

Third, replaceable batteries would save families money and support local businesses. Pak Hendra, a repairer in Kota Pelita, says he can change a battery held in place by screws in about fifteen minutes. A glued battery can take him more than an hour, and he sometimes damages other parts in the process. Simpler designs would make repairs quicker and cheaper, and shops like his could serve more customers.

Manufacturers argue that glued batteries allow phones to be thinner and better protected against water. These are fair concerns, but they can be solved. Several phones already on the market have batteries that owners can replace at home, and they still resist splashes of water. A phone that is a millimetre thicker but lasts five years instead of three is a better deal for its owner and for the planet.

In short, a phone should not end its life because of a part that costs only a small fraction of its price.