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Forced to upgrade

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Re: Forced to upgrade

#281

Post by vundercind »

pbmonster wrote: post #269
vundercind wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 en…

On Android, those features where shipped as apps. PixelCam brought live photos, and Google Lens brought seamless OCR to images. And really, that's how it should be. Both of those things are not things the operating system does or should do.

> Google Lens brought seamless OCR to images.

Do you have to open Google Lens to do it? I could already do something like that, just didn't. It's totally different when it Just Works.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#282

Post by benj111 »

StressedDev wrote: post #178
taeric wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The author appears to be someone who gets angry or very annoyed when he does not get his way. The author may also just not like change. Basically, he is upset he had to buy a new phone after 6 years and the new phone was different from his old phone. I do not think his behavior is productive or helpful.

1. The article outright states that hes not pissed at Apple for 'only' supporting the phone for 6 years.

I read that criticism as aimed at the software developers withdrawing support for older OS versions.

I read the article more as a lament, rather than angry or annoyed. The author had a perfectly usable phone that he was forced from due to external factors, and the replacement doesn't improve upon its predecessor.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#283

Post by benj111 »

nucleardog wrote: post #254
ryandrake wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we should expect basic software security updates and third party app compatibility to continue until the last device’s hardware fails. This idea that a device that millions of people still use is “old and icky and we just don’t wanna support it anymore” is user-hostile and should not be tolerated.

I've still got a working Android Dev Phone 1 here. Updated fully to Android 1.6. Got a massive 256MB of internal storage (basically none usable, mind you, all taken up by the OS) and a zippy 500MHz processor with a single core to share between the OS and apps. What you're proposing is a massive waste of effort and talent--attempting to accomplish something bordering on impossible with a benefit of practically nil. In…

My first observation is that the differences between a Dev Phone 1 and a phone 5 years later, is not the same as the differences between a phone of today and 5 years ago. The industry has matured, changes are much smaller.

Second, I'm having trouble putting my finger on an actual limitation. I have a 5 year old camera, on my 5 year old phone, I'm not asking for the drivers to be updated for evermore, just a stable api, so takepicture() works. If you want to add takepicturemacro() then fine.

But you don't even need that. My C compiler can target many different instruction sets.

Third. Modern phone OSs are walled gardens. I don't really have to option of doing all this myself. If the phone companies and OSs aren't going to give me full control of my hardware, they should have a duty to support things for longer.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#284

Post by freeone3000 »

fragmede wrote: post #232
sunrunner wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for the 13 mini if form factor is your primary concern (and given the sizes of even the 'small' mobile phone offerings of recent years I completely understand why that would be). I upgraded an eight year old SE (first generation) to an SE3 thinking it would be the obvious choice, then promptly replaced it with the 13 mini within a week (fortunately still available at the time). The difference is small on paper but…

The problem with the 13 mini is it's lack of touchid. it's fine otherwise and I'd pick one up in a heartbeat if it did, but it doesn't, so I won't. really waiting to see how the SE4 goes. I'm. envious of some of android's devices and features, the main thing keeping me locked into apple's ecosystem is iMessage.

There’s no touchid on any other phone apple currently sells; I would bet against having it on a newly released apple device.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#285

Post by spicybbq »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #136
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.

Yet when Apple offer those devices they don’t sell enough to warrant Apple keeping them in the lineup. Having said that I wonder if the article’s author would have been better off buying the SE. It is smaller, has Touch ID and will run his apps.

Unfortunately, the upcoming SE 4 appears to have a 6.1 inch screen.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#286

Post by vel0city »

vundercind wrote: post #158
SoftTalker wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 co…

> mobile deposit from a laptop camera would be... awkward at best

I was doing at-home deposits using a flatbed scanner and the bank's website (maybe a java applet?) before the iPhone was released. It wasn't too hard, assuming one had a flatbed scanner.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#287

Post by vel0city »

Suppafly wrote: post #265
lsaferite wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm using the same $9 (yes, 9) drip coffee machine to make my daily coffee for more than 10 years currently. It has an on/off switch and no 'smarts'. It works fine, why should I change it? It's plugged into a smart outlet that I use to make sure it's turned off after an hour. That plug is getting close to 10 years old as well.

You must not have hard water. We get a >$20 mr. coffee every year or so. They'd likely last longer if we cleaned them more often because if you wait too long, it doesn't seem to help.

> every year or so

Every year? Good lord what do you do to those things. I've lived in hard water areas my whole life and have never experienced people churning through coffee machines that fast.

> They'd likely last longer if we cleaned them more often

So yeah, just put some vinegar through them every now and then and they'll be fine and last a decade. Take care of it and it'll last you a long time. If they're burning out and not incredibly scaled up, there's potentially something wrong with your home's wiring.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#288

Post by cxr »

aucisson_masque wrote: post #175
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…

You’re lucky not using a bank app that enforce minimum version check.

This comes off a little bit like, "You're lucky not paying for streaming services that cost 60 bucks a month."

You, too, can be someone who doesn't use these things. It doesn't take luck.

Re: Forced to upgrade

#289

Post by TomMasz »

I'm in the same boat. I need to update my Apple Watch but can't because I can't update my iPhone 8. I love Apple stuff but there's no ignoring the costs (beyond the purchase price).

Re: Forced to upgrade

#290

Post by meisel »

I refuse to believe they didn’t notice a key difference in the phones - the iPhone 16 will feel much, much snappier. Games aside, just opening any old app will be much faster. I notice this every time I upgrade, even when it’s just going up 3 versions, not 8.
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