[ale] [OT] Cell phones

[DJ-Pfulio]

On 08/18/2016 11:47 AM, Jim Kinney wrote:
> Apple sells a mix of heroin, crack, lsd and meth to hipsters who don't
> want to think about what they are buying.

True, but they also sell to some very smart, but perhaps lazy, people
who feel they don't have time to figure out a workable solution for all
their mobile requirements.

If choosing Apple-anything, we need to be extremely cautious not to get
sucked into their other eco-system offerings. That can be cloud stuff
where social attacks have been effective or the imaginary property sold
through their services. If I cannot legally inherit something forever to
relatives at death, then it isn't something I want. Similarly, if use of
something I've "bought" can be taken away, I don't want it to start.

Remember when Apple dropped all support for PPC-based systems before
realistic EoL? Seemed rude to me.

Android/Google isn't any better, I'm sad to say. Google drops support
for all sorts of things all the time. If those are cloud-based, we are
all screwed.  Remember google-reader?  I don't (run my own rss web
reader for privacy reasons), but lots of people used it and had to
scramble for a replacement.  Google drops support for android devices
too. The Nexus4 hasn't seen any updates in a very long time and won't
see any OS updates again.  My idea of "life" is different from Google's.
It is still working. Still holds 8+ hr charges. GPS/compass works, etc
... it is far from end-of-life to me, but google disagrees.  "Major OTA"
updates for 2 yrs and security patches for 3 yrs is their rule. Found
these EoL dates:
    Nexus 5X: September 2017
    Nexus 6P: September 2017
    Nexus 9: October 2016
    Nexus 5: October 2015
    Nexus 6: October 2016
    Nexus 7 (2013): July 2015
    Nexus 10: November 2014

Heck, even Ubuntu LTS provides 5 yrs of support. Google can't do that?

There really isn't any good option for non-contract people like me.
Perhaps it is time to drop back to my Motorola V125 which had 14 days of
standby and 2 days of talk?

Perhaps there is a market for 5 yr support for devices? I'm really
talking about security updates for the OS. Nobody can control 3rd party
apps.

I dunno.