Even though the OS itself is not updated, most of the libraries etc gets updated via the google services package. Not that I am defending not updating the OS,

Even though the OS itself is not updated, most of the libraries etc gets updated via the google services package. Not that I am defending not updating the OS, but its not nearly as bad as removing the support completely. I still have a HTC Desire HD (bought in 2011) that gets updates in this way. I still keep it around to see how long it will live (that's one solid phone), but my main phone is a nexus