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How long should they provide software updates for? 3-years? 5-years? 10-years? What would be an acceptable cut off date for providing updates? I wouldn't expe

How long should they provide software updates for? 3-years? 5-years? 10-years? What would be an acceptable cut off date for providing updates? I wouldn't expect companies to provide updates for their old hardware forever, but what would be an acceptable date that will benefit both consumers and the company itself.

criddell 5y ago
What I want is for them to commit to supporting a device for some number of years after it's introduced so I know what to expect when I buy one. It should be one of the things manufacturers compete on.
- renewiltord 5y ago
  https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en#zippy= https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en#z...
- WolfRazu 5y ago
  Google commited to five years of security updates for the Pixel 6. It was one of their big selling points for the device. https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en-GB#zippy=%2Cpixel-and-pixel-pro-phones https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en-G...
zwieback 5y ago
Right, that's the calculation any consumer good producing company has to do. When we buy industrial equipment we pay a huge markup for vendor promises that they'll support for 10+ years. It's painful at the time but we have automated manufacturing equipment that's been running 20+ years. When I purchase controllers, sensors, motors, etc. it cost me double or triple what I could have paid but now I'm happy I did. But I also know that our products (PCs and printers) can't have that same support model, we'd be out of business and we don't have a lucrative ad business that could buy us customer loyalty via loss leaders. I think 5-8 years is reasonable.
akamaka 5y ago
Apple now is managing to give 7 years of support for iPhones, so that’s a good number to aim for.
nr2x 5y ago
As this article aptly demonstrates every time a phone is bought it is an opportunity to leave an ecosystem. The manufacturer cannot guarantee that that the phone sold to a consumer will be replaced with a phone from the same company. So it's definitely within the interest of the company to support the phones for longer to keep consumers in the ecosystem. Pretty sure that's the whole point of pixel 6.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
ak217 5y ago
At least as long as their main competitor, which currently has a phone that has been supported for 6.5 and will probably remain supported up until 8 years from its release date (iPhone 6S).
jandrese 5y ago
What if vendors released the source code for the hardware drivers after the devices fall out of official support? Even if nobody at the company has time to support the hardware there is always a chance that the community can take over. This is how Linux maintains driver support for hardware long past the point where it doesn't work on modern Windows or MacOS. I've noticed several occasions where the support stops because the kernel was updated and nobody wants to make the effort to port the drivers forward, especially since those drivers were delivered as a binary blob.
jokoon 5y ago
How about improving software standards so it can last longer? Why must software always need to be updated? Software can be stable. This industry makes throwaway software just so it can keep pumping hardware forever.
- flatiron 5y ago
  Or improving updates. Why can my Linux distro not care what model I whatever I have but every bit of android is specifically tailored to that exact phone model
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
tempnow987 5y ago
5 years minimum - 7 years would be competitive with apple. The thing is - apple has the history / reputation here. Google has promised updates forever with various initiatives, rarely delivers. Apple doesn't actually promise much here that I know of, but seems to deliver and deliver.
- BakeInBeens 5y ago
  They offer five years of security updates on the Pixel 6 and eight years of security updates for any chromebook from 2020. Nest and Chromecast devices also all get five plus years of updates. The minimum should be this across all android/chrome OS manufacturers though.
  - tempnow987 5y ago
    If I buy a pixel 6 today, I'll get updates for 2 years. On apple, iOS 15.2 is available for a phone that is 8 years old? Based on past experience, I expect if I bought an iOS device today - I'd have updated for at least 5 years. Apple was releasing updates for iOS 12 as recently as 2021. That's for phone back from 2013 (!).
    - BakeInBeens 5y ago
      If you buy a Pixel 6 today you get OS updates until October 2024 and security updates until October 2026 which is shown on Google support pages. Similar to if you were to buy an iOS device except you'd only have past experience to go off because they won't actually promise you anything.
YXNjaGVyZWdlbgo 5y ago
It's easy you know from testing when your silicon or other parts of the phone are going to degrade beyond the point of it being useable. If you sell hardware that is not obsolete for your customers but you make it obsolete because of software you pulled the trigger to early.
post-it 5y ago
Forever, until they release the firmware source. It's a "shit or get off the pot"-type situation.

criddell 5y ago

What I want is for them to commit to supporting a device for some number of years after it's introduced so I know what to expect when I buy one. It should be one of the things manufacturers compete on.

renewiltord 5y ago
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en#zippy= https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en#z...
WolfRazu 5y ago
Google commited to five years of security updates for the Pixel 6. It was one of their big selling points for the device. https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en-GB#zippy=%2Cpixel-and-pixel-pro-phones https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en-G...

zwieback 5y ago

Right, that's the calculation any consumer good producing company has to do. When we buy industrial equipment we pay a huge markup for vendor promises that they'll support for 10+ years. It's painful at the time but we have automated manufacturing equipment that's been running 20+ years. When I purchase controllers, sensors, motors, etc. it cost me double or triple what I could have paid but now I'm happy I did. But I also know that our products (PCs and printers) can't have that same support model, we'd be out of business and we don't have a lucrative ad business that could buy us customer loyalty via loss leaders. I think 5-8 years is reasonable.

akamaka 5y ago

Apple now is managing to give 7 years of support for iPhones, so that’s a good number to aim for.

nr2x 5y ago

As this article aptly demonstrates every time a phone is bought it is an opportunity to leave an ecosystem. The manufacturer cannot guarantee that that the phone sold to a consumer will be replaced with a phone from the same company. So it's definitely within the interest of the company to support the phones for longer to keep consumers in the ecosystem. Pretty sure that's the whole point of pixel 6.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

ak217 5y ago

At least as long as their main competitor, which currently has a phone that has been supported for 6.5 and will probably remain supported up until 8 years from its release date (iPhone 6S).

jandrese 5y ago

What if vendors released the source code for the hardware drivers after the devices fall out of official support? Even if nobody at the company has time to support the hardware there is always a chance that the community can take over. This is how Linux maintains driver support for hardware long past the point where it doesn't work on modern Windows or MacOS. I've noticed several occasions where the support stops because the kernel was updated and nobody wants to make the effort to port the drivers forward, especially since those drivers were delivered as a binary blob.

jokoon 5y ago

How about improving software standards so it can last longer? Why must software always need to be updated? Software can be stable. This industry makes throwaway software just so it can keep pumping hardware forever.

flatiron 5y ago
Or improving updates. Why can my Linux distro not care what model I whatever I have but every bit of android is specifically tailored to that exact phone model

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

tempnow987 5y ago

5 years minimum - 7 years would be competitive with apple. The thing is - apple has the history / reputation here. Google has promised updates forever with various initiatives, rarely delivers. Apple doesn't actually promise much here that I know of, but seems to deliver and deliver.

BakeInBeens 5y ago
They offer five years of security updates on the Pixel 6 and eight years of security updates for any chromebook from 2020. Nest and Chromecast devices also all get five plus years of updates. The minimum should be this across all android/chrome OS manufacturers though.
- tempnow987 5y ago
  If I buy a pixel 6 today, I'll get updates for 2 years. On apple, iOS 15.2 is available for a phone that is 8 years old? Based on past experience, I expect if I bought an iOS device today - I'd have updated for at least 5 years. Apple was releasing updates for iOS 12 as recently as 2021. That's for phone back from 2013 (!).
  - BakeInBeens 5y ago
    If you buy a Pixel 6 today you get OS updates until October 2024 and security updates until October 2026 which is shown on Google support pages. Similar to if you were to buy an iOS device except you'd only have past experience to go off because they won't actually promise you anything.

YXNjaGVyZWdlbgo 5y ago

It's easy you know from testing when your silicon or other parts of the phone are going to degrade beyond the point of it being useable. If you sell hardware that is not obsolete for your customers but you make it obsolete because of software you pulled the trigger to early.

post-it 5y ago

Forever, until they release the firmware source. It's a "shit or get off the pot"-type situation.