The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
nytimes.com
The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
1–10 of 74 posts
Re: The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
#2Funny how it uses the original iPhone as it's example. I also got the original when released (though I used the buy from store and don't activate workaround). In my case, it didn't bother me at all when the next model came out, I just kept using my just as useful as when purchased it. Less true today as OS updates accelerate obsolescence.
Where I agree is with product updates. Version 1 can be significant as it was when I got my first iPod (Apple's first killer product). I got subsequent generations but not every one, mainly to increase storage, and never regretted any purchase. The difference between having an iPad or no iPad around the house is greater than having the prev gens iPad or the current.
Re: The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
#3Does this argument hold up when the next generation is significantly different? I would take an iPhone 6 over a 5S any day.
Re: The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
#4Does this argument hold up when the next generation is significantly different? I would take an iPhone 6 over a 5S any day.
The non-S are usually a much bigger improvement over their predecessors than the S. Almost as if Apple have an A-team working on the non-S and a B-team refining them into S with minor iterations.
Re: The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
#5Funny how it uses the original iPhone as it's example. I also got the original when released (though I used the buy from store and don't activate workaround). In my case, it didn't bother me at all when the next model came out, I just kept using my just as useful as when purchased it. Less true today as OS updates accelerate obsolescence. Where I agree is with product updates. Version 1 can be significant as it was w…
The question is whether the extra year of having the first usable smartphone was worth the price, and the answer in my case was an unequivocal yes. Nowadays smartphones have reached a point of good-enough sufficiency, and that's why upgrade cycles have risen to one every three years.
Re: The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
#6Does this argument hold up when the next generation is significantly different? I would take an iPhone 6 over a 5S any day.
The non-S are usually a much bigger improvement over their predecessors than the S. Almost as if Apple have an A-team working on the non-S and a B-team refining them into S with minor iterations.
However, the S is almost always the version I prefer; your so-called “B-Team” are the ones who polish the designs, and the results are clearly superior.
As the saying goes, a trifle makes perfection, but perfection is no trifle.
Re: The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
#7“We’re in the golden age of smartphones,” he said. “Your smartphone from two years ago still works great and will continue to work for a while.”
If this is where smartphones peak - usable for two and a bit years - we need to take ourselves out to the car park for a strong conversation.
Re: The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
#8“We’re in the golden age of smartphones,” he said. “Your smartphone from two years ago still works great and will continue to work for a while.” If this is where smartphones peak - usable for two and a bit years - we need to take ourselves out to the car park for a strong conversation.
I still have a HTC One M8, which is almost 5 years old. The processor is fine, storage seems fine, battery is almost dead which is normal... But 2GB of RAM is now not enough for the same apps I've used for years. Open a few tabs in Firefox and it slows down a lot. Before quad core processors, I found the CPU was a serious bottleneck, as well.
And fwiw, Windows Mobile phones had full fledged browsers and 3G long before the iPhone.
Re: The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
#9“We’re in the golden age of smartphones,” he said. “Your smartphone from two years ago still works great and will continue to work for a while.” If this is where smartphones peak - usable for two and a bit years - we need to take ourselves out to the car park for a strong conversation.
I still have a HTC One M8, which is almost 5 years old. The processor is fine, storage seems fine, battery is almost dead which is normal... But 2GB of RAM is now not enough for the same apps I've used for years. Open a few tabs in Firefox and it slows down a lot. Before quad core processors, I found the CPU was a serious bottleneck, as well. And fwiw, Windows Mobile phones had full fledged browsers and 3G long befor…
I would put all hardware in the same bag - can be good as new after 5+ years - but whatever electronics you want to buy today (be it a phone, "smart" TV, even a car), if you have any experience you know that vendors are now mostly in the business of providing a service, not just a physical product. And that's what you'll want to look up and pay most for. If the stuff becomes incompatible or not secure for everyday use because the vendor stopped (or didn't even intend) to release updates, what's the good?
Re: The Joys of Being a Late Tech Adopter
#10Does this argument hold up when the next generation is significantly different? I would take an iPhone 6 over a 5S any day.
Obviously this argument is entirely contingent on how valuable the changes in the newer model are to you.
If you take a lot of photos, maybe a 2 megapixel jump is worth the upgrade. If you use your phone as a display of affluence, maybe the latest number is worth it to you. I think the point is that we should honestly evaluate the difference and honestly determine the value to ourselves, because for many people the compulsion to upgrade is basically rooted in a strange sense of obligation, rather than any measured utility delta.