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Originally Posted by Vman455
Yeah, but outdated doesn't mean unusable. I'm still rocking a Galaxy S5, going on 4 1/2 years now. It came with Android Kit Kat, and updated twice to Marshmallow. That OS is now unsupported, but I can't bring myself to buy a new phone when this one is working just fine.
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Ya, I think the outdating problem is becoming less of an issue.
First, the device updates to it's last OS version. After that it still is supported for a while even though other devices get newer OS versions. But then comes the time the OS version is no longer supported by it's creator, so no more bug fixes, updates, virus protection, etc. Soon after that the app creators no longer make or update apps for that OS version. That can mean that some apps quit working, while other may still work just fine. Others work but just without new updated content or features.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vman455
My biggest gripe about phones now is the non-replaceable battery. I have two extra batteries for my S5, but there aren't any comparable phones now with removable batteries. So, I'll be locking myself into a 2-3 year replacement interval as the battery degrades. And on top of that, you can't get cheap smartphones anymore; the S5 was $100 with a service contract. Now, you pay full price but they try and make you feel better about it by financing over 24 months.
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Smartphone price is a big problem IMO. I was looking at CR magazine about the best smartphones, and it started it's list at $350 phones IIRC. A lot of phone companies are starting their phone prices at nearly $1,000. You can buy Samsung phones for over $1,800!
Now mind you that I bought a $350 Windows Vista laptop in Wal-Mart in 2007, later put 1GB more of memory in it making it 2GB total for $15 on sale, then put Windows 7 on it for $35 off eBay, then I did the free upgrade to Windows 10. The laptop is still working fine today, although a bit slow. But not bad for a nearly 12 year old cheap laptop from Wal-Mart. I even took real good care of the battery by keeping it charged at around 50% and leaving it in the fridge when I didn't need it, and it still works fairly decently.
One thing smartphone manufacturers are realizing or need to realize is that the smartphone market has matured. There are no emerging markets to try and dominate and phone technology is at it's pinnacle. And that means consumers in general will now start expecting their smartphones to last longer, including the battery, because there will no longer be that push to get the latest bells and whistles. That means they are going to need to either make batteries that last much longer or are much cheaper to replace than they are now. The phone companies that survive from here onward are the ones that can get the most longevity out of their phones and that can figure out how to make money off of things other than phone hardware.
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Originally Posted by jamesqf
But I don't need any of the non-phone capabilities when I'm away from home, and the non-smart phone is (for me, at least) a much better phone than a smart phone would be.
And of course, for me to do useful work, I'd have to figure out how to install a working Linux system on the smartphone...
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Well I don't know much about Linux systems. I've been with Microsoft operating systems since the first IBM 5150 PC. But I do agree that smartphones don't have much in being all that useful. Even the $1,800 ones.
- Texting on them is hard. If it's more than a yes or no question I call or go to my computer and type an email.
- Voice recognition doesn't work in the noisy environment (aka family) I live in.
- Trying to read on such a small screen makes me dizzy from the constant scrolling.
About all I've found them useful for is making phone calls, listening to headphone music and taking pictures. Which are things a lot of basic phones also do. Sure, there's a time or two that I need to see a website or file and I'm not close to my Surface 3, so I guess the phone comes in handy for that. But I usually try to carry my Surface around with me as much as possible.