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by meibo 1001 days ago
Doesn't mean they're not making them - a lot of people will buy them regardless, or get a new one from their carrier.

For Apple devices especially, this is incentivized by the culture around them - a lot of folks just want the newest.
2 comments
blitzar 1001 days ago
If my 3 year old iphone falls off a cliff I shouldnt have to buy a "new" 3 year old iPhone because someone decided that people should only buy 1 every 4 years - that would be a collosal waste.

Update the technology on a regular basis as everyone is on a different purchasing cycle.

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badcppdev 1001 days ago
That is such an interesting perspective. You're saying that buying this years model is an important part of buying 'new' for you. I get it but I've never seen it written down before.

I guess cars are the same. If you walked into a dealership and all the models had been released 2 years previous you might feel like you shouldn't be paying full price even though you are getting a brand new car.

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JumpCrisscross 1001 days ago
> saying that buying this years model is an important part of buying 'new' for you

Arbitrarily lengthening release cycles like this is performative. Particularly in high tech. Doubly so in a category that’s reducing its energy and material footprint.

Consider if we did this for cars. New model once a decade. This would be horrible for fuel economies. To say nothing about safety and EVs.

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garte 1001 days ago
Some might say yearly release cycles may be a bad incentive to hold back innovations because you have to bring something new every year... So you do _not_ get the latest and greatest, but a carefully planned "older" product with newer stuff in the pipeline for the next 5 years.
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JumpCrisscross 1001 days ago
> Some might say yearly release cycles may be a bad incentive to hold back innovations

Based on what evidence?

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meibo 1001 days ago
Seems like you just don't want to give up the convenience of being able to buy the most top-notch hardware at any point in time. No one ever said that being sustainable wouldn't be without sacrifices :)
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Gud 1001 days ago
So what if people get the latest. It’s not like the previous device will just magically disappear.

It will get resold and reused.

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