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I really have to hand it to NASA. Voyager 2 was launched in 1977 and it's still getting updates but we're supposed to be okay with the cell phones that launched

I really have to hand it to NASA. Voyager 2 was launched in 1977 and it's still getting updates but we're supposed to be okay with the cell phones that launched 5 years ago no longer being updated.

coldtea 3y ago
Long-term updated devices might be OK for your wallet and the environment, but they're not good at making profits. They also slow down "innovation", and what would we be without 100s of useless ("necessary") functions in our modern phones? We'd have to (gasp) talk to each other at restaurants or also use proper dedicated devices like a camera and would miss some selfies!
- jen729w 3y ago
  Old mobile phones aren’t transmitting priceless scientific data. Long-term updates to old devices are a drain on the people updating them. You start a hardware company and let’s see how long you and your little team of really expensive engineers keep updating last year’s product.
  - autoexec 3y ago
    > Old mobile phones aren’t transmitting priceless scientific data. Aren't they though? Clearly it's not on the same scale, but a 5 year old phone is still perfectly capable of transmitting very valuable data and providing utility to the user.
  - coldtea 3y ago
    >Old mobile phones aren’t transmitting priceless scientific data. No, they just have (Apple 2022 iPhone revenues alone vs 2023 NASA budget) 10x the amount of money of NASA's budget (or 3x, if we stick to net profit), and around 1000x more money are depended on them. >You start a hardware company and let’s see how long you and your little team of really expensive engineers keep updating last year’s product. As long as the law mandates updates and bugfixes for older products, which, in a civilized society that actually did care for waste and the environment would be decades.
randomdata 3y ago
If you have Voyager 2's budget, I'm sure someone would be quite happy to sell you a phone that receives updates for decades.
- autoexec 3y ago
  It's not just an issue of money. Apple made a lot more money last year than NASA did.
  - randomdata 3y ago
    And Apple would have made a lot more money if you spent the equivalent of Voyager 2's cost on your iPhone. It is just about money. Cheap out and buy a budget phone and you will also get budget support.
    - autoexec 3y ago
      You're right, I misspoke. I should have said it wasn't about the costs. NASA can keep updating their hardware after all this time with far fewer resources than apple has, so it isn't that it's prohibitively expensive to keep supporting old devices, it's just that ultimately "It is just about money" and cell phone companies would rather have people throw out their old devices and buy new ones.
    - saberdancer 3y ago
      I think it's better to say - if your phone was 12 billion miles from Earth and used to send sensitive scientific data - it would get updates as well.
      - randomdata 3y ago
        Not when you only paid on the order of $1,000 for it. For so little, nobody is going to bother to support your device for decades, no matter how near or far away it is from you or what you happen to be doing with it. The original Voyager budget was $865 million (~$5 billion today), and has paid out even more for maintenance and operation since. Spend that much money on an iPhone and not only will updates be available for decades, but someone from Apple will come and personally install the updates for you.
nashashmi 3y ago
If NASA had the means to swap the voyager 2 with a new version, they would do that instead. If you have the means to swap the phone with a new version, you would do that instead. --- open source enters the chat --- Opensource: if you had the means to swap the code with a new version, you should do that instead.

I really have to hand it to NASA. Voyager 2 was launched in 1977 and it's still getting updates but we're supposed to be okay with the cell phones that launched 5 years ago no longer being updated.

coldtea 3y ago

Long-term updated devices might be OK for your wallet and the environment, but they're not good at making profits. They also slow down "innovation", and what would we be without 100s of useless ("necessary") functions in our modern phones? We'd have to (gasp) talk to each other at restaurants or also use proper dedicated devices like a camera and would miss some selfies!

jen729w 3y ago
Old mobile phones aren’t transmitting priceless scientific data. Long-term updates to old devices are a drain on the people updating them. You start a hardware company and let’s see how long you and your little team of really expensive engineers keep updating last year’s product.
- autoexec 3y ago
  > Old mobile phones aren’t transmitting priceless scientific data. Aren't they though? Clearly it's not on the same scale, but a 5 year old phone is still perfectly capable of transmitting very valuable data and providing utility to the user.
- coldtea 3y ago
  >Old mobile phones aren’t transmitting priceless scientific data. No, they just have (Apple 2022 iPhone revenues alone vs 2023 NASA budget) 10x the amount of money of NASA's budget (or 3x, if we stick to net profit), and around 1000x more money are depended on them. >You start a hardware company and let’s see how long you and your little team of really expensive engineers keep updating last year’s product. As long as the law mandates updates and bugfixes for older products, which, in a civilized society that actually did care for waste and the environment would be decades.

randomdata 3y ago

If you have Voyager 2's budget, I'm sure someone would be quite happy to sell you a phone that receives updates for decades.

autoexec 3y ago
It's not just an issue of money. Apple made a lot more money last year than NASA did.
- randomdata 3y ago
  And Apple would have made a lot more money if you spent the equivalent of Voyager 2's cost on your iPhone. It is just about money. Cheap out and buy a budget phone and you will also get budget support.
  - autoexec 3y ago
    You're right, I misspoke. I should have said it wasn't about the costs. NASA can keep updating their hardware after all this time with far fewer resources than apple has, so it isn't that it's prohibitively expensive to keep supporting old devices, it's just that ultimately "It is just about money" and cell phone companies would rather have people throw out their old devices and buy new ones.
  - saberdancer 3y ago
    I think it's better to say - if your phone was 12 billion miles from Earth and used to send sensitive scientific data - it would get updates as well.
    - randomdata 3y ago
      Not when you only paid on the order of $1,000 for it. For so little, nobody is going to bother to support your device for decades, no matter how near or far away it is from you or what you happen to be doing with it. The original Voyager budget was $865 million (~$5 billion today), and has paid out even more for maintenance and operation since. Spend that much money on an iPhone and not only will updates be available for decades, but someone from Apple will come and personally install the updates for you.

nashashmi 3y ago

If NASA had the means to swap the voyager 2 with a new version, they would do that instead. If you have the means to swap the phone with a new version, you would do that instead. --- open source enters the chat --- Opensource: if you had the means to swap the code with a new version, you should do that instead.