The headline + intro is written to infuriate. If you respond to that and not the article you're taking the bait.
The main topic the article is talking about is a drag on business efficiency from a slower upgrade cycle and running workloads less efficiently on old equipment.
>Small businesses, in particular, lose valuable hours each year due to lagging systems, creating what economists call a ‘productivity drag,’” Benabess said. On a national scale, this translates to billions of dollars in lost output and reduced innovation. “While keeping devices longer may seem financially or environmentally responsible, the hidden cost is a quieter erosion of economic dynamism and competitiveness,” she added.
Of course it's on CNBC for writing the article this was. It likely never would have made it here without that spin however. State of the media environment.
The problem is, it's never not been this way. That's why it's called an "upgrade treadmill." The treadmill never stops accelerating no matter how many times we redouble our efforts to catch up. New devices with higher processing power are inevitably filled with bloated apps that consume all that productivity. Without some kind of regulating force preventing app developers from being inefficient, this will never stop.