How about getting 4 years out of your $650+ purchase. Would that be a problem?
Or does it have to be a new device every 2 years? Sure Apple did not mention that, because if they did, I would have gone elsewhere.
My computers run for 8 years, printers 10, my cars 9, my homes 30+, iPods 10, Fridge 17. Stove 20+. All in pristine condition and well maintained.
Why can't my iPhone not last me at least 5?
At the store, my perfect iPhone had everything I wanted. I paid $650 + tax for an unlocked iPhone 4S.
I don't like to be forced to change stuff that work well as they were originally designed, specially not because someone arbitrarily decides to remove features.
If iOS7 looked more like iOS6 and run just as fast, then why not.
My phone came with iOS5 and, yes, I had no reason to not update to iOS6. So I did.
Find any vendor of a smartphone where you are going to get longer software support than Apple for a given device. That is the bottom line. If you feel that Apple is so shady and the software support in their mobile products is so bad and you feel like they are forcing you into buying a new phone, then go to the manufacturer you feel has a better overall package. That simple.
The mobile market is not at a mature stage yet, things are still moving very fast, especially technology-wise. You can't expect a phone to have the same staying power as your desktop computer, and to even put it in the same sentence as a car, a stove, a fridge and even a home just shows how ridiculous the point your trying to make is. Your phone's battery won't last 5 years. No, it is not interchangeable, but you knew that when you bought it.
If you want to run old legacy software, and/or be on your own to keep tabs on updates and security issues, have a phone with a replaceable battery, etc. then there are many choices for you out there, and yes, you can probably make such a device last 5 years. But if you do, you are going to run into the same problems (except exacerbated exponentially) of your old OS not being updated to address security risks, provide the latest backend functionality and/or services and features, not have the latest software that developers aim at with their new apps, etc. and you are going to have to spend a lot more of your own time and energy maintaining that device. There are those that think this sort of thing is fun. 99.99% of Apple's consumer base do not.
Do you have a choice as a free consumer? Yes. Does Apple also have a choice to make as to how they feel is the best way to provide a streamlined and simple yet powerful and expansive user experience to as many of their customers that keeps them as satisfied as possible in the most efficient and cost effective way in order to continue to expand their user base and grow as a company? Yes. Does Apple provide a free and simple solution to restore a secure and safe FaceTime connection to you as a consumer? Yes. Did Apple remove the FaceTime app from your phone? No.
In actuality what has happened is that the person's device you are trying to connect to is rejecting the insecure certificate your device is sending out, because that person's device
IS updated with the latest security patch, and what you're trying to do is open an insecure connection that puts not only you, but also the person you are trying to connect to, at risk. Apple has every right to deny that connection in order to protect its users from inadvertently initiating a connection that makes them vulnerable to interception of their personal data.
It is hard for me to understand the mentality of the vocal minority of users who feel they should be entitled to ruin things for the vast majority who are very happy with the fundamental philosophy behind Apple's mobile device support. Most of Apple's customers feel that their devices' lives are actually extended by being included in the latest software updates, not the other way around. Most of Apple's customers would take offense to being stuck on the same major release version as their phones originally shipped with and would feel that they were being forced to buy new hardware if that was the case. Sound familiar? This vast majority accept the sound logic behind the fact that their older devices will not be able to run the latest software quite as fast as new devices or quite as fast as they ran the older software they originally came with, and are happy with the fact that they can use the new features of the new software for free without having to pony up the cash for a new device.
Why doesn't Apple change the fundamental functionality of their simple, streamlined software update feature that simply points at the latest available software version of the device in question? Because 99.99% of their user base are 100% happy that it is that easy, and frankly I am happy that Apple does not design their mobile systems to try to cater to the 0.01% of its ultra-tech savvy users who want to have a choice just for the sake of it.
