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1st gen iPad Mini owner here. I received it as a Christmas present in 2012, and in the first few months, I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to fit in wit

1st gen iPad Mini owner here. I received it as a Christmas present in 2012, and in the first few months, I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to fit in with a laptop and phone always in tow. I eventually found the sweet spot, and I am a mini tablet evangelist. It's still chugging along fine 4.5 years later in spite of all of the abuse it has received. I bought a Nexus 7 in lieu of the iPad in 2015. The Nexus 7 is only 2 years old, but it chugs along fine as well. My only complaint is that the standby battery life on the Nexus is abysmal. It's not an age thing - it's always been bad. There is no need to be on the upgrade wagon for tablets like with phones. This isn't quite the case anymore, but 2 years on the same phone used to be a very long time in terms of hardware/software breakthroughs. A 2010 version of a smartphone was usually markedly different from a 2012 version of a smartphone. Once the 2nd generation of tablets was released (to fix the missteps of the 1st generation), then there was little incentive to upgrade.

pdimitar 9y ago
That's exactly my point, thank you. IMO we hit a plateau of the need to upgrade around the second half of 2016 -- mostly. While things like Bluetooth 5.0 -- which allows you to be connected to more than one device -- are important and improve quality of life for people with a lot of tech (which inevitably will be all of us in a few decades), CPU/GPU performance and the need for more RAM have ground to a halt. I've seen people game on an iPhone SE and being happy about it, too. Wi-Fi can't honestly be developed much further from now; nobody's phone needs even 50MB/s, let alone the insane projections for 5G speeds. 2560x1440 smartphone displays are meaningless; very few people can spot the difference between that and a 1920x1080 screen in a 5.5" factor; even fewer need that difference. The list goes on. Add to that the previous point of both of us -- that the iPads are long-lasting -- and I only see such articles as the OP as meaningless clickbaits that don't inform anyone in any meaningful way. People don't buy tablets like they're a cheap new pair of seasonal shoes. They buy them for long-term value.

pdimitar 9y ago

That's exactly my point, thank you. IMO we hit a plateau of the need to upgrade around the second half of 2016 -- mostly. While things like Bluetooth 5.0 -- which allows you to be connected to more than one device -- are important and improve quality of life for people with a lot of tech (which inevitably will be all of us in a few decades), CPU/GPU performance and the need for more RAM have ground to a halt. I've seen people game on an iPhone SE and being happy about it, too. Wi-Fi can't honestly be developed much further from now; nobody's phone needs even 50MB/s, let alone the insane projections for 5G speeds. 2560x1440 smartphone displays are meaningless; very few people can spot the difference between that and a 1920x1080 screen in a 5.5" factor; even fewer need that difference. The list goes on. Add to that the previous point of both of us -- that the iPads are long-lasting -- and I only see such articles as the OP as meaningless clickbaits that don't inform anyone in any meaningful way. People don't buy tablets like they're a cheap new pair of seasonal shoes. They buy them for long-term value.