5 ms·

Companies are incentivized in the long term to make good products. This incentive usually eclipses incentives that our (often justified) anti-corporate suspicio

by jm_l 9y ago

Companies are incentivized in the long term to make good products. This incentive usually eclipses incentives that our (often justified) anti-corporate suspicions invent.

bluehazed 9y ago
Judging by the sheer number of devices running outdated Android versions and the consumer unfriendly tactics such as locked bootloaders, carrier-locked modems, bloatware, and sometimes even tracking software (fair to call this spyware?) employed by carriers and manufacturers I'd say that incentive to produce good products rarely eclipses these supposedly "invented" negative incentives. That said, Treble looks like a good step in the right direction. Maybe things will improve in the future.
GordonS 9y ago
I'd like to believe that. But profits rule. Smartphone usage must be pretty close to saturation point, in the developed world at least. Samsung, Apple etc release a new, expensive device every year, and it's natural that they are going to want existing customers to upgrade. I think the only way Android users (of non-Google devices, that is) are going to get software upgrades is if Google somehow forces vendors to do it.
- petra 9y ago
  It might be enough for a single vendor to "break ranks" and go with treble to have a decent effect. Xiaomi did so with their large batteries, for example.
  - GordonS 9y ago
    I'm more an Android guy, so I don't have an iPhone (except for testing on mobile apps I'm working on), and so I don't know what the update situation is like. But my (limited!) understanding is that when they release new iOS versions they are available at least a couple of generations back - is that correct? Or if you buy a network locked phone is it up to the network?
    - remir 9y ago
      iOS updates are pushed directly by Apple. There's also "carrier updates", which I believe are also pushed by Apple, that update network settings and enables certain features when the carrier support them (VoLTE, Wifi-Calling, etc).
    - halostatue 9y ago
      Depending on the nature of the update, iPhone updates are generally 3–5 generations back. Just on the iPhone side, iOS 10 has some level of support on the iPhone 7 (current generation); iPhone 6s (-1 year); iPhone 6 (-2 years); iPhone SE (slightly updated iPhone 5s); iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c (-3 years); and iPhone 5 (-4 years). That’s five generations of support for iPhone. They are a little more aggressive with iPad and iPod touch deprecation, but I think that’s because some of those devices were built underpowered anyway.
abiox 9y ago
> Companies are incentivized in the long term to make good products i don't think this is necessarily true.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  Agreed. Seems to me they are incentiviced to offer the minimally viable product at the highest markup they can get away with. Then it is up to competitive forces to convince them otherwise.

by jm_l 9y ago

Companies are incentivized in the long term to make good products. This incentive usually eclipses incentives that our (often justified) anti-corporate suspicions invent.

bluehazed 9y ago

Judging by the sheer number of devices running outdated Android versions and the consumer unfriendly tactics such as locked bootloaders, carrier-locked modems, bloatware, and sometimes even tracking software (fair to call this spyware?) employed by carriers and manufacturers I'd say that incentive to produce good products rarely eclipses these supposedly "invented" negative incentives. That said, Treble looks like a good step in the right direction. Maybe things will improve in the future.

GordonS 9y ago

I'd like to believe that. But profits rule. Smartphone usage must be pretty close to saturation point, in the developed world at least. Samsung, Apple etc release a new, expensive device every year, and it's natural that they are going to want existing customers to upgrade. I think the only way Android users (of non-Google devices, that is) are going to get software upgrades is if Google somehow forces vendors to do it.

petra 9y ago
It might be enough for a single vendor to "break ranks" and go with treble to have a decent effect. Xiaomi did so with their large batteries, for example.
- GordonS 9y ago
  I'm more an Android guy, so I don't have an iPhone (except for testing on mobile apps I'm working on), and so I don't know what the update situation is like. But my (limited!) understanding is that when they release new iOS versions they are available at least a couple of generations back - is that correct? Or if you buy a network locked phone is it up to the network?
  - remir 9y ago
    iOS updates are pushed directly by Apple. There's also "carrier updates", which I believe are also pushed by Apple, that update network settings and enables certain features when the carrier support them (VoLTE, Wifi-Calling, etc).
  - halostatue 9y ago
    Depending on the nature of the update, iPhone updates are generally 3–5 generations back. Just on the iPhone side, iOS 10 has some level of support on the iPhone 7 (current generation); iPhone 6s (-1 year); iPhone 6 (-2 years); iPhone SE (slightly updated iPhone 5s); iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c (-3 years); and iPhone 5 (-4 years). That’s five generations of support for iPhone. They are a little more aggressive with iPad and iPod touch deprecation, but I think that’s because some of those devices were built underpowered anyway.

abiox 9y ago

> Companies are incentivized in the long term to make good products i don't think this is necessarily true.

digi_owl 9y ago
Agreed. Seems to me they are incentiviced to offer the minimally viable product at the highest markup they can get away with. Then it is up to competitive forces to convince them otherwise.