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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.
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.
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.
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!
What about software fixes for security bugs?
What I'm about to say will be considered heresy, but...
Given that most Android phone OSes do not receive updates of any kind (let alone security fixes), well, what's the problem? I say that mostly in jest, mind you, but the vast majority of Android phones out there, even 4-year-old ancient critters, are most likely going to remain unexploited and untouched for as long as they are capable of running. Most users don't stray from the Play Store, they don't really add anything that they don't already know and trust, and to be honest, they will never see a problem as long as they don't sideload iffy crap off of Russian servers or suchlike.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
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.
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?
Maybe I LIKE the device I'm currently using, and don't want to be bothered to learn, configure, root, or customize a newer one. Maybe I find the build quality of a lot of new stuff to be not so good. Maybe I realize that the 'dollar a day' bargain is a price that's being incredibly heavily subsidized by future generations, and I don't want to contribute, any more than I already do, to the plundering of Earth for the sake of more frivolous shiny toys. Maybe I don't want to enrich the already too-powerful corporations even further. Maybe I want to do my part to put the brakes on the giant Ponzi scheme that is 'the economy'. Maybe I'm getting a new device, but want the old one to be fully functional as a backup, or because I want to give it to someone who otherwise can't afford such a device.
I could go on. There are lots of valid, even compelling, reasons for not replacing functional old tech with new tech. On the other hand, the reasons for dumping old devices in favour of new ones too often boil down to conformism and consumerism - which are mostly alternative names for 'selfishness', 'thoughtlessness', and 'emotional insecurity'.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.