2001: I have a new phone.
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2001: I have a new phone. How exciting! Perhaps I can access the Internet on it via a Sharp Zaurus. This is so the future!
2002: Ooh! A new PalmOS device! Amazing! HotSync backup and off we go!
2004: Wow! This WindowsMobile device has a keyboard, as is basically a mini laptop. Cool!
...
2026: I must get a new black slab because security updates have run out on my current black slab which, for all other intents and purposes, is absolutely fine. The new black slab does nothing new for me, and all I see is the chore of setting it up.
This is, of course, a daft mentality.
The new black slab is an incredibly powerful computer, with an all-day battery life, a great camera, and functionality which connects me to a world of friends and knowledge, for less than £500.
It can also make and receive calls.
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This is, of course, a daft mentality.
The new black slab is an incredibly powerful computer, with an all-day battery life, a great camera, and functionality which connects me to a world of friends and knowledge, for less than £500.
It can also make and receive calls.
@neil yes, although that was also true of the old black slab....
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2001: I have a new phone. How exciting! Perhaps I can access the Internet on it via a Sharp Zaurus. This is so the future!
2002: Ooh! A new PalmOS device! Amazing! HotSync backup and off we go!
2004: Wow! This WindowsMobile device has a keyboard, as is basically a mini laptop. Cool!
...
2026: I must get a new black slab because security updates have run out on my current black slab which, for all other intents and purposes, is absolutely fine. The new black slab does nothing new for me, and all I see is the chore of setting it up.
@neil Monolith, Monolith, MONOLITH!
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This is, of course, a daft mentality.
The new black slab is an incredibly powerful computer, with an all-day battery life, a great camera, and functionality which connects me to a world of friends and knowledge, for less than £500.
It can also make and receive calls.
@neil If you buy the right black slab and have a go-getter attitude it can do all of that and have a lifetime measured in possibly decades!
Or at least, more than 3-4 years.
I fucking hate that Bootloaders being locked down is legal.
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This is, of course, a daft mentality.
The new black slab is an incredibly powerful computer, with an all-day battery life, a great camera, and functionality which connects me to a world of friends and knowledge, for less than £500.
It can also make and receive calls.
@neil If only most of that compute wasn't locked out from under your hands and just used for ever more powerful spyware.
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This is, of course, a daft mentality.
The new black slab is an incredibly powerful computer, with an all-day battery life, a great camera, and functionality which connects me to a world of friends and knowledge, for less than £500.
It can also make and receive calls.
@neil what's this call thing you speak of?
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@neil If only most of that compute wasn't locked out from under your hands and just used for ever more powerful spyware.
@ozzelot I am not convinced that it is?
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@neil If you buy the right black slab and have a go-getter attitude it can do all of that and have a lifetime measured in possibly decades!
Or at least, more than 3-4 years.
I fucking hate that Bootloaders being locked down is legal.
@krutonium I'd hope for five from this, but I am also mindful that a lot can happen in five years.
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@krutonium I'd hope for five from this, but I am also mindful that a lot can happen in five years.
@neil I typically run my phones as long as I reasonably can... I have a Samsung Core LTE phone on Android 15 as a result.
Also my Tablet is on Android 17, which is less of a feat since it shipped with Android 12 instead of Android 4 lol.
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2001: I have a new phone. How exciting! Perhaps I can access the Internet on it via a Sharp Zaurus. This is so the future!
2002: Ooh! A new PalmOS device! Amazing! HotSync backup and off we go!
2004: Wow! This WindowsMobile device has a keyboard, as is basically a mini laptop. Cool!
...
2026: I must get a new black slab because security updates have run out on my current black slab which, for all other intents and purposes, is absolutely fine. The new black slab does nothing new for me, and all I see is the chore of setting it up.
@neil accurate
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This is, of course, a daft mentality.
The new black slab is an incredibly powerful computer, with an all-day battery life, a great camera, and functionality which connects me to a world of friends and knowledge, for less than £500.
It can also make and receive calls.
@neil can I buy one that *can’t* make and receive calls. That may be useful.
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2001: I have a new phone. How exciting! Perhaps I can access the Internet on it via a Sharp Zaurus. This is so the future!
2002: Ooh! A new PalmOS device! Amazing! HotSync backup and off we go!
2004: Wow! This WindowsMobile device has a keyboard, as is basically a mini laptop. Cool!
...
2026: I must get a new black slab because security updates have run out on my current black slab which, for all other intents and purposes, is absolutely fine. The new black slab does nothing new for me, and all I see is the chore of setting it up.
Yeah. I have zero enthusiasm for the point when my current phone is too old to support something I have to have - because of the time lost to setting up the next, because I'm sure the next will fail to run something I also like, and because so few of them have headphone sockets any more.
Advancement like this is more like deterioration.
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@neil I typically run my phones as long as I reasonably can... I have a Samsung Core LTE phone on Android 15 as a result.
Also my Tablet is on Android 17, which is less of a feat since it shipped with Android 12 instead of Android 4 lol.
@krutonium Cool! For me, the test is really whether my device continues to get security updates.
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2001: I have a new phone. How exciting! Perhaps I can access the Internet on it via a Sharp Zaurus. This is so the future!
2002: Ooh! A new PalmOS device! Amazing! HotSync backup and off we go!
2004: Wow! This WindowsMobile device has a keyboard, as is basically a mini laptop. Cool!
...
2026: I must get a new black slab because security updates have run out on my current black slab which, for all other intents and purposes, is absolutely fine. The new black slab does nothing new for me, and all I see is the chore of setting it up.
@neil you just described my last phone "upgrade". seems the only thing that changes is the price (more!).
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@neil can I buy one that *can’t* make and receive calls. That may be useful.
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2001: I have a new phone. How exciting! Perhaps I can access the Internet on it via a Sharp Zaurus. This is so the future!
2002: Ooh! A new PalmOS device! Amazing! HotSync backup and off we go!
2004: Wow! This WindowsMobile device has a keyboard, as is basically a mini laptop. Cool!
...
2026: I must get a new black slab because security updates have run out on my current black slab which, for all other intents and purposes, is absolutely fine. The new black slab does nothing new for me, and all I see is the chore of setting it up.
@neil It is called programmed obsolescence and it is not something in the smartphone world only. See the latest ton of PCs that cannot upgrade to Windows 11. Only in Europe is it a massive demolition program for millions of devices. The only refuge is using FOSS OS in that case.
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2001: I have a new phone. How exciting! Perhaps I can access the Internet on it via a Sharp Zaurus. This is so the future!
2002: Ooh! A new PalmOS device! Amazing! HotSync backup and off we go!
2004: Wow! This WindowsMobile device has a keyboard, as is basically a mini laptop. Cool!
...
2026: I must get a new black slab because security updates have run out on my current black slab which, for all other intents and purposes, is absolutely fine. The new black slab does nothing new for me, and all I see is the chore of setting it up.
@neil Yup, this exactly. If long-term security updates and user-replaceable batteries were mandated for all phones, there would be little point upgrading for most people (which would be great, we could spend the money on something useful instead and avoid creating e-waste).
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2001: I have a new phone. How exciting! Perhaps I can access the Internet on it via a Sharp Zaurus. This is so the future!
2002: Ooh! A new PalmOS device! Amazing! HotSync backup and off we go!
2004: Wow! This WindowsMobile device has a keyboard, as is basically a mini laptop. Cool!
...
2026: I must get a new black slab because security updates have run out on my current black slab which, for all other intents and purposes, is absolutely fine. The new black slab does nothing new for me, and all I see is the chore of setting it up.
@neil thanks for the sharp zaurus call out which I still have haha. Electronic hoarding
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@ozzelot I am not convinced that it is?
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This is, of course, a daft mentality.
The new black slab is an incredibly powerful computer, with an all-day battery life, a great camera, and functionality which connects me to a world of friends and knowledge, for less than £500.
It can also make and receive calls.
My last phone was a OnePlus 5T. It was released 9 years ago. It had 8 cores, including 4 high-performance 2.45GHz ones, 8 GiB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage. It is massively overpowered for everything I use it for. Apparently the last LineageOS version to run on it was Android 15. I think that still gets security updates but is no longer the latest release.
I’d still be using it if I hadn’t accidentally put it through the washer-dryer. I replaced it with a 9 Pro, which is now over 5 years old and runs the latest Android via LineageOS.
The 5T stopped getting official updates with the stock firmware around 2020. The 9P Pro’s last official update was in 2023.
The fact that a group of volunteers can maintain updates for years after the vendor stops makes it very obvious that this is an intentional choice by the vendor. I hope that the labelling requirements in the CRA will start to disincentivise this behaviour.
