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Imagine, a technology that a company can tell you is obsolete. Is that even a technology? The wheel isn't obsolete. The coal powered steam engine is, but that's

Imagine, a technology that a company can tell you is obsolete. Is that even a technology? The wheel isn't obsolete. The coal powered steam engine is, but that's not because someone says so, that's because it's just naturally no longer useful, other things have since been invented that are more useful for it's same purpose. Why not buy technology that's no longer useful to you when you decide that?

madeofpalk 3y ago
It's a harsh word, but it's a specific term of art for Apple: Apple no longer provides any warranty or replacement parts for it. They could call it Category A, B, C, and D for all it actually matters.
easeout 3y ago
Hmm. According to Civ 2, the products of The Wheel have been obsolete since we discovered the secret of Polytheism. https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Chariot_(Civ2) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Chariot_(Civ2)
pxc 3y ago
> Is that even a technology? Nope. It's a device. Presumably much of the technology in the now 'obsolete' Apple Watch is still in use in more recent models.
SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
The first wheel was a solid disc of wood. I don't see many of those running around anymore. Wheels, just like smart watches, are bits of technology that aren't obsolete, but specific iterations are.
- friend_and_foe 3y ago
  Yeah, but it's obsolete because people who use wheels can get better ones and upgrade. That's not the same as a company telling you your hardware is now useless. These devices are services.
  - Gibbon1 3y ago
    snide comment, tax law should be changed to require companies to count 'hardware as a service' as taxable assets.
drcongo 3y ago
I think the difference is that it's a product, not a technology. The wheel is a technology, the penny farthing a product - the penny farthing is obsolete, the wheel isn't.
stetrain 3y ago
The wheel as a general technology isn't obsolete, but a model year 4000BCE wheel certainly is. In your analogy that would be like Apple declaring the Smartwatch category obsolete, which they have not done.
- friend_and_foe 3y ago
  No, it would be like if the manufacturer of a certain wheel flipped a switch and your wheel no longer worked. You cans till right now use a model year 4000BCE wheel if you want to and if it suits your purpose. You decide when your property is no longer useful to you. That is not the case with the apple watch, or with a plethora of other devices out there. The device belongs to the company that made it, not to its supposed owner, if the owner has no say in when it becomes useless.

madeofpalk 3y ago

It's a harsh word, but it's a specific term of art for Apple: Apple no longer provides any warranty or replacement parts for it. They could call it Category A, B, C, and D for all it actually matters.

easeout 3y ago

Hmm. According to Civ 2, the products of The Wheel have been obsolete since we discovered the secret of Polytheism. https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Chariot_(Civ2) https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Chariot_(Civ2)

pxc 3y ago

> Is that even a technology? Nope. It's a device. Presumably much of the technology in the now 'obsolete' Apple Watch is still in use in more recent models.

SketchySeaBeast 3y ago

The first wheel was a solid disc of wood. I don't see many of those running around anymore. Wheels, just like smart watches, are bits of technology that aren't obsolete, but specific iterations are.

friend_and_foe 3y ago
Yeah, but it's obsolete because people who use wheels can get better ones and upgrade. That's not the same as a company telling you your hardware is now useless. These devices are services.
- Gibbon1 3y ago
  snide comment, tax law should be changed to require companies to count 'hardware as a service' as taxable assets.

drcongo 3y ago

I think the difference is that it's a product, not a technology. The wheel is a technology, the penny farthing a product - the penny farthing is obsolete, the wheel isn't.

stetrain 3y ago

The wheel as a general technology isn't obsolete, but a model year 4000BCE wheel certainly is. In your analogy that would be like Apple declaring the Smartwatch category obsolete, which they have not done.

friend_and_foe 3y ago
No, it would be like if the manufacturer of a certain wheel flipped a switch and your wheel no longer worked. You cans till right now use a model year 4000BCE wheel if you want to and if it suits your purpose. You decide when your property is no longer useful to you. That is not the case with the apple watch, or with a plethora of other devices out there. The device belongs to the company that made it, not to its supposed owner, if the owner has no say in when it becomes useless.