this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
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Software updates are the problem unfortunately
I wonder why this is not a problem for pcs though
Because PCs are from a time before tech monopolies. They are based on a spec that allows different vendors to work together. As a result there is more competition, more options for repair, etc.
I wonder how long this will last. We're already seeing Apple getting some crazy performance with their M chips with integrated RAM and GPU, wouldn't surprise me if PCs start becoming less and less modular as time goes on.
Yes, though technically they started out as reverse engineered clones. There were tons of incompatible microcomputer brands before the IBM PC. Then companies like Compaq put out "PC compatible" clones based on specs that came from reverse engineering of the IBM PC. Over time, things evolved toward deliberate standardization.
Imagine the dumpster fire of legal action, which courts would likely side with, if someone put out hardware that was 1:1 compatible with the iPhone and iOS would run on it. That's basically what happened, though MS DOS was produced by an additional party instead of IBM.
I have quite a number of systems capable of running Windows 11. Microsoft won't allow it. Thankfully I run mostly Linux. But your point is not as solid as you think it is unfortunately..
Because PCs are based on a hardware standard that allows for a standard kernel and pluggable drivers. So you can just take a standard install of a new version of Windows, and toss in the same drivers from the last version, and you're on your way.
On ARM, there is no such standard that is widely deployed, the hardware is integrated bespoke for each and every device, so building a new version of the OS for a specific phone means using very specific configurations (where in memory is the GPU mapped? where is the sound chip mapped? on a PC the hardware can plug-and-play detect this stuff, on ARM it has to be hardcoded into the OS for every device). This is made worse by the chips used in mobile phones being proprietary hardware where the drivers are only released to manufacturers under NDA, and these hardware manufacturers often don't bother to supply updates at all and individual phone manufacturers don't have enough clout to force them to
It kinda is. Windows 11 won't run on older hardware and end of life of the latest version of Win 10 is coming up in 2 years or so. And a bunch of PCs weren't really ready for Win 10 when that replaced Win 7/8 and again, support for those dropped at some point.
Lifetimes are usually more lenient with PCs, but it still happens. You can switch to Linux of course, but then there are alternatives for many smartphones as well.
Developers require money, and software maintenance requires lots of developers, testers and other people.
That's why the bootloaders of phones should be required to be unlocked by law. You can always root your phone and install a custom ROM on it to keep up to date.
Yes and no. Installing last version of android on a pixel 4 is most likely absolutely fine. And keeping at least security support is likely not a big deal. 3 years of security update support it is clearly a finance department decision. Why 3, why not 3 and half? Why not 4?
Just because they need predictability in sales, and they attached the support to the "classical" number of years after which you'd like a customer to buy a new tech product. 3 years has always been a magic number for hardware companies, since forever
No not really, formula is no more than 10% production costs pa unless w produced poorly to begin with. It’s even less if you’re running multiple versions of roughly the same thing then the costs are spread over those versions.