Google, Amazon rebuked over unsupported Chromebooks still for sale
Google resisted pleas to extend the lifetime of Chromebooks set to expire as of this June and throughout the summer. Thirteen Chromebook models have met their death date since June 1 and won’t receive security updates or new features from Google anymore. But that hasn’t stopped the Chromebooks from being listed for sale on sites like Amazon for the same prices as before. Take the Asus Chromebook Flip C302. It came out in 2018, and on June 1—about five years later—it reached its automatic update expiration (AUE) date. But right now, you can buy a “new,” unused Flip C302 for $550 from Amazon or $820 via Walmart’s Marketplace (providing links for illustrative purposes; please don’t buy these unsupported laptops). That’s just one of eight Chromebooks that expired since June while still being readily available on Amazon. The listings don’t notify shoppers that the devices won’t receive updates from Google. Completely and utterly unacceptable. Not only should these Chromebooks be supported for much longer than just a measly five years, they obviously should not be sold as new past their expiration date. I hope mandated long software/update support timelines are next on the European Union’s consumer protection shopping list, because the way these megacorporations treat the hardware they sell is absurd.