>It's irrelevant how long they last unless is starts to substantially exceed human lifespans though

If a product has twice the lifetime then you are going to have half the waste. I'm not sure how that is irrelevant.

Or you'll have twice the product in circulation because you might be far below satisfying actual demand.

For batteries this is definitely true: we're not even close to storing weeks worth of every yet, and the more you can store the more flexible and useful they become.