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Forced to upgrade

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Re: Forced to upgrade

#151

Post by obmelvin »

Hard_Space wrote: post #4

This also counts for desktop Macs. Twice in the last 20 years I have had to explain to my elderly Dad that even though his expensive Mac could last another thirty years, it's now a paperweight, or something to be 'repurposed'. I have wondered sometimes if hardware manufacturers actively seek out significant road-mapped hardware changes (such as Intel>ARM, etc., in case of Apple) in order to keep sales rolling in and…

Why can't your dad keep using his existing computer? Sure, if you make your living on the computer the new laptops are great. But if he's just checking email, photos, etc - I don't know why his computer needs to become a paperweight

Re: Forced to upgrade

#152

Post by lynndotpy »

marsovo wrote: post #133
abtinf wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just out of curiosity (I’m not familiar with the current state of android software support) does your phone still get security updates and, assuming it does, how much longer do you expect them to continue?

Samsung is top-tier by Android standards. 4 years of security updates and 3 years of OS upgrades (minimum - some devices, such as the premium models, get more than that). Better than Google themselves when last I checked, which is shameful.

Google now promises seven years of OS and security updates. The latest Pixels should be supported until August or September 2031.

That said, I don't trust Google, and would recommend filling out the arbitration optout form when you receive the device.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#153

Post by LeafItAlone »

xmprt wrote: post #147

I think a big part of this is that upgrading from iPhone 8 to 16 is such a huge jump that all the muscle memory that you've built up has changed. You might as well switch to an Android phone. I wonder how OP's opinion would change in a few months once they're used to the phone.

I went from an 8 to a 15. My muscle memory adapted in about a day or two. I’m not old, but I’m also not young.

I love the 15 and still keep the 8 around for music and other things. For me, Face ID is superior and I get confused when I look at my 8 and it doesn’t immediately unlock. And I was super worried about losing Touch ID.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#154

Post by dnissley »

putzdown wrote: post #126

The main message I take from this story is that a decent quorum of consumers want Apple to offer a smaller phone in each generation. The OP seems not to have minded having to upgrade eventually, just not to a “virtual tablet.” I’ve heard others express the same desire.

The impression I get is that these consumers who want a smaller phone are a very loud minority. They also often seem to overlap with the set of consumers who are extremely cheap. To Apple they are just bad customers who they will always have a hard time making money from -- not super worth catering to.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#155

Post by ahmedfromtunis »

abtinf wrote: post #129
ahmedfromtunis wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm typing this on my 5-year old Samsung A30 that, aside from a screen crack I take full responsibility for, is still in perfect working conditions. I never encountered any app that refuses to install despite my device being stuck on Android 11. The only reason this sometimes happen is because of geofencing, or apps built for Pixel phones. I only started to look for acquiring a new device because telecom operators ar…

Just out of curiosity (I’m not familiar with the current state of android software support) does your phone still get security updates and, assuming it does, how much longer do you expect them to continue?

There's no such a thing as "the current state of android". Each manufacturer has its rules and priorities. Heck even within the same manufacturer there are different rules for different tiers; and obviously, pricier devices get more updates.

Samsung is however among the best in that regard. The last security update received on my phone was in February of last year, so almost 4 years after the release of the device. However I forgot how many os updates the device got, but there's at least one received during the first year.

But the company improved its updates policy since. I purchased a galaxy tablet 3 years ago (iirc) and it already received 4 os updates so far. The latest such update, received last month, was just 6 months or so after the previous os update.

But again, this varies from company to the other. I bought phones from Motorola and Nokia that they claimed would receive 2 or 3 os updates, but never delivered even a single one.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#156

Post by vundercind »

pbmonster wrote: post #84
mplewis wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Security.

Nothing inherent makes security on 7 year old hardware any more difficult than on 2 year old hardware. Also, we're getting into the differences between upgrades (what OP said) and updates (the thing necessary to keep up with security) here. I'm having a really hard time coming up with an OS feature introduced in a full OS upgrade within the last 10 years that I actually want. I would have been perfectly content with…

> I'm having a really hard time coming up with an OS feature introduced in a full OS upgrade within the last 10 years that I actually want.

- Live Photos. I won't consider any device that doesn't have something analogous, now. They're magical. Non-kid-havers may feel otherwise, but making every photo I snap of my kids a "Live Photo" is one of the most important improvements any technology thingy has provided in my entire life. (I think these are under the 10-year line? Very close, if not)

- Transparent OCR and text selection in images. The first time I used an image for a couple full minutes, copying text out of it, before realizing only when I went to share it with someone that it wasn't a PDF but a PNG, was when I knew this had to be a table-stakes your-OS-is-incomplete-without-it feature for me. Sure it could just be a feature of some program I've got installed, but having it in any native image view is way better than having to open some specific program to use it, a thing I could long have done, but never did. Making it first-class, fast, and transparent to the user, makes all the difference. I rely on it all the time now.

A couple off the top of my head.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#157

Post by zupa-hu »

codr7 wrote: post #149

I'm running an iPhone SE that's probably older. Love it, it's perfect for me, I dread the day it stops working. I've been forced to use various newer models over the years, and they just keep getting worse to me.

Same here.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#158

Post by vundercind »

SoftTalker wrote: post #132
ozim wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally - like people don't have banking apps on their ovens or midi keyboards and are not keeping like half of their lives on a washing machine.

I don't like these things on my phone either.

Where do you handle that stuff? Doing them on a desktop seems like the same thing but less secure and less convenient, and sometimes with fewer features (mobile deposit from a laptop camera would be... awkward at best). Do you instead avoid using computers for things like banking?

[EDIT] FWIW I'm in the so-called "Oregon Trail" mini-generation, so have definitely lived in and remember a world far more low-tech and connected than the current one, was a very late smartphone adopter, and have only reluctantly and recently come to admit that my phone is basically the only really useful computer I own for my personal life, and the "real" computers are mostly just toys for me that, at best, can replace only part of my phone's useful-in-my-ordinary-life functionality, in its absence. A high-quality internet-connected sensor and I/O suite in a pocket-sized package is just too damn useful, I've found.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#159

Post by tonyedgecombe »

Dalewyn wrote: post #11
nextlevelwizard wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to be quite cynical if you see Apple's transition to ARM only as a ploy to get people to replace their Intel based machines. I am sure it is a nice bonus, but performance and efficiency just went through the roof. With yearly iPhone releases it is harder to justify upgrades. Like for author - upgrading from working phone to newer model while not gaining anything significant is stupid.

>With yearly iPhone releases it is harder to justify upgrades. It might be helpful to think of them like cars: New models every year, but customers only "upgrade" every 10 to 20 years.

I don’t think it really matters if some people upgrade more frequently as long as the old devices enter the secondary market.

What we don’t want is functional devices rotting in a drawer or landfill.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#160

Post by taeric »

putzdown wrote: post #126

The main message I take from this story is that a decent quorum of consumers want Apple to offer a smaller phone in each generation. The OP seems not to have minded having to upgrade eventually, just not to a “virtual tablet.” I’ve heard others express the same desire.

I'm not clear where that read comes from? There is a single mention of "veritable tablets" in this post, and I'm not at all seeing this backed up with any evidence of latent demand?
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