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.
@neil My similarly caused upgrade turned out to have a few things I did care about in the experience,
- phone gets less hot on video calls especially when also having to do them over cellular
- 90hz screen refresh causes less visual strain due to jerky motion, so I get fewer headaches from using it
- memory tagging catches app bugs, giving me reliable crashes instead of unreliable behaviors
- backlight is way more consistent across the screen
Unfortunately, upstream software quality has gone down (not graphene's fault, all google bugs!), and along with it battery life and reliability, but that was going to happen anyway.
If someone releases a (grapheneos compatible) model without pulse width modulation backlight, or even better that is eink, I'll be in line the first day!
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FWIW, I run @GrapheneOS on a Pixel.
This will be my third GrapheneOS device.
A genuinely excellent Android experience, with many years of support and security updates.
@neil @GrapheneOS I believe that yoh have the best expertise
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I've run GrapheneOS for years.
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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 fwiw, fairphone offers a five year warranty, eight years of software updates, and user-replaceable parts for most of the components
they're the one and only that does it, so the exception that proves your [very valid] complaint. i usually get no-overlay phones that are on some version of handset alliance / pure android / whatever, but those have only lasted three to four years because of security updates. alt OSes are nice, but they don't support corp/auth apps, so they're useless to me
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@neil fwiw, fairphone offers a five year warranty, eight years of software updates, and user-replaceable parts for most of the components
they're the one and only that does it, so the exception that proves your [very valid] complaint. i usually get no-overlay phones that are on some version of handset alliance / pure android / whatever, but those have only lasted three to four years because of security updates. alt OSes are nice, but they don't support corp/auth apps, so they're useless to me
@dank If one could run GrapheneOS on a FairPhone, I'd have definitely considered one. But I can't, so I didn't
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FWIW, I run @GrapheneOS on a Pixel.
This will be my third GrapheneOS device.
A genuinely excellent Android experience, with many years of support and security updates.
@neil Out of interest, do you manage to do everything you need to without running Google Play Services?
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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 2026: I don't want a new black slab but the battery in my old black slab only lasts a few hours and it's not replaceable. All the new black slabs are the size of Wales.
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> so you find that the compute is still locked out
No - not me.
I think that was someone else's comment.
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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 and that is where buying a black slab that is compatible with an open-source non-corporate and non-enshittified OS like GrapheneOS pays dividends.
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@neil Out of interest, do you manage to do everything you need to without running Google Play Services?
@not_a_label The only problems that I have had are down to banks imposing unusual requirements on their apps.
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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 yeah wife's Fairphone 3 has run out of security updates so time for me to upgrade and pass on my Fairphone 4 to her. The 3 can then be upgraded to E OS and then the kids won't need to borrow mine.
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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.
Of course, you could simply think about that BEFORE buying another black slab.
If you bought a Fairphone, for instance, you would have guaranteed updates for at least 5 years. From experience, much longer.
You also would be free from those megalomaniac tech corporations like Samsung, Apple, Google etc. And you could install a google-FREE Android like e/OS/ which supports the Fairphones out of the box and runs great on them.
And what's more, Fairphones are sustainable by design, from the sources of raw materials to the easy replacement of parts and batteries.
Instead of complaining, you could just act and not give your money to corporations who rip you off, steal your data, and live on planned obsolescence...
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@neil 2026: I don't want a new black slab but the battery in my old black slab only lasts a few hours and it's not replaceable. All the new black slabs are the size of Wales.
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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 actually, the single best feature of the iPad is that it *cannot* make or receive phone calls.
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@dank If one could run GrapheneOS on a FairPhone, I'd have definitely considered one. But I can't, so I didn't
@neil they do offer pre-loaded /e/OS, but i don't know enough about alt OSes to know the difference. iirc graphene does a lot more at the system level for safety and privacy, but as most authenticators and corpo crap doesn't support it i never took it for a test drive
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Of course, you could simply think about that BEFORE buying another black slab.
If you bought a Fairphone, for instance, you would have guaranteed updates for at least 5 years. From experience, much longer.
You also would be free from those megalomaniac tech corporations like Samsung, Apple, Google etc. And you could install a google-FREE Android like e/OS/ which supports the Fairphones out of the box and runs great on them.
And what's more, Fairphones are sustainable by design, from the sources of raw materials to the easy replacement of parts and batteries.
Instead of complaining, you could just act and not give your money to corporations who rip you off, steal your data, and live on planned obsolescence...
What a strange post. Are you feeling okay?
I'm upgrading from a device running GrapheneOS, which has come to the end of its five years of security updates.
I am upgrading to another device running GrapheneOS, which should offer seven years of updates.
I don't need new features, but I do want the security updates.
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> so you find that the compute is still locked out
No - not me.
I think that was someone else's comment.
@neil
Mea culpa on that. However, I do not consider a slab with Graphene installed to be "new" anymore.
@Vonskinnback -
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 ah, I have fond memories of my Zaurus! I had the whole of Wikipedia on it on a CF card. It really was the future.
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@neil they do offer pre-loaded /e/OS, but i don't know enough about alt OSes to know the difference. iirc graphene does a lot more at the system level for safety and privacy, but as most authenticators and corpo crap doesn't support it i never took it for a test drive
@dank I have had problems with banks not liking it (which is daft, given its security focus), but everything else has been fine.
YMMV, of course!
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@neil
Mea culpa on that. However, I do not consider a slab with Graphene installed to be "new" anymore.
@VonskinnbackSorry, I don't understand?
