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It would be interesting if a side effect of this proposed legislation, Android manufacturers stop pumping out new models as aggressively. It would make sense if

It would be interesting if a side effect of this proposed legislation, Android manufacturers stop pumping out new models as aggressively. It would make sense if that's how it turned out, because these manufacturers would effectively be crafting their own support nightmares by continuing to put out new models at a high cadence. This in turn should make for better parts availability since the window that any given model is manufactured in is wider. It'd also incentivize sharing parts between models where possible. All in all, positive for the end consumer. It might've been a problem in the earlier days of smartphones, but the category has more or less plateaued by now and so the benefit of high model churn with each new model sharing little with its predecessor is dubious at best.

theluketaylor 3y ago
Or it actually accelerates the model pumping. If the software has to be supported for 5 years after it’s last on sale there could be a perverse incentive to roll SKUs like crazy even if there are not any actual changes so you only have to support for the shortest possible time.
- mschild 3y ago
  That would still effectively be 5 years of updates which is a hell of a lot better than what most manufacturers currently offer.
  - sverhagen 3y ago
    Sure it would be, but I think the implied point above was that including the period the device is sold (what's that? say three years), the total support time is much closer to the ten years that was being discussed up top, and pumping out more new devices may shorten that back to closer to five years.
    - happymellon 3y ago
      Does having 3 devices that you are supporting for 10 years make more work than 10 devices you support for 5? Because while that doesn't make sense in my head, I could easily see that being the methodology used by the Android device manufacturers.
      - sverhagen 3y ago
        If these ten devices are mere SKU updates, then maybe yes, they create a sliding five year support window (plus however long they're being sold), instead of a ten year one. Keeping software working for a five year old hardware platform sounds a lot easier than doing that for a ten year old one. A lot less Git branches also.
        _v7gu 3y ago
        If the ten devices are mere SKU updates made solely for the reason of getting around the regulations, then the company can expect a rather huge fine :^)
    - mschild 3y ago
      Of course, but any increase is an upgrade to the current situation.
beebeepka 3y ago
Fantastic point. Chinese manufacturers pump out SKUs like crazy - several new models every six months or so. Of course, it might turn out as theluketaylor says but I doubt it
- sverhagen 3y ago
  Maybe that's just waiting on some settled precedents on what's really a new model. Could this be brought before a judge who'd then possibly rule that SKUs 1, 2, and 3 are essentially the same device and should thus count as such for the purposes meant here?

theluketaylor 3y ago

Or it actually accelerates the model pumping. If the software has to be supported for 5 years after it’s last on sale there could be a perverse incentive to roll SKUs like crazy even if there are not any actual changes so you only have to support for the shortest possible time.

mschild 3y ago
That would still effectively be 5 years of updates which is a hell of a lot better than what most manufacturers currently offer.
- sverhagen 3y ago
  Sure it would be, but I think the implied point above was that including the period the device is sold (what's that? say three years), the total support time is much closer to the ten years that was being discussed up top, and pumping out more new devices may shorten that back to closer to five years.
  - happymellon 3y ago
    Does having 3 devices that you are supporting for 10 years make more work than 10 devices you support for 5? Because while that doesn't make sense in my head, I could easily see that being the methodology used by the Android device manufacturers.
    - sverhagen 3y ago
      If these ten devices are mere SKU updates, then maybe yes, they create a sliding five year support window (plus however long they're being sold), instead of a ten year one. Keeping software working for a five year old hardware platform sounds a lot easier than doing that for a ten year old one. A lot less Git branches also.
      - _v7gu 3y ago
        If the ten devices are mere SKU updates made solely for the reason of getting around the regulations, then the company can expect a rather huge fine :^)
  - mschild 3y ago
    Of course, but any increase is an upgrade to the current situation.

beebeepka 3y ago

Fantastic point. Chinese manufacturers pump out SKUs like crazy - several new models every six months or so. Of course, it might turn out as theluketaylor says but I doubt it

sverhagen 3y ago
Maybe that's just waiting on some settled precedents on what's really a new model. Could this be brought before a judge who'd then possibly rule that SKUs 1, 2, and 3 are essentially the same device and should thus count as such for the purposes meant here?