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Pixel 8 Pro

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Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#721

Post by rezonant »

prmoustache wrote: post #696
triceratops wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may not buy a new phone every year. But there's always someone who's buying a new phone right now. Why should they have to buy hardware that's potentially almost 5 years old?

It doesn't seem to annoy people who buy cars. In fact usually cars that were released 5 years before had most of their quirks known and ironed out through a midlife revamp or the model or scheduled preventive replacement of known parts breaking at a specific mileage. Just released one tend to be more of a problem to first gen owners reliability wise. I rely on my smartphone for work, I'd rather buy a 4y old model kno…

To be fair, a car is widely expected to last 12 years or longer, has relatively simple software and computer systems, and has no (or limited) access to your personal data. They are also typically a much larger investment.

The phone on the other hand is connected to every facet of your life and has a software stack that absolutely contains security flaws waiting to be found and exploited.

Apple has always worked to keep devices secure longer, at least up until now having the best long term support. My favorite part of the Pixel 8 is that Google is attempting to match and exceed what Apple's done so far.

Phone performance and features are definitely not changing fast enough for older devices to no longer be useful, even for affluent audiences. I hope support windows continue to get longer so that folks who must use or choose to use older devices can remain secure.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#722

Post by pjmlp »

sanswork wrote: post #712
pjmlp wrote: post #707

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Borland IDEs were definitly better than Notepad.

The editor did nothing more than notepad does today and the IDE at least back when I was using it was basically just a compiler, debugger with basic inspection window and stepping and a make system. It wasn't doing realtime formatting of your code, inspection for errors, referencing to other parts of code, autocompletion, syntax highlighting, etc.

Stuck in MS-DOS?

As someone that used all their products from MS-DOS, through Windows 3.x days up to switching to Visual C++ 6.0, I clearly remeber code completion, syntax highlighting and macros, three features that Notepad isn't capable of.

As easily proven, by reading the manuals available in Bitsavers.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#723

Post by Belphemur »

freedomben wrote: post #254
xnx wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I couldn't find a comprehensive history of all the features that have debuted on a new phone and then been allowed on older phones, but it's fairly common. 2 examples are listed here: https://www.phonearena.com/news/pixel-6-series-gets-pixel-7-...

Yep, I expect most of these to make it to older pixels but probably not for a few months. There are some that probably require the newer Tensor G3 chip though, which can't be backported.

Not really, I have a Pixel 4a 5G that doesn't come with magic eraser but because I pay for Google One, they gave me access to it.

So I doubt there are really any limitations on the hardware themselves or that you absolutely need the new version. Google just paywalling the features.

I bet you all those will be available very soon for Google One subscribers.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#724

Post by ocharles »

chromakode wrote: post #345
cobertos wrote: post #191

I'm still on the Pixel 3! I can't get off. I bounced off the Pixel 6. It's too big in my hand. The finger print sensor is in a weird spot. Android 13 is more restrictive. And worst? It's not faster or better. It's legitimately a hard _downgrade_ for me. I have 2 Pixel 3s now (microphone died and battery swelled) but they run everything snappy! I might just keep buying Pixel 3s off eBay, its so much cheaper. My main w…

Have you looked at the Zenphone 10? That appears to be the true Pixel 3 successor.

I have the 9 and it's a fairly good phone, but seems to have a hard time working with UK phone networks. I get patchy 4G, not sure I've ever seen 5G, and there seems to be a very magic combination of settings that allows me to actually make and receive calls (turning of VoLTE, and a bunch of other things need to be on or off). A shame, because otherwise I love the form factor and other features.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#725

Post by light_hue_1 »

someonehere wrote: post #636
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 agree. I was convinced I need to move from an iPhone 14 to iPhone 15. My reasoning was better camera. I honestly was going to skip upgrading but the camera and some other minor features were enough for me to make the upgrade happen. I feel if these companies worked together to cut back on the waste of yearly release cycles, there’d be better environmental results. But every year we have a new feature because tech h…

They keep selling a better camera. Constantly. Every year.

Yet, can you really look at your old photos and say "my God, those 2017 photos. Could you imagine taking such crappy photos with such a bad phone?" I doubt it. That hasn't been true in more than a decade even for challenging environments like in low light.

They're selling you on a better camera each year because there's basically no useful way to measure its impact anymore aside from in really technical conditions that don't affect anyone practically.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#726

Post by rezonant »

walteweiss wrote: post #647
HardlyCurious wrote: post #552

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm an idiot, but I think the expanded AI capabilities are the biggest step forward for phones in like 5+ years or more. But I'm someone who is still using a pixel 3, so maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better about purchase I need to make because my phone's battery is pretty close to useless.

Have you considered replacing your battery instead? Or is it useless with the latest software updates?

Aren't you concerned about the lack of security updates for the mini super computer attached to every facet of your life and authorized to act as you?

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#727

Post by lencastre »

vel0city wrote: post #317
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 wonder how much of that is the software demands increasing and the flash storage itself wearing out over time. As flash storage wears it'll often go slower and slower as the error correction needs to process more to actually get you the uncorrupted bits. This is why a lot of cheap devices tend to just become unbearably slow after a while, their storage just gets to be way too slow. Flash storage doesn't last foreve…

is there something like crystaldiskinfo for iOS?

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#728

Post by rkagerer »

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…

Yeah. They couldn't even give us an ultrasonic fingerprint reader, which is one feature that would have convinced me to buy this instead of the 7. The brighter screen and 1TB model are the only upgrades I find compelling.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#729

Post by nicoburns »

ethbr1 wrote: post #554
TylerE wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention what it’ll do the waterproof rating.

Do that many people need their phone to be waterproof rated? I realize it's mandatory from a marketing perspective, but how often is it used? Accidentally jumping in the pool/ocean/lake with your phone. But past that, I'm not often in submerged situations.

> Accidentally jumping in the pool/ocean/lake with your phone. But past that, I'm not often in submerged situations.

This is the main use case, but it's not to be dismissed considering this is a very common cause of phone failure. If this doubles the lifespan of your phone then it effectively ~halves the cost. Which is a big deal when phones are as expensive as they are.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#730

Post by eertami »

12907835202 wrote: post #60
ireallywantthat wrote: post #6

Too expensive for my tastes. Give me 380USD phone which lasts for next 5-8 years, feels premium, is repairable, camera is decent, replaceable battery, OS is just Vanilla Android with atleast 5 years(more years of Software updates would be welcome) of Software Updates and when you can't provide it, make it hackable enough to install Custom ROMs.

No company will ever make a 5-8 year phone at that price. That's $47-76 a year. People pay that amount or more for apps that help manage their fantasy football team... Comparitively that would be an insane bargain for a phone and it's absurd for that to be your requirement. I do wonder what the right price point would be for a subscription model. At the moment the average replacement time is every 2 years which would…

> No company will ever make a 5-8 year phone at that price

But they already do? I used my Oneplus X for 6 years and that was $249. Battery is the main reason I stopped using it. That's $3.50/month, maybe an outlier, but I wouldn't pay 10x that to check my messages and get directions.

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