Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Pixel 8 Pro

store.google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

491–500 of 885 posts

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#491

Post by losvedir »

kimbernator wrote: post #178

It's starting to feel silly, having a yearly release cycle for smartphones. So much of this product page is focused on new software functions that may have some vague relationship with the slightly upgraded hardware, but that could mostly be released to existing phones. Every new iPhone, Pixel, or Samsung phone basically claims the camera is marginally better and hey, look at these software features that have very li…

I think counterintuitively there's less waste this way.

With yearly, incremental releases, people will evaluate what's new from their phone and most people will update on their own cycle, probably every few or several years.

Meanwhile, with gaming console "generational" releases every few years, that is a strong incentive for everyone to upgrade.

If I have a 3 year old phone which I'm on the fence about updating, then I might pass on this year's model and go for next year's. But if there won't be another phone for 3 more years I guess I might as well get this one.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#492

Post by macintux »

kimbernator wrote: post #178

It's starting to feel silly, having a yearly release cycle for smartphones. So much of this product page is focused on new software functions that may have some vague relationship with the slightly upgraded hardware, but that could mostly be released to existing phones. Every new iPhone, Pixel, or Samsung phone basically claims the camera is marginally better and hey, look at these software features that have very li…

Apple has, what, roughly 1 billion iPhone users right now.

Imagine if they only released a new design every 5 years. They'd have to manufacture another billion iPhones in a relatively short window of time to handle all of the upgrades.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#493

Post by fomine3 »

awill wrote: post #223
nneonneo wrote: post #157

Cool, maybe they can fix emergency calling sometime in that seven year window? https://www.androidauthority.com/psa-google-pixel-911-emerge...

that was incredible embarrassing. I remember it was the end of December, and they said "it won't be in the January update. Just wait until February" I cannot imagine Apple doing that.

Apple also failed emergency call (with a eSIM situation) and took three month to fix in Japan (where iPhone takes half of market share). https://asahi-net.jp/en/news/20211105_01.html https://www.kobonemi.com/entry/2021/12/16/iPhone-%E6%8A%80%E...

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#494

Post by amf12 »

kkielhofner wrote: post #339
redbell wrote: post #330

7 years of support is probably the single, most noticeable improvement in the Android ecosystem in years now. Also, the temperature sensor in the Pro, if it worked as expected, should be a cool addition.

Finally. The planned obsolescence conversation seems to revolve around Apple (the only self-interested greedy company on the planet according to the detractors) but they hold the record for software updates on smartphones - 10 years for the iPhone 5s. Here we are, in 2023, and Google is coming around to seven years of support. Apple has done at least seven since 2013. In any case I applaud this move and at least five…

There is a slight difference in how OS updates work in iOS and Android.

iOS system apps release with the OS on an annual cycle, but in Android system apps are upgraded independently. Meaning, even without Android OS upgrades the device would get new system apps.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#495

Post by heroiccocoa »

kimbernator wrote: post #178

It's starting to feel silly, having a yearly release cycle for smartphones. So much of this product page is focused on new software functions that may have some vague relationship with the slightly upgraded hardware, but that could mostly be released to existing phones. Every new iPhone, Pixel, or Samsung phone basically claims the camera is marginally better and hey, look at these software features that have very li…

But phones are manufactured regardless, so why not let the people who are currently in the market for a new device get something current? The yearly release cycle isn't meant to be kept up with every year, in fact I think that that notion is so hilariously out of touch basically everywhere except the US (and a small international wealthy elite elsewhere) that it would be ridiculed. Remember, the global median per-capita household income is only $2,920 per year. That's not "the poor", that's the median. 99% of the world would never have even considered buying an iPhone 15 or similar after having an iPhone 14, let alone feel pressured to do so.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#496

Post by manicennui »

losvedir wrote: post #491
kimbernator wrote: post #178

It's starting to feel silly, having a yearly release cycle for smartphones. So much of this product page is focused on new software functions that may have some vague relationship with the slightly upgraded hardware, but that could mostly be released to existing phones. Every new iPhone, Pixel, or Samsung phone basically claims the camera is marginally better and hey, look at these software features that have very li…

I think counterintuitively there's less waste this way. With yearly, incremental releases, people will evaluate what's new from their phone and most people will update on their own cycle, probably every few or several years. Meanwhile, with gaming console "generational" releases every few years, that is a strong incentive for everyone to upgrade. If I have a 3 year old phone which I'm on the fence about updating, the…

A lot of people are on 2-year payment plans through their provider and just switch every time.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#497

Post by jen20 »

sanswork wrote: post #215
TaylorAlexander wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny because if they did not release a new phone every year, the old phones would be useful for longer. I recently had to replace my iPhone 7s plus because it was getting so slow I sometimes could not get the camera to open as it loaded the system down too much. This was despite the fact that the system said my battery was not degraded (it had been replaced with Apple Care a couple of times). Of course when it…

I don't update my phone every year but I also don't really want the progress of software or tech in general determined by the laggards.

Indeed so: I do replace mine every year because each generation has a successively better camera, and I value being able to take better pictures with the device I have available [1] more than I value the incremental cost to me of selling the old one and buying a new one each year (and iPhones hold their value very well!)

By the requests of the luddites here, I should not be able to do better than a 5 year old camera to appease them.

[1]: I also have a DSLR for special occasions, but I do not carry that round with me generally...

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#498

Post by what_ever »

vetinari wrote: post #233
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But now you're stuck with no more security updates, but Samsung has gotten much better at that as well recently.

I don't really mind; it concerns only updates of core system, not apps. Apps are still updated, so I get updated browser, mail and other apps, that could be attacked; they are not locked to the system. It makes the attack surface vastly smaller.

They may be confusing Android updates with iOS updates where browser update comes with the OS update and not separately as an app update.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#499

Post by sanswork »

redeeman wrote: post #488
sanswork wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better features, better functionality. Much like with old IDEs old DAWs did a lot less. If you truely prefer it why aren't you still running Cubase on an old Atari or emulator? Besides that there is the whole rose tinted glasses thing. My early experiences getting FreeBSD and Slackware running on my computers, and setting up X for example were something I'd never trade and taught me a lot about debugging systems, con…

both can be true. software has become objectively more abominable each passing year. spyware is being normalized, locking down and taking away control from users is being spoonfed to hipster users as "opinionated" and "curated". Have you taken a look at the chromium codebase lately? 1.5GB of compressed (lzma) "code". W T F. Just look 10-15 years ago and look at khtml, look at webkit a few years after the fork, then l…

All those things you're complaining about existed in the past in the form of applets, flash scripts, and activex. They were way worse than a bunch of web* standards.

As for curated/opinionated, most people don't want to be power users. Most people never did it was just in the 90s you had little choice. If you want to be a power user today the options are still there.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#500

Post by linsomniac »

kelnos wrote: post #222
thefz wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't you think that three phones in six years is the issue? One (P3) ended with me having it in the back pocket of my jeans and literally jumping in the backseat... yeah, not smart. Another (P4a), I tried to open to swap a new battery in and it did not end well. I'd still happily be with the 4a if it was not for my dumb self. It's perfectly working and I use it to listen to some music while biking or at the gym. I…

Would you still be with it, though? Someone upthread claims the phones just don't last. Maybe if you hadn't broken your phones, they still wouldn't've lasted much longer anyway. Having said that, I'm still using my 4-year-old Pixel 4, and it's in great shape. I'll probably get a new phone this year since it's no longer receiving security updates. Which is stupid, because I'm otherwise perfectly happy with the phone.…

I can't say about the 7 (the upthread you are referring to), but my Pixel 3 XL is my daughter's daily driver now, replacing the hand-me-down Pixel first gen that just didn't have enough memory to live up to today's requirements 6 years later. My current 6 Pro has been a champ, I'm seriously conflicted about upgrading. The 6 is perfectly fine, but I'd enjoy an upgrade, and look to be able to sell the 6 pro for $350 if I wanted to go that route.
Post reply on HN