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Choosing to Skip the Upgrade and Care for the Gadget You've Got (nytimes.com)
The New York Times has run a piece on its "Tech Fix" section, in which it argues, citing a user's experience, why skipping an upgrade might not be a bad idea, and how you could hold on to your existing device for a little longer. The story revolves around Vincent Lai, who dug up a Palm Treo, a smartphone that was disconnected last decade, and found that with little tweaks, the phone still had some life in it. From the article: Mr. Lai's behavior might be extreme, but his experience with the Palm Treo illustrates there is another way: If you simply put some maintenance into electronics as you would a car, you can stay happy with your gadgets for years. It is part of a movement of anti-consumerism, or the notion of cherishing what you have rather than incessantly buying new stuff. Signs of this philosophy are spreading: Industry data suggests that consumers are waiting longer to upgrade to new phones than they have in the past. [...] When smartphones and tablets were fairly sluggish and limited in abilities compared with computers, there was a compelling reason to buy a new mobile device every few years. But now the mobile gadgets have become so fast and capable that you can easily keep them much longer. "A five-year-old computer is still completely fine now," Mr. Wiens said. "We're starting to hit that same plateau with phones now."The article also shares some tips such as clearing up storage and getting your device's battery replaced -- which costs roughly $20 to $40 -- that can help you get the max out of your phone and tablet. There's one more aspect, which the aforementioned article doesn't talk about. If you have an old iDevice -- iPhone or iPad -- upgrading to the latest available version of the operating system could substantially slow it up. Not upgrading, however, exposes your device to a range of security attacks. It's a tough choice.
What about software fixes for security bugs?
Could be worse... you could have no option of upgrading at all like many Android devices, and be stuck with an old, buggy version.
So you're honestly going to skip security updates out of fear that they're adding features that will bog down your phone?
The reason the 5 year old computer is "just fine" is because the party is over: microprocessors are not getting faster at the rate they once were. The 5 year old computer is within an order of magnitude of power as todays computers. People expect computers to get faster and faster, but they aren't at the rate we have been used to. We are hitting physical limits of digital chip technology. This means that things like AI and "the singularity" that slashdotters dream of will likely never happen, unless we come up with a totally new way of computing. And don't say "quantum computing" either. Quantum computers are currently snakeoil, and even when they come into existence they will be only useful for a narrow set of problems.
I used my first-gen iPod Touch for eight years before the battery stopped holding a charge. Probably five years after the last update. I got an iPhone 5C to replace it since it was $100 cheaper than the current iPod Touch and my cellphone was out of contract.
Phone-wise, I upgrade either when it smokes, breaks or just becomes so sluggish with later OS versions that I want to chuck it out the window.
Fortunately, things like the 5S still run 9.3 very well, my desktop is nearly 10 years old, and my laptop is around 5. The laptop smokes the desktop, but for what I use these.. it don't matter. It just don't.
So yeah.. when it smokes, I replace it.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
Please stop using the DEC logo for random digital stuff. It's in the pile like the AMD and Intel logo because back when slashdot did such things, DEC was still a going concern and one of the coolest tech companies.
Whiplash? Are you reading?
SJW n. One who posts facts.
It's called "who gives a shit"? I have a 5-6 year old LG optimus phone. It still works. Why upgrade or change anything?
This is a great idea with a car. But what's even the use with a cell phone? If you hold on to it for a normal length of time, a cool new cell phone will amortize to maybe a dollar a day. It's multi-purpose, acting as a phone + camera + MP3 player + computer + blah blah blah. I dunnow, why cheap out on something you use all the time that really isn't that expensive?
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
In Aldous Huxley 'Brave New World' they had a saying "Better to end than mend", meaning that rather than fix something, throw it away and get a new one. It was better for their 'economy'.
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
The problem isn't often the hardware, but the software. Maintaining old gadgets should be OK if you're willing to stay away from walled-gardens or jail-break your device. This post is probably a testament that we should, in fact be doing one of those, or opt for open systems. In other words, you must also choose a device that CAN be maintained easily.
I have a first-generation iPad and it technically works fine. The battery still lasts long enough for it to be useful, and the device is in near-new shape. However, because it's no longer supported, it's becoming more and more useless for the following reasons:
1) New apps can no longer be installed because even the most trivial programs are written with libraries only supported by a recent OS version, which the device does not support.
2) Most currently installed apps can no longer be upgraded for the same reason as above. Those that can be upgraded often have bugs, leaving the user with a broken app, as there's no easy way to revert.
3) Existing apps that worked great yesterday start to require more memory, and begin to crash more and more often. If the app uses an external service, this can start happening even if the app was never upgraded.
PCs are a little easier. My last PC was a decade old before I stopped using it as my main machine. My current one is six years old and going strong.
Instead of choosing between an old iPhone OS and a slow iPhone, you could always just upgrade to a Palm Treo.
>> upgrading to the latest available version of the operating system could substantially slow it up. Not upgrading, however, exposes your device to a range of security attacks. It's a tough choice.
Hey, if you want to avoid the dilemma, just become an Android user, where the tradeoff has already been decided for you: you'll almost NEVER be able to upgrade!
I had something similar happen to me just this last week.
For some time now, the power connection on my ~2-3 year old cell phone was getting flakey. Only certain USB cables worked, and then only if they were plugged in just right.
I happened to notice that one of the connectors wasn't seating properly. Took a close look, and noticed that the USB port on the phone was packed with pocket lint. After spending about an hour with a needle and various improvised tools made from thin cardstock, I managed to dig out a substantial wad of fluff that had been packed into the connector. After doing so, the USB cables fit *much* better, and I'm able to get a reasonably decent connection, even on cables that weren't working before.
The irony, of course, is that 2-3 years is the normal upgrade timeframe. I could have easily been the type of person who said "well, my phone is over 2 years old, it's time to get a new one anyway!" and then forked over several hundred dollars for a new phone, consigning my old "broken" one to the recyclers. Instead, for about an hour or so of DIY effort, I've gotten back most of the usefulness of my phone. If I had bothered to check the state of the USB port earlier, and blown out any accumulated lint, I might not have even encounted the problem.
(Granted, it's not totally back. There's still some issues with positioning of some cables. There still might be something wrong with it. -- But looking online, it looks like a power connector replacement is a common and somewhat simple replacement for this brand, albeit one that needs a bit of instruction. If I do need a replacement, I'm likely to do one myself, instead of spending money on a completely new phone.)
I am still quite happily running a quad core processor from several years ago. While I am able to upgrade some parts of it, if I need to do more than one... it would cost just as much to build a new system. It's sometimes just harder to find parts for older machines. I usually get to the point where when I do build a new system, I have to re-educate myself on all the new formats/standards for hardware.
But to the topic of phones, I have upgraded my phone now for the third time in the same timespan. My first foray into smartphones was a few years ago with the HTC One, on T-Mobile. It was a great phone. When it became lethargic, I rooted it and it got new life. Then about a year and a half ago, they were updating their network and dropping 3G. My phone didn't support 4GLTE, and by law they had to provide me (and my wife) with a new phone for free. We got low-end phones that were barely above our 3 year old phones. Those became problematic as they filled up VERY quickly (2GB storage). I just bought a new BLU phone, which should have the specs to keep me going for a while... but there is no real way to "upgrade" things. Replace a battery... maybe get a bigger memory card. But a lot of things come down to your provider or if you are even able to do things like upgrade the OS. My parents have older iphones, and all my dad wants is a weather app. I couldn't find an older app in the app store, everything required a newer version of the OS. I don't belong to the Apple-verse, so I couldn't help him.
Planned obsolescence is what keeps me out of "the cloud" [or whatever you want to call it] as much as possible, but it's getting harder and harder.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
...and it works just fine for what it does. It can STILL play high quality youtube videos like it always could, and essentially it's just my alarm clock and phone I use every day. I drool at the new Samsung Edge S7 etc...but the game is over when I see prices like 1000$ for a freaking phone, all of a sudden my old phone becomes super attractive (it's an old HTC Legend solid-alu chassis / Oled screen) and what I like about it is that I can still get 3 DAYS battery time out of it.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
Hipsters are going to be all over this like flies on shit.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Upgrading a phone every year is a fashion decision, not a technical one. Choosing to do so after two years is often more technically driven-- meaningful technical improvements (802.11ac, LTE, screen, etc.). Taking good care of a phone and having it last three years is a personal/economic decision. Keeping it much longer may have diminishing returns.
A tablet I would like to keep for 3-4 years; with heavy use, mine have been closer to 2 years, although I am currently at 2.5 years. For the tablet, it really depends on your use case.
A computer though, I have no idea how most people could last 5 years. My mom's computer did make it almost 13 years, but it was clearly at the bitter end of its life a year or two earlier. I am at 5 years and starting to die when I need to run a VM with Windows, but for most of the people in our office after 4 years it is just constant problems.
Is the end of carrier subsidies. Although the net cost to consumers may be about the same with and without the subsidy, the psychological effect of having to pay full price for a phone upfront (or in clearly-demarcated monthly payments) is a great disincentive to upgrading.
I had my previous Motorola Droid Razr for years and toward the end of its life put Cynaogen on it. It was an entirely new phone at that point and the only reason I upgraded to the Samsung S5 was because I had a free upgrade.
The S5 is starting to slow down and become unresponsive because of the amount of crapware that Verizon loads onto the phone. I am going to take the plunge and try to root it, though from what I am reading now that it is running Lollipop, it might be a bit tricky. Have any of you downgraded to Kitkat from the most recent version of Lollipop and successfully rooted a Verizon S5?
Given the hardware specs of the current phone, along with wifi and LTE, I could see myself using this phone for years and years to come if I can get replacement batteries for it.
If I ever do have to buy a new phone, I will not buy it from a carrier. There are too many strings attached. Wireless carriers should be like ISPs. We only need them to give us connectivity.
If that phones 2G, it won't work for much longer. AT&T is supposed to start or complete 2G shutdown either this or next year.
" If you have an old iDevice -- iPhone or iPad -- upgrading to the latest available version of the operating system could substantially slow it up. Not upgrading, however, exposes your device to a range of security attacks. It's a tough choice."
There's a problem with that last part, Apple doesn't support upgrading old iPads to the newest OS. We found that out when we tried updating my wife's iPad after taking it into the Apple store. Once you get beyond a certain point hardware wise the OS isn't backwards compatible.
Verizon's trying to side step this with their payment plan scheme. You don't pay full price up front, just the sales tax. Then you pay monthly installments with the option to pay off the device at any time (after an initial grace period). The net result is the same as subsidies except the cost of the phone is more transparent.
I haven't looked at the statistics to see if this is working, but given the number of people that lease automobiles and get a new one every few years or so, I can see people doing the same for phones.
Weird - same phone I use - bought a few on ebay for spares..
Not interested in a droid, Iphone, or Winphone - I want a platform that belongs to me and doesn't spy. There is a concerted effort to prevent an opensource (the whole phone) platform by people in 3-letter places and the usual 'cartel socialism' companies.
So still using a treo for now - probably more secure than the new crap - and less of a time waster..
You're talking about a problem specific to Apple. Microsoft, at least, supports their products for much, much longer.
I don't respond to AC's.
Phone-wise, I upgrade either when it smokes (..)
Silly you... when the magic smoke starts coming out, just put some duct tape over the leak & the phone will be fine!
I'm dating myself, but I distinctly remember Treo owners on IRC way back when being maniacal about their devotion to the brand. Like so much so that today's Apple fanboys look quite casual in comparison. They were almost like a cult.
Android user here and I just want to say that I am totally fine with the OS being "insecure". For me it's not an inconvenience to wait to be on a PC to do my banking and I can easily avoid third party russian and chinese app stores.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
I haven't yet decided, though I am leaning to keeping the 5S. My existing phone, with a new battery, would probably have at least 2 years of useful life left in it. The SE doesn't really have anything in it that is all that compelling to me compared to the 5S except for Apple Pay support, but I don't shop at Apple Pay locations very often. If my phone were a 5 or 5C, it would be a different story, but the 5S has aged remarkably well and holds up well to Apple's more recent offerings.
Intelligent responses welcome, flames will be met with marshmallows.
As people have mentioned, this is a problem of software. The hardware exists and is plenty good for sustained use but we don't have the same cult community dedicated to supporting old hardware as say the PC. This may change as more and more of these SoCs go open source for their drivers and specifications but until we have a real solid infrastructure in place for maintaining these systems and a community that is enthused about the prospect of doing do, we're just going to look at the cost/value analysis and grab a new device.
DEC was bought by Compaq as you say and Compaq was bought by HP in 2001. VMS was ported to IA64 in the early 2000s.
Both companies didn't know what to do with DEC (especially VMS) and cashcowed VMS into extinction instead of developing it.
The end of Alpha support for VMS will be at the end of this year, BTW and IA64 support will end a few years from now.
A company called VSI which consists of former DEC VMS engineers is currently porting VMS to x86-64.
I agree with you.
However there's more.
New chips don't add so much processing, but they add signature verification, remote attestation, DRM and what not to ensure even more spying and less control over your gadgets. If you want libreboot or replicant you'll want old hardware.
The gear you throw away is going to be a very nasty kind of garbage and producing new electronics takes too much in environmental and human resources, so you would be a bad person to upgrade even if it was good for you. But it isn't. Upgrading is just another way to finance your spies (taxes being the main one). Spying may be inescapable, you may not be able to buy decent behaving hardware any more, but for now you can choose not to buy new hardware. I guess this option will be soon removed, but let's take advantage of it while we can.
In the end it's a sustainability problem, not only material, because of the rare metals, working conditions and so on, but also because of the increasing complexity. We have long past the point a person could understand her computer system, but the more often everyone buys gizmos, updates software, installs needless apps and floats data through clouds the more difficult we make for the community to collectively understand what's going on and share warnings or solutions.
You see it in security, but not only there. Linux is in billions of devices but they can't be updated because companies adapting it can't be bothered to collaborate and upstream, so you buy a device that you can only afford because of many shared wealth in free software projects, but the version of that code you get is 3 years old and you can't upgrade because of the proprietary cruft thrown in, the secrecy and the sheer unproductive diversity in chipsets, devices and vendors. Then after 2 years with luck you have to throw your device away because of incompatibilities or vulnerabilities.
We know it doesn't have to be this way. Less options less often but more quality, transparency and collaboration would lead to better experience, less waste, less resources and more features for more people.
The only way there's any hope that someday vendors realise and things can improve is stopping to buy the latest and shiniest and collaborate to maintaining devices longer, avoiding bloatware, and when a device breaks, fix it or replace with some second hand purchase.
And to have any hope to achieve that we have to modify this silly wanton of buying always the latest because you can afford it (and want to brag that you can) and pushing acquaintances to network effect services just to show off you have time to waste on trying a thousand apps. Use those resources instead to prove quality on what is already there and build decentralised services or just learn to live a little more disconnected. And even letting other know how we see it, so that the social pressure is weaker and cutting edge stress is seen as an ailment not a skill. Being exclusively positive about anything new and accepting mainstream cliches is easy, but too risky.
The current abuses together with the weakening of the Moore law shows it's just about time.
Perhaps not one key event, but a combination of solid state storage removing the hard-drive-failure event that often drove people to upgrade, CPU performance topping out, and RAM well beyond anything most programs need have all conspired together to give us desktops, laptops, and mobile devices that basically no longer get 'old'. Not to mention that power consumption is low enough now that PSUs just aren't burning out like they used to :-).
Something strange happened in the last year or two. I buy computers all the time for DragonFly testing, so I have a pile of machines of all different kinds including a bunch of BRIX form-factor units. I stuff nominal sweet-spot memory and storage into them all, always, because they get repurposed or farmed out to friends all the time to make room for new hw.
The strange thing that happened... it became convenient to just throw 8-16GB of ram into all of these things. Even the tiny little BRIX. And even the little BRIX can dual-head two 4K displays, and easily fit a 2.5" SSD (and so can hold quite a bit of storage). None of these boxes have any moving components except a fan or two. They don't fail if I put them on a shelf for a year.
Up until about 2 years ago I was regularly throwing away my oldest hardware, including the bulky cases (which had to be large enough to hold a CD and/or DVD and several 3.5" drives).
But the remainder of that really old hardware petered out last year. Now there's no reason at all to throw away my 'new' old hardware... it is still useful enough that I can give it away or repurpose some of its components. The cases are all small so I just reuse those if I can't find any use for the mobo. I reuse the SSDs (I never reused old hard drives). I reuse the PSUs (if any). There's no graphics card to replace since it is built into the cpu.
In fact, the only thing I haven't been able to recycle in the new old machines have been the DIMMs due to continuous technology changes, but those just stay with the original motherboard.
In our colocation for DragonFly our blade server (12 x haswell blades in 2U) has handled all of our needs and other than slowly replacing the remaining HDDs with SSDs will probably handle all of our needs for the next 10 years. Or longer. It will be interesting to see what the failure mode is for the hardware because it will probably be the first piece of hardware I own that stays fully active and relevant until the blades actually physically fail.
I love the technology but I think there's only more pain to come for Intel.
-Matt
This is how we should aspire to be. The precedent that Apple has established of upgrading devices after 3-4 years benefits no one but them.
Stable platforms drive software development
Less waste devices is better for the environment.
Learn to do MORE with what you have now.
Old devices (normally) would not lose functionality. So if it functions great when you buy it, things should only improve as you become more familiar with the device.
This is why programmed obsolescence is enforced. iPhone 4 does not support 3dtouch screens, but is that even necessary? You still have to upgrade. Even if you hold off on the iOS upgrade, your apps will eventually not work on your current version. And the new OS is slower on your device.
I know it has been said a million times before, but its so true. We went to the moon on the power of a TI83 calculator. That device could calculate military mortar trajectories no sweat.
Please use your devices to their fullest potential before trashing them. If you stop to think about it, you may not actually need any of the new features.
A switch that I have been planning on making is to a very dumb phone from the chocolate bar slab family. Except the one I am looking at can tether. Then I will just use other devices as I please for years to come.
The benefits are pretty good. The basic phone not only has a very good battery, but also has a swapable battery. The devices that I can tether will then vary with my mood, and over the years with what devices I still have. A small tablet one day, a larger tablet the next, or a laptop. This way when I buy another device I don't have to ask, "Is it unlocked?"
This is from someone who only recently replaced my iPad 1 for the simple reason that a few critical apps would no longer run.
I mean I support the sentiment. We don't need to run on the marketing treadmill these companies put out for us. Skipping an upgrade, yeah, I'm totally into that.
However a Palm Treo?? That's not "skipping an upgrade", that's "skipping a decade or more and not caring about the consequences."
I guess as long as it doesn't slow it down, I'm fine.
A lot of phones seem to have specific batteries that fit them and are produced in the same time period as the phone is sold. If you buy a "new" battery for a four year old phone, you will likely get something that has been sitting on a shelf for three or four years and had its capacity degrade already. I'd really like to see a push for standardization of smart phone batteries to avoid this issue.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, that appears in the New Yorki Times, (since 1968, at least) can be regarded as anything but ruthless, false, misleading, dirty propaganda on behalf of the US 1% Ruling Classes. But, we all know that, don't each and every one of us? How can anyone imagine that some of us don't know this?