4 ms·

Phones are a bit more of a commodity than laptops/desktops are, I think primarily because of the strong evolution you see in comparison over the same timeframe.

Phones are a bit more of a commodity than laptops/desktops are, I think primarily because of the strong evolution you see in comparison over the same timeframe. A laptop from 7-8 years ago largely still is capable of running the latest software (and most of the time Operating Systems), while an 8 year old phone hardly has the performance to do either with the advancements that have been made.

_trampeltier 5y ago
I also bought a new phone for my mom just because, the latest android update was 2017 and some apps did not work any longer, so we bought a new phone. The phone was still in a pretty good shape and the battery too. She just used here phone very rarely.
loosescrews 5y ago
Note that the average price of an iPhone is higher than the average price of a Chromebook.
fartcannon 5y ago
You only think that because that's what we've let transpire. It's a disgrace that I can not use my iPhone or Android phone to easily create new software, only consume. They're more than powerful enough to fully replace most computer usage including software development. But no, we've let them normalize locking the OS, and hiding the file system. Its an absolute disgrace.
- eptcyka 5y ago
  Locking the filesystem doesn't necessarily mean developing with them is impossible. What is preventing IDEs from working is the inability to execute unsigned binaries combined with the absence of signing binaries locally. And I agree, I too see this as an invitation to fornicate myself, a personal invitiation signed by google and Apple no less.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- skinnymuch 5y ago
  Hah I so strongly disagree with your Phil Xbox take. But am nodding along agreeing with a lot of your recent comments. This one especially. It is absolutely a disgrace. Not even specifically to create software. Not allowing root, the ways of the app stores, the entire UX. It all focuses on consumption and weak workflow. A 13 inch iPad could very easily be a dedicated developer device (and some do get by this way), but it’s such a pain.
heleninboodler 5y ago
iPads and phones are different beasts, though. I personally have much lower expectations of my ipad, and one of those fairly low expectations is that the browser should continue working (with the implied, "and be safe to use" that requires security updates) for as long as the device doesn't physically break. I get that Apple can't be expected to keep developing software for these forever, but I'd be a lot happier if they would transition them to some kind of minimal support where they publish routine OS and security updates for them rather than just abandoning them. They also have this habit of ratcheting up the OS targeting requirements of the SDKs so app builders end up unwittingly building new versions of their apps that exclude old devices unnecessarily. I'm not sure my oldest ipad could install any of its apps again if I uninstalled them, even the ones from Apple.
- ryandrake 5y ago
  As someone who still has (and uses, offline) his original iPad, I can tell you the App Store is now a barren wasteland on that device. Nobody's app runs on it anymore! So don't delete anything. It's a disgrace that while hardware is starting to vastly outlast software, somehow we have managed to normalize 2-3 years of software support for hardware gizmos and consider 5 years to be generous. And consumers accept this! 5 years is nothing. I have a PC next to me that I bought 20 years ago, and it still works excellently and runs a relatively recent version of Linux. I last updated my phone only because I had to: It was so "old" that it was dangerous to even connect to the Internet. Still worked wonderfully, made calls, but the manufacturer abandoned it (and me) and stopped supplying security updates. So a perfectly functional phone goes into a landfill. This should be totally unacceptable.
  - alisonkisk 5y ago

_trampeltier 5y ago

I also bought a new phone for my mom just because, the latest android update was 2017 and some apps did not work any longer, so we bought a new phone. The phone was still in a pretty good shape and the battery too. She just used here phone very rarely.

loosescrews 5y ago

Note that the average price of an iPhone is higher than the average price of a Chromebook.

fartcannon 5y ago

You only think that because that's what we've let transpire. It's a disgrace that I can not use my iPhone or Android phone to easily create new software, only consume. They're more than powerful enough to fully replace most computer usage including software development. But no, we've let them normalize locking the OS, and hiding the file system. Its an absolute disgrace.

eptcyka 5y ago
Locking the filesystem doesn't necessarily mean developing with them is impossible. What is preventing IDEs from working is the inability to execute unsigned binaries combined with the absence of signing binaries locally. And I agree, I too see this as an invitation to fornicate myself, a personal invitiation signed by google and Apple no less.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
skinnymuch 5y ago
Hah I so strongly disagree with your Phil Xbox take. But am nodding along agreeing with a lot of your recent comments. This one especially. It is absolutely a disgrace. Not even specifically to create software. Not allowing root, the ways of the app stores, the entire UX. It all focuses on consumption and weak workflow. A 13 inch iPad could very easily be a dedicated developer device (and some do get by this way), but it’s such a pain.

heleninboodler 5y ago

iPads and phones are different beasts, though. I personally have much lower expectations of my ipad, and one of those fairly low expectations is that the browser should continue working (with the implied, "and be safe to use" that requires security updates) for as long as the device doesn't physically break. I get that Apple can't be expected to keep developing software for these forever, but I'd be a lot happier if they would transition them to some kind of minimal support where they publish routine OS and security updates for them rather than just abandoning them. They also have this habit of ratcheting up the OS targeting requirements of the SDKs so app builders end up unwittingly building new versions of their apps that exclude old devices unnecessarily. I'm not sure my oldest ipad could install any of its apps again if I uninstalled them, even the ones from Apple.

ryandrake 5y ago
As someone who still has (and uses, offline) his original iPad, I can tell you the App Store is now a barren wasteland on that device. Nobody's app runs on it anymore! So don't delete anything. It's a disgrace that while hardware is starting to vastly outlast software, somehow we have managed to normalize 2-3 years of software support for hardware gizmos and consider 5 years to be generous. And consumers accept this! 5 years is nothing. I have a PC next to me that I bought 20 years ago, and it still works excellently and runs a relatively recent version of Linux. I last updated my phone only because I had to: It was so "old" that it was dangerous to even connect to the Internet. Still worked wonderfully, made calls, but the manufacturer abandoned it (and me) and stopped supplying security updates. So a perfectly functional phone goes into a landfill. This should be totally unacceptable.
- alisonkisk 5y ago