Americans Are Holding Onto Devices Longer Than Ever (cnbc.com) 166
An anonymous reader shares a report: The average American now holds onto their smartphone for 29 months, according to a recent survey by Reviews.org, and that cycle is getting longer. The average was around 22 months in 2016.
[...] Research released by the Federal Reserve last month concludes that each additional year companies delay upgrading equipment results in a productivity decline of about one-third of a percent, with investment patterns accounting for approximately 55% of productivity gaps between advanced economies.
The good news: businesses in the U.S. are generally quicker to reinvest in replacing aging equipment. The Federal Reserve report shows that if European productivity had matched U.S. investment patterns starting in 2000, the productivity gap between the U.S and European economic heavyweights would have been reduced by 29 percent for the U.K., 35 percent for France, and 101% for Germany.
[...] Research released by the Federal Reserve last month concludes that each additional year companies delay upgrading equipment results in a productivity decline of about one-third of a percent, with investment patterns accounting for approximately 55% of productivity gaps between advanced economies.
The good news: businesses in the U.S. are generally quicker to reinvest in replacing aging equipment. The Federal Reserve report shows that if European productivity had matched U.S. investment patterns starting in 2000, the productivity gap between the U.S and European economic heavyweights would have been reduced by 29 percent for the U.K., 35 percent for France, and 101% for Germany.
Problem (Score:5, Funny)
This is a big problem. People should be replacing their devices almost constantly. Clearly work remains to be done to make these devices less resilient and with more aggressive planned obsolescence. Nobody should have a device older than 3 months. Think of the all the lost GDP!
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I'm doing my part! (Every time I see a window and a conveniently-nearby rock, I throw the rock at the window.)
Ah bless; now go and do Economics 101 (Score:2)
Yes, you're right that tariffs are a spectacularly bad idea, but the idea that 'more good paying jobs' can just be magicked up is a fantasy. An employer can only pay the workers what their output is worth, so if your industry is producing things that are difficult to sell, then you're not going to get a good paying job - especially if someone in a third world country can do your job remotely for a way that is 'good' to them, though poor to you.
The experience of Detroit should be a warning to those who belie
Re: Problem (Score:3)
The tariff revenues are needed to cover the tax cuts for the wealthy instituted at the same time, so no.
Better if... (Score:5, Interesting)
This informed be better if:
1). They broke it down by app vs android.
2). They broke it down by phone cost.
I would expect to see that people replace cheap phones more often than expensive phones, and Android more often than iPhone. But that's just a guess. It would be nice to see it in the data.
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Apple vs Android, not app.
Re:Better if... (Score:5, Insightful)
I would expect to see that people replace cheap phones more often than expensive phones, and Android more often than iPhone.
Really? I would expect the opposite.
- Owners of flagship devices concerned with their image and having the latest tech would be more likely to replace devices more often to get access to the latest gear, perhaps handing the old device down to a spouse or child if they aren't getting a trade-in credit for it.
- Owners of cheap phones more focused on value. Top end features are nice but a luxury for something that has core essential functions for them (acting as a communication device). They lack the disposable income to replace devices as quickly, and wish to get the most return (usable life) for their purchase. They are more likely to keep a device until it becomes unusable (damaged, obsolete on mobile network, etc).
The Android vs. iPhone angle can be more of a toss-up. I would expect the iPhone group to be more on the image/latest-tech group, but iOS devices are generally longer-supported at the OS level, so there is less need to update to stay on a device getting patches. But the Android group might care less about being on a device still getting patches.
Re:Better if... (Score:5, Insightful)
That's why it's good to see the data. It may put your assumptions to rest..
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Yes, it does. Which is why I said it would be good to see the data!
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- Owners of flagship devices concerned with their image and having the latest tech would be more likely to replace devices more often to get access to the latest gear, perhaps handing the old device down to a spouse or child if they aren't getting a trade-in credit for it.
Counterpoint: My phone history includes:
Assuming I keep the 15 Pro for 3 years (the prior minimum), that's 4.75 years average. I also buy the device with the largest capacity, and always wish it were bigger. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't increase capacity quickly enough for upgrading to help with that.
- Owners of cheap phones more focused on value. Top end features are nice but a luxury for something that has core essential functions for them (acting as a communication device). They lack the disposable income to replace devices as quickly, and wish to get the most return (usable life) for their purchase. They are more likely to keep a device until it becomes unusable (damaged, obsolete on mobile network, etc).
Upgrading is expensive and it is a pain in the a**. So there are multiple reasons to keep a device until it dies. S
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Thank you for your reply. I can agree not all premium phone users are on the upgrade treadmill. I also bought what was billed as a flagship for its time, but it's 4 years old now and I'm not really feeling the need to upgrade to something newer. My impression was upgrading wasn't such a pain if you had a device that was recent and in high demand still as carriers seem to love running promos with trade-ins, and only mainstream makes/models tend to be eligible.
I think the danger of using a phone on an older p
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Thank you for your reply. I can agree not all premium phone users are on the upgrade treadmill. I also bought what was billed as a flagship for its time, but it's 4 years old now and I'm not really feeling the need to upgrade to something newer. My impression was upgrading wasn't such a pain if you had a device that was recent and in high demand still as carriers seem to love running promos with trade-ins, and only mainstream makes/models tend to be eligible.
Transferring a terabyte of data from one phone to another takes the better part of an hour even at real-world USB 3 speeds.
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It's not just the physical transfer of data.
It's setting things up the way you want, having all the sites you visit "recognize" your new device, etc. It's like moving into a new house. All the work isn't done on moving day.
In my experience, it takes a good month so to "settle in" on a new device and to feel like you've always lived there.
For me, personally the hassle is the number one reason to avoid buying a new phone. It even outweighs cost.
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Yeah... I'm synchronizing my off-site backup disks as I type this, and the file copies have been over a terabyte more than once now. Looks like the PC will be running still when I go to bed tonight.
For a mobile device, I'm not sure I would let that much data stack up unique to the device. Pictures/video I would try to do backups on a PC before it got to that. Never know when a phone might get lost/damaged after all. Contacts are already synced to remote service. Call logs/text messages are archived and sent
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Yeah... I'm synchronizing my off-site backup disks as I type this, and the file copies have been over a terabyte more than once now. Looks like the PC will be running still when I go to bed tonight.
For a mobile device, I'm not sure I would let that much data stack up unique to the device. Pictures/video I would try to do backups on a PC before it got to that. Never know when a phone might get lost/damaged after all. Contacts are already synced to remote service. Call logs/text messages are archived and sent away once a week, too.
I was going to mention that I have an SD card slot so I would just store that data on a removable card, but it's standard practice to have all storage encrypted on device nowadays so I can't just move it over.
The idea that people are putting so much stuff on their smartphones is scary to me. After all, they are just crappy little computers that have terrible ergonomics. Which is why I love how my iPhone can be worked from my Mac when I bring it near.
I guess I use mine differently than most. Take some images load them onto my Mac, then delete. I keep texts forever. No selfies other than one I took looking up my nose closeup. I do have a credit card on it, but otherwise, they seem like nuisances to me.
Re: Better if... (Score:2)
"What Are the Main Reasons for Replacing a Smartphone?
According to Joint Research Centre (JRC) research, aesthetic obsolescence is the primary (47%) reason to upgrade a device. Trends in the industry are evolving quickly, causing devices to go out of style.
The second most common (40%) reason to change a smartphone to the newer option is technical obsolescence. These devices don't fit consumer n
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Patches specifically why I postulated what I did. Thanks for adding the detail.
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Do iPhones support USB storage now? When I'm travelling I take a USB C flash drive with me, and move data onto it as I generate it, to keep the phone's internal memory clear.
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Do iPhones support USB storage now? When I'm travelling I take a USB C flash drive with me, and move data onto it as I generate it, to keep the phone's internal memory clear.
https://support.apple.com/guid... [apple.com]
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Thanks. That link seems to suggest that you can only import data from external storage, not export to it. Is that right? Major limitation if so.
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iPhone users keep their phones longer than Android users [nsysgroup.com], on average. 61% of iPhone users have owned their phone for more than 2 years, versus just 43% of Android users.
So patch availability does appear to have a significant impact on how long people keep their devices.
Which flies in the face of Android fans who tell us that iPhone users are all about having some kind of social status because they have the latest shiny iPhone.
Certainly in my experience, my son replaces his Android phones at twice the rate that wife and I do. And his phones aren't the cheap ones either.
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I suspect you have a different definition of "cheap phone" than the parent poster.
Your logic seems reasonable if you're looking at a $400-$500 Android phone instead of an $800 iPhone or Galaxy.
But you can get $30 Android phones. I would not expect those phones to last for very long, both because the tech quickly becomes obsolete, and due to physical durability.
Also worth noting that most people getting a flagship phone are getting it as part of their service plan, usually on a 3 year upgrade cycle. As a res
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Really? I would expect the opposite.
Me too.
I prefer a low-mid price motorola with a good battery, I don't want to replace it ever if I'm not forced, and I take care of it.
I could easily buy a new phone whenever, but I'm not an appy apper. It's just a phone with a snapshot camera to me.
One thing about not getting patches... you're also not usually affected by the new bugs. Software comes out, it's full of bugs, bugs start getting exploited, they start getting patched. After a couple years of that the version is pretty solid.
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Really? I would expect the opposite.
Me too.
I prefer a low-mid price motorola with a good battery, I don't want to replace it ever if I'm not forced, and I take care of it.
I could easily buy a new phone whenever, but I'm not an appy apper. It's just a phone with a snapshot camera to me.
One thing about not getting patches... you're also not usually affected by the new bugs. Software comes out, it's full of bugs, bugs start getting exploited, they start getting patched. After a couple years of that the version is pretty solid.
I don't replace my iPhones all that often, but updates supply me with new features in addition to bug fixes. The way they integrate between my cars, my computer, and my wife's iPhone is primo. I'll stick with them, as long as they aren't that iPhone17 orange abomination.
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Really? I would expect the opposite.
- Owners of flagship devices concerned with their image and having the latest tech would be more likely to replace devices more often to get access to the latest gear, perhaps handing the old device down to a spouse or child if they aren't getting a trade-in credit for it.
I buy flagship phones not because of image but because their performance will hold up longer than a cheap phone so overall the TCO is lower. By the time I typically replace them at 4/5 years old they still are matching or in some cases exceeding the performance of current gen mid-range phones.
Re: Better if... (Score:2)
If you read the summary closely (I know, "Read! I don't come to /. To READ!") you'll see it isn't just cellphones they mean by 'devices'...
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The summary does say "smartphones."
You're not suggesting you click the slashvertisements, are you?!?!
No shit (Score:5, Insightful)
New phones are several hundred dollars, and offer very little improvements over models a few years old. With inflation and every other cost of living rising, wages stagnating, unemployment rising, people are making choices. And more often than not, the choice is to pay food and rent instead of a shiny new phone that doesn't do anything new.
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Wait, I thought they were free! I mean, that's what all the TV ads from Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T say!
or in school with a phone without liquid glass, (Score:2)
Aren't schools cracking down on kids using phones in class these days?
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Many of the appy apps that kids love do not even work on a desktop computer, because they can't get all your data from the browser.
29 Months? (Score:5, Insightful)
My family has phones in the 5 year old range.
Fuck that ridiculous iPhone treadmill.
Re: 29 Months? (Score:4)
Ive used iPhones since the 4S and generally have kept them for 5-6 years. The upgrades were always payment free via the carrier promo.
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Most people get a new one annually and think of the price in terms of a monthly rate.
I've talked to people who really didn't comprehend that there are phones for less than $100, or phones that can be bought outright. He thought the prices on the tags were monthly rates, like for financing.
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Sounds like you're not from the US.
Most people get their phones from their service provider. And the major providers offer a free phone upgrade every 2 or 3 years if you trade in your old one. It's structured as paying for the phone in monthly installments, and they give you a credit each month to cover the installment. They give you the option of paying upfront for the phone, but you don't get the credits that way, so it's almost always a terrible idea to do.
They are very, very clear about what the full pr
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That's exactly the same as in the US. The person above was merely telling a story about what an idiot said to them.
You probably have idiots where you're from, too.
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No, the cost of the upgrade was simply built into the overpriced monthly fee you pay for phone service.
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Exactly. I pay $12.50/month for US Mobile.
When Verizon offers you a new top end phone and charges $12.50/month for service, let me know.
Re:29 Months? (Score:5, Interesting)
My 2018 iPad has only just started to show signs of not having enough grunt. I ran a new game that looked interesting the other day - first time I've bought a new game for it in ages - and it got itself so bogged down that I had to restart it to recover. But that's one game, and I can ignore that. The battery is getting a bit weak. So maybe, *maybe* I will replace it next year, after 8 years.
My iPhone 15 will probably go at least 5 as well. Prior that I did 5 years.
There's just no reason to replace them anymore. There's nothing new in the 16 or 17 I care about.
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Did you get one of the high end iPads?
I've got the 2018 base model, and it hasn't received any software updates in 2 years now. We got to the point of getting a new one about a year ago because it was too sluggish, and the limited RAM was causing problems. We still keep it around for simple tasks, but not for anything remotely demanding.
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I've only replaced my phone because it got damaged beyond usability, except once.
Usually my own fault due to liquid, but once because of a drop.
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I upgraded from a Pixel 5 to 6 a couple years ago due to the unfixable OTA hardware security bug in the 1-5 models.
Some days I'd like more storage but really I can't see what else a newer device would get me. LineageOS 23 is asking me to upgrade to it; I guess I should after the December patches land.
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iPhones receive updates far longer than any Android device and they also hold value better. You can also stop beating the dead horse of iPhone=expensive because Samsung a more expensive Android model.
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iPhones receive updates far longer than any Android device
7 years guaranteed updates for my Pixel 8 Pro.
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iPhones receive updates far longer than any Android device and they also hold value better. You can also stop beating the dead horse of iPhone=expensive because Samsung a more expensive Android model.
Yup, my son's cheap androids have been more expensive than my overpriced iPhones for some time now.
But the fans like to compare the rock bottom Androids to the top level iPhones.
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Your bias is showing. Sure, some people are ridiculously insecure and pretentious, and buy new shinies because "new shiny," but not all of us Apple users are like that. 8 or 9 years ago, I was using a 5C, that I got from my grand-daughter when her parents bought her something else. Then, I got an SE that I was going to buy for myself, but my kid pulled a fast one on me at Micro Center, and bought it for me, that punk. I still have that one as my stationary mu
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My family has phones in the 5 year old range.
Fuck that ridiculous iPhone treadmill.
I still have my woodburning Android, it was good enough for great Grandpa, so it's good enough for me.
The Enshitification Effect (Score:3)
Apart from devices just being "good enough" for longer and regulators enforcing long support terms, I think there is another big factor at play here.
Enshitification.
People are simply reluctant to change their phones these days because it's easier to live with a bad device you know rather than switch and make things go even worse.
Because they always get worse with each iteration. More bloatware, more notifications, less customisation.
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Hardly. Devices on the hardware level aren't that enshitified. Yeah the headphone jack is gone, but those tears should have dried up 10 years ago. For the rest of it, hardware has just been on a steady albeit incredibly minor improvement.
With the average device age still well within the OS update period, the enshitification in the software stack is adopted one way or the other.
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The trend of increasingly large camera bumps while touting the thinnest phone ever is an ongoing enshitification in my opinion. You can't lay a phone down on a table and use it anymore. Just make it flat and fill it with more battery.
And there's the increasing trend of dropping SD card support while charging exorbitant amounts for larger internal storage models.
The camera notch.
The push to drop all ports and only support wireless charging. While a convenient feature at times (like in a car where cable cl
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No issue if you have the right case.
My phone has a rather large camera bump, but in the Monarch Pro case, it lies flat on a table just fine.
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While in general the hardware has been improving, manufacturers are experimenting more with deliberately making bad products at the lower end. I have a low-end Moto G Play, and the 2024 model's camera is a noticeable downgrade from the 2023 model. Presumably, they have to create some reason to get the pricier models.
But I would rather much be coerced into upgrading that way, compared to what Samsung does. They skimp their low-end phones so badly on storage that you only have 2 or 3 GB of space after their m
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Silver lining (Score:5, Insightful)
Dire times imprint habits to lower consumption, and create less waste.
Battery lasting longer (Score:2)
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I spend $100 or so and replace the battery.
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I tend to keep using the device until the battery life diminishes to an unusable state.
You know you can replace the battery?
The phone I don't want doesn't exist anymore (Score:5, Informative)
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Same with my 12 mini. I want a small size iPhone due to my disabilities and small hands. Even SE would be OK, but it has to be faster than 13 mini!
Doing my part. (Score:4, Funny)
48 months, and I just had Apple put a new battery in. Unless the actual protocols get deprecated, or it flies off my motorcycle to a grisly demise, I expect to have my iPhone 13 for another 4 years.
Productivity != "investment pattern" (Score:2)
How does the productivity of something match something else's investment pattern ?
That's like saying "Their speed does not match our density" ?
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The same way the decreasing number of pirates causes global warming
https://www.spaghettimonster.o... [spaghettimonster.org]
What? (Score:5, Insightful)
How is that even measured? Someone needs to tell us how not having the latest and greatest phone reduces productivity. The four basic uses are making/receiving calls, texting, checking email, internet. How can a 2024 model phone possibly be that less "productive" than a 2025 model?
As for PCs, the vast majority of people use Word, Outlook, and a browser (usually the memory hog Chrome followed by Edge). Again, explain how a PC which is three years old reduces productivity in this day and age.
This article almost sounds like an ad to get people to buy things to keep the economy rolling rather than a serious discussion.
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Easy - all of the added AI/telemetry crap in Windows 11 slows down all of the programs you're trying to run. And it doesn't help when those programs themselves are also being bloated with AI/telemetry.
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Again, explain how a PC which is three years old reduces productivity in this day and age.
You clearly don't work in the corporate world. The adage of "What Intel giveth, Microsoft taketh away" is still very much alive. My 2 year old work laptop is running like a dog with 4 broken legs thanks to the enshitifcation of groupware. It's at the point now where if I am running teams with a video call I actively close every damn office program that isn't absolutely necessary for the call because the computer runs like shit thanks to Microsoft + corporate spyware.
I have a relatively new laptop and it's a
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I'm more worried about their inability to do math
If "each additional year companies delay in upgrading equipment results in a productivity decline of about one-third of a percent " (0.3333%), then you could reasonably never update anyone's device until they retire. Someone you gave a device at 18 would still be working at 83.8% productivity at 72. You could give a phone upgrade at their 30 year anniversary and keep them above 90% during their entire career. 10 years on would still be at 97% productivity.
A 5
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You've answered your question. "Productivity" in this case is GDP / capita. If an American buys something with American parts from an American retailer then they increase the GDP, which increases the productivity. It doesn't have to increase their personal productivity.
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There was a typo in the article. When they mentioned productivity decline, they actually meant profitability decline.
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I replace a phone when needed. (Score:5, Informative)
I replace when they die, or the battery has an "event."
My Star Tac? Died after I dropped it one too many times... parts.. everywhere. It was done.
My T720? Ok that I replaced almost instantly, easily Motorola's worse effort.
My Razr? (the black Razr from 2004) I got 5 years out of that. Inside LCD just quit one day.
iphone 3GS? Got 3 years out of it. Battery went to shit real fast. Probably 2 years.
Iphone 5? Got 5 years out of it. Battery turned into a spicy pilow
Iphone 8? Ok, that was hot garbage. Replaced after only 2 years with my current phone, a 13 Pro.
That 13 pro should still serve me well. it's almost 4 years old and still working fine.
the 17pro is tempting just on its thermal management vapor chamber thing.
I bet most of you are the same. Replace when it breaks, not because it's "fashionable" to have a new phone.
Canada doesn't have the same luxury (Score:2, Interesting)
Canada has carrier whitelists for 4G VoLTE, so devices not on the whitelist have been stuck on 3G, which is being phased out. The devices that are on the whitelist are very few and selected by the carrier based on the handsets they sell.
Nearly everyone who bought their own phone and has been enjoying them is being cut off and forced to buy a phone from the carrier even though their phone likely supports 4G VoLTE. I have had the same phone for 5 years and planned on keeping it but it's not on the whitelist.
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This is the first I've heard of this. I've been using my own phones for years. Right now I'm using my own phone which is a pixel 4a. I guess it's on the whitelist because I'm getting what it claims is lte+, which I assume is 4g?
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The GP is not talking about LTE, they're talking about "voice over LTE" (VoLTE). The Bell compatibility checker they linked to seems like a fairly comprehensive list of phones that support it. Very old phones, like the iPhone 4 or original Pixel don't support it because the standard didn't exist when they were manufactured.
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But some like Rogers or Fido will block your IMEI or charge you 75$/month if your phone is not in their list, this is unacceptable.
Why Does Productivity Decline? (Score:3)
Research released by the Federal Reserve last month concludes that each additional year companies delay upgrading equipment results in a productivity decline of about one-third of a percent
Why does productivity change at all? The equipment remains just as functional and "productive" from day one to 2,000. A computer processes a certain number of MIPS. A widget stamper stamps so many widgets per hour. They don't get slower or weaker, so how does productivity change What is this "research" based on?
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Why does productivity change at all?
I take it you don't have the latest Teams installed, or never used a corporate laptop loaded with all that rubbish management software? A few years ago an 8GB RAM laptop ran perfectly fine. Nowadays on a corporate machine you can't even have office apps open while in a Teams call without paging to disk. My 2 year old laptop is absolutely tanking my productivity. That wasn't the case 2 years ago. Teams didn't take up 3GB of RAM just to do a damn video call back then, but then it also didn't have AI loaded au
I've had 3 cell phones ... (Score:3)
#1 - Qualcomm QCP-1900, 1998-2015 (17y)
#2 - Kyocera HydroVIBE, 2015-2021 (6y)
#3 - Google Pixel 5a, 2021 - Present (4y, so far)
The Qualcomm was on nTelos (initially PrimeCo) and had to give it up when nTelos in my area was sold to Sprint and they didn't/wouldn't support the phone's spectrum. The Kyocera was on Ting (Sprint) and gave it up when Sprint was bought by T-Mobile and CDMA was deprecated and VoIP required, also Google Play support EOL for KitKat. The Pixel 5a is on Ting (T-Mobile) and I'll probably keep it until forced to get something newer - works great so far.
I'll note that the Kyocera - from 2015 - was IP57 certified *with* a headphone jack and removable battery (along with 32GB MicroSD and SIM) under the removable back w/gasket.
Hold on to those devices (Score:2)
I think thats what Ryan Seacrest says (toss up round on Wheel of Fortue)
Compare to land lines (Score:2)
There are probably people still using the same land line handsets that were installed 100+ years ago.*
* granted, the rotary-dial part may or may not work depending on your phone company, but a touch-tone phone from the 1960s works fine on most POTS land-lines or on VOIP with the right adapter or modem.
Because the differences matter less... (Score:5, Informative)
I got a desktop computer in 1995. It had a 686 Cyrix at 166MHz, 16MB of RAM, an 8x CD-ROM, 1.6 GB hard disk...and it was one of the fastest computers in my circle. By 2001, it was unusable. USB was on its way to replacing serial and parallel peripherals, which Windows 95 didn't support. 166MHz was slow, compared to the 600MHz P3's that were available (and a year later, they'd hit 1GHz). 48MB of RAM was nothing (64MB was common, 256MB was available), and while 1.6GB was a bottomless pit when Word documents was all I was creating, and 50MB installations for video games were considered pigs, 10GB drives were available...and needed for the CDs I was ripping into MP3s. Six years of computer progress was clear, obvious, palpable, and using the old computer had a clear feeling of constraint.
Today, unless you're doing local AI, 8K video rendering, or a handful of other niche applications, a 6-year-old computer will be perfectly usable. Six years ago, SSDs were already the default, 6-core CPUs were the default, and it was right at the cusp of when 16GB became mainstream. A six year old computer is perfectly usable for most tasks. It runs current iterations of OSes (admittedly a 6-year-old Mac might not because of the OSX shelf life on Intel), it *might* need a RAM upgrade, and it *might* benefit from a newer SSD to some extent...but while a 6-year difference was night-and-day in 2000, it's turned into "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".
And, so too it is with phones. The difference between the iPhone 4 and iPhone 8 was readily understood and appreciated by most users; the storage capacity increases, camera improvements, FaceID implementation, Apple Wallet/NFC, bidirectional lightning cable, and screen size increase were all understood, palpable, and basically sold themselves. I went through the Wikipedia page to get a feel for what changed between the 13 and the 17...and the answers were the satellite connectivity (that may-or-may-not-work depending on carrier), Apple Intelligence (that they famously are still trying to get off the ground), the dynamic island, a few more camera improvements, and colors...oh, and they are more expensive now.
Samsung is kinda the same deal; the foldable phones are nifty, but at $2,000, one can get a phone, a laptop, *and* a tablet for the same price...and the difference between an S21 and an S25 is similarly uninspiring for a $1,000 upgrade.
So yeah, phones have gotten "good enough" for most people, they've been that way for a while, despite the price tags more frequently involving commas. So...yeah...makes perfect sense that with more money expected for less improvement...that 3-year-old phones are the norm now.
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I got a desktop computer in 1995. It had a 686 Cyrix at 166MHz, 16MB of RAM, an 8x CD-ROM, 1.6 GB hard disk...and it was one of the fastest computers in my circle. By 2001, it was unusable.
I had a PC similar to this that same year. As a gamer, I upgraded at least 3 times by 2001, as each upgrade showed noticeable gains over the previous config in some way.
Now we're stuck with CPUs increasing in speed by 25% over the last decade, with core counts the main change. That means my old 4770k and even Celeron 6100k PCs with Bazzite OS and a newer gen GPU work extremely well for everything my kids throw at them.
I keep mine as long a support continues (Score:2)
As long as the vendor (Apple/Google/whoever) is continuing to release updates and patches, with very few exceptions, I don't bother upgrading the device. If there is a hardware fault or the battery is significantly degraded and it's a hassle to repair, that will also trigger an "upgrade" for me. Otherwise, I could care less about the latest whizzbang feature, "AI capabilities," etc.
Re: (Score:2)
I took my iPhone 5s to Broke Ass Phones in Cleveland for a battery replacement a few years ago. I can get 2 to 3 days out of a full charge.
Re: (Score:2)
Changing phones is a PITA (Score:2)
The only time I change to a newer phone is if the OS is so old that the updated apps won't work on it.
Though there are apps that are *supposed* to make transferring files and loading apps "easier" they usually don't move everything over to the new phone. Specifically, the device settings/notifications and notification sounds. It still requires a couple of hours dicking around with the new phone to have it emulate the functionality that I once had on the older phone.
As for Apple crap, some of the users are
This seems ridiculous on the face of it (Score:2)
TFS appears to be attempting to conflate the phone-buying habits of individual consumers with business hardware replacement cycles and productivity. It appears to be complete garbage.
I am left to assume this was shadow written by someone in the marketing department from some large tech company - e.g. Dell, Samsung, Apple, Google, Microsoft.
As an aside - it seems pretty wasteful (and pointless) to replace your smartphone even after 29 months, let alone every 22 months.
Everything is too darn expensive (Score:2)
I don't know if it's because I'm finally understanding the value of a dollar and I would much rather put that money in an IRA or other investment vehicle or if it's the jew in me that believes everything has gotten too damn expensive? Either way I'm still rocking a phone from 2020, my primary MBP laptop is from 2019, my desktop I built in 2017...
People need to just stop spending money, it will straighten out our economy faster than any government policy. All prices will go back to what they were over a deca
29 months?? (Score:2)
29 months? That's atrocious.
I had my previous phone for 7 years (Motorola G5 Plus.) It was still working fine, but I was forced to replace it because the cellular network here was upgraded and the phone was no longer compatible. I was extremely annoyed.
I'm hoping my current phone will last at least 7 years. I still have the Moto G5 Plus and put PostmarketOS on it, but it's really more a curiosity than a useful device now.
Only 29 months? (Score:2)
I'm still rocking an iPhone 5s like it's 2013. I was forced to ditch my dumb phone a while back because of 3G being deprecated. I got the 5s for free, my wife's old phone. Makes calls and texts just fine.
The numbers (Score:2)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The average American now holds onto their smartphone for 29 months, according to a recent survey by Reviews.org, and that cycle is getting longer. The average was around 22 months in 2016.
For people to hold on to devices for 22 months in 2016 means they were holding on to 2014 era devices. An iPhone 6 cost $600 in 2014.
For people to be holding on to devices for 29 months in 2025 means they are holding on to 2022 era devices. An iPhone 14 in 2022 cost $800.
Perhaps people hold on to them because replacements cost more, not less, than the device to be replaced?
When talking about computers, you'd think half the world was still running Win 10 computers that were too old for Win 11 (without hacks)
Doing my part to push up the average (Score:2)
Did they just equate new phone = more productive? (Score:2)
6 yo (Score:2)
I kept it running even when Samsung tried to kill it with its #GSOD [youtube.com].
I decided to buy a new one because the battery took a sudden autonomy hit, in addition to the Samsung mess, and I didn't want to have to buy a new one 10000 km from home.
My last iPhone lasted over 7 years... (Score:2)