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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?
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.
Why not? The choice is between a phone that's so secure its unusable or
one that is insecure but is still fast enough to use.
You really rather own a brick than a phone that might be insecure?
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
What better logo for an article about maintaining legacy hardware in production?
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
>> 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!