[ale] [OT] Cell phones

Calvin Harrigan calvin.harrigan at gmail.com
Thu Aug 18 16:18:05 EDT 2016


On 08/18/2016 02:32 PM, DJ-Pfulio wrote:
> On 08/18/2016 01:13 PM, Solomon Peachy wrote:
>> On Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 12:21:22PM -0400, DJ-Pfulio wrote:
>>> ... 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
>>
>> 3 years of support is pretty damn good for consumer-oriented gear.
>>
>>> Heck, even Ubuntu LTS provides 5 yrs of support. Google can't do that?
>>
>> If you could just install Ubuntu on a random phone, the comparison would
>> ve valid.  There's worlds of differences between supplying software that
>> runs entirely on commodity hardware (ie not having to write your own
>> drivers for anything) and the reality of consumer ARM gear.
>
> I'm not asking google to support all ARM devices, just their own with OS
> updates. A $350 device isn't meant to be replaced every 3 yrs, IMHO. The
> Nexus4 was sold for about 1 yr thru Google's website - available until
> 11/2013. It has been less than 3 yrs since the last N4 was sold!
>
> Ubuntu LTS supports thousands of different possible configurations with
> a tiny company (privately funded w/ about 500 employees). Redhat
> supports for even longer periods.
>
> Google (HUGE corporation w/ 500+B market CAP & 45k+ employees) can't
> support ... lets count ... 1, 2, 3,  ... 9 devices that THEY designed
> and sold?
>
> BTW, my Nexus4 (purchased in mid-2013) was $100 more expensive than my
> Ubuntu white-box Core i5 PC - built in 2010 which is still supported and
> running.
>
> Google is definitely low on the support timeframes. We should expect and
> demand better.
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This thread has hit a nerve with me, as I too own a nexus 4.  The phone 
has several issues and I have been looking for a replacement. It hits a 
nerve not only with lack of software support you mentioned, but also 
with hardware support.  It's almost impossible to buy OEM parts to 
repair your phone. Just low grade knock off parts.
I do believe that Google needs to do better in it's support for its 
products.

With that said, what would be a good cell replacement phone for the Nexus 4?


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