Realty in USA 🏡

Millions of 3-year-old phones get replaced every single year because they feel "slow." And the hardware inside them is barely the problem. Not the processor. Not the RAM. Not the age of the phone. Not the brand, and not the fact that a newer model just launched. Last month I almost spent $1,100 on a new phone. Mine had started taking forever to open the camera, the keyboard stuttered when I typed, and switching between apps felt like wading through mud. I was convinced it was dying. Then a friend dragged me to see a repair technician who has handled over 3,000 phones in 12 years, mostly for friends, family, and small businesses who walk in saying the exact same sentence: "It just got slow for no reason." He took my phone, spent about 4 minutes on it, and handed it back feeling like new. Then he said something I haven't stopped thinking about: "Nobody's phone is actually slow at 3 years. What's slow is everything that's been quietly piling up underneath it since the day you bought it. Background apps, stuffed storage, a tired battery, years of clutter. None of it shows on the screen, so you blame the phone and the phone company happily lets you." He then walked me through the exact 7 things he checks, in order, every single time. None of them cost money. Most take under 2 minutes. Several of them made me feel genuinely ridiculous for how close I came to buying a new phone. Here's the full breakdown 🧵