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iPad Lifecycle Mirrors Macs and Maybe Even TVs Rather Than iPhones
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Not for the average consumer. They see it as only paying $99 or $199 for the newest model. I know it's built into their bill blah blah blah but they don't see it that way.
you dont understand the concept of Planned obsolescences.
Yes, you can always continue using items well past their supported life. Planned obsolescences reffers to to a combination of factors that a company can use to "force" an upgrade on its users
The simplist way is the outright cause the product to stop its life after a certain period of time. most companies don't do this as it would be suicidal. Nobody would buy an iPad if at 3 years the thing completely shut itself off and never started again.
However, there are far more manipulative forms where product support is arbitrarily removed creating a barrier to future use.
An example of this sort of software planned obsolesence:
Create an MP3 player. Version 1.0 software comes default.
1 year later, Release new MP3 player. Version 2.0 comes default.
First gen MP3 player does not get V2 software despite physical capability of supporting that software.
All future development, software, Apps and Music playing ability requires V2.0
So yes, you can always continue using the original MP3 player in its current format. But you dont get support. You dont get updates, and sometimes if a company is vindictive enough, it even changes it's online stores format to only work on the new software.
I'm not saying Apple is guilty of this form of it. But the accusation has been levied against them (And many tech companies who rely on hardware sales).
sometimes it's not easy to tell when this is done. Apple HAS done it in the past. Often cutting support for 3 year old hardware from newer software for reasons that are arbitrary.
the last example I can think of is OSx Mountain Lion dropping support for Some Mac Pro's and Mac laptops that do not feature 64bit EFI's despite being fully 64bit CPU based systems and more than enough physical power to handle it. the inclusion of support would have cost Apple little as it existed previously. But cutting off support completely for people wishign to upgrade their OS would in fact force them to buy new hardware. Fortunately, Apple hasn't been so bold to also limit the Applications that run to Mavericks / ML only as that would be too obvious.
Yeah. I can picture that.
One of the strength of iOS 1-6 that very few people talked about is it's the most intuitive OS ever. It's like the first computer OS for the mass. Tech geeks don't understand this quality and I think even the majority of people at Apple *now* doesn't grasp it.
Jony Ive and his team should be forced, every day, to watch a video from YouTube that show a toddler handling an iPad with iOS 5 like a pro.
Actually, unless you reside in Calfornia apple won't replace/repair the original iPhone, as it is now in their Vintage category of products.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1752
I'm curious which company you will turn to when your anger at Apple's planned obsolescence. Which phone maker supports their phones with the latest OS for longer? Which notebook maker and tablet maker have better reputations for supporting products and reducing how often they would like you to buy them? When Apple's free OSX updates finally drive you away, are you going to be happier paying for Windows updates every few years? I understand you wish it were less, but every other option seems worse to me.
It doesn't have to do with cost, as iPhones are more expensive than iPads (iPhones are not $99/$199 for the uninformed). Then even with that, remember the carriers used to subsidize iPads and people still didn't buy them as much as iPhones. In fact I believe T-Mobile still finances them at "$0 down" and people still don't buy them as much as they do iPhones.
I think it's more about the uses of these devices. People use their phones much more heavily than tablets and carry their iPhones with them just about everywhere. Count the number of people you see walking around playing with their iPad vs. those you see playing with their iPhones. People get more usage out of their iPhones and thus tend to upgrade them more often. People don't feel like they NEED an iPad, but everyone "NEEDS" a phone. Plus the yearly upgrades on the iPhone are more significant than those on the iPad.
iPad 2 to iPad 3, - Retina display, slightly faster
iPad 3 to iPad 4, - Faster, Lightning port
iPad 4 to iPad Air - Thinner, lighter, faster, improved camera
iPad 3GS to iPhone 4 - New design, retina display, improved camera
iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S - Dual-core processor, improved camera, HSPA+, Siri
iPhone 4S to iPhone 5 - New design, improved processor, larger screen, LTE, improved screen quality
It seems like for the most part Apple just improves the specs of the iPad line where with the iPhone they improve the specs and also try to add in other features such as Siri, TouchID, new designs every two years. This probably also has to do with the fact that the iPhone generates the majority of their revenue so they put more effort into it than iPad.
I think it's more about the uses of these devices. People use their phones much more heavily than tablets and carry their iPhones with them just about everywhere. Count the number of people you see walking around playing with their iPad vs. those you see playing with their iPhones. People get more usage out of their iPhones and thus tend to upgrade them more often. People don't feel like they NEED an iPad, but everyone "NEEDS" a phone. Plus the yearly upgrades on the iPhone are more significant than those on the iPad.
iPad 2 to iPad 3, - Retina display, slightly faster
iPad 3 to iPad 4, - Faster, Lightning port
iPad 4 to iPad Air - Thinner, lighter, faster, improved camera
iPad 3GS to iPhone 4 - New design, retina display, improved camera
iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S - Dual-core processor, improved camera, HSPA+, Siri
iPhone 4S to iPhone 5 - New design, improved processor, larger screen, LTE, improved screen quality
It seems like for the most part Apple just improves the specs of the iPad line where with the iPhone they improve the specs and also try to add in other features such as Siri, TouchID, new designs every two years. This probably also has to do with the fact that the iPhone generates the majority of their revenue so they put more effort into it than iPad.
How is that planned obsolescence not being able to install the latest OS
Your old computer still works and there is no company out there that will support old products indefinitely unless you pay A LOT of money
You can keep purchasing new equipment, I'd rather purchase a new device when there's an actual need. I'd rather not waste $$ by giving apple more of what they already have just to keep them innovating.
In other words, my limited funds are better in my bank account then Apple's.
It's when your iMac can no longer even install the latest OS X when virtually any PC can get the latest Windows. It's when you can't even run X-Code on an that iMac because the iMac can't run the latest OS X. It's when new features aren't granted to old products for non-technical reasons just to make the new product more enticing. LordVic covered this nicely.
I mean, I get it from a sales and marketing perspective. It's business and all that. And I used to defend Apple by saying things like "Well they're just trying to ensure that the experience is the best for everyone and sometimes you just can't dedicate resources to supporting aging hardware..." etc. etc.
But once you understand that "turnover" is one of Apple's objectives and/or requirements, it kind of changes things.
So wait, did your old man get the short end of this deal? Hopefully you switched them back.
Yeah same here, my iPad 1 has a resell value of like $7.00 on craigslist. IMHO the actual value of a 1st gen iPad is way more. So i'm keeping it and it's still kicking.
Usually true, but...
After seeing only a handful on crashes in iOS 4, my iPad 1 was hit so badly by iOS 5 that Safari was basically rendered unusable, and countless others on Apple's forums had the same issue. My wife's iPad 2 runs better now after 3 years of use and updates than my iPad 1 ran like 14 months after I bought it on launch day.
Not saying this to complain, just to point out that while Apple updates are usually pretty kind to their older products, there are notable exceptions (now that I think about it, the other major upgrade complaints I hear come mostly from iOS 7 iPhone 4 users- that A4 chip just did not have the longetivity we wanted it to)
Ah cool. Karma restored. I like the theory and the testing, pretty good idea honestly.
And so it should.
Replacing your stuff every year or two doesn't make sense for most people. Also, there is incentive for an on-contract phone to be replaced whenever the contract is up because you can often sell your old phone for as much or more than you're gonna pay for a contract-priced phone.
For us, of course, there is the extra incentive of loving this stuff. I always look forward to buying new gear. But I'm glad to see that iPads are lasting most people longer than iPhones do.
Replacing your stuff every year or two doesn't make sense for most people. Also, there is incentive for an on-contract phone to be replaced whenever the contract is up because you can often sell your old phone for as much or more than you're gonna pay for a contract-priced phone.
For us, of course, there is the extra incentive of loving this stuff. I always look forward to buying new gear. But I'm glad to see that iPads are lasting most people longer than iPhones do.
Upgrading a phone every 2-3 years is fine for me. Phone HW is moving so fast that something that's 4 years old indeed feels ancient.
Apple's support of the iPad has been fine so far. I think one of the things that differentiates the iPad from the iPhone is that the whiz-bang hardware doesn't influence the average iPad user. For example, when a new iPhone gets some fancy camera hardware features, that's compelling. People use their phones' cameras all the time. GPS? Compass? Also great compelling features for a phone.
On an iPad, at least to me, those things don't matter. They've improved the cameras on iPads and I don't care. I don't use them. I don't need GPS on my iPad. That's why the iPad 2 has survived so long (don't get me wrong, I would love a Retina display). The iPad needs: a decent processor; a decent screen; decent battery life; a decent touch screen; the ability to run all available apps.
That's why I made my original post - I hope that Apple doesn't start manipulating iPad designs, or more importantly iOS, in order to age iPads prematurely so Apple can meet their product turnover goals (no Retina Display on your iPad? Sorry, no new apps for you!).
Makes total sense to me as my behaviour follows the stats, iPhone changed every 12-24 months, iPad1 still have it but changing when Air2 comes out so about 48 months, MacBook (2006) still going given to my daughter, Mac Mini 2009 will be changed if there ever is a refresh 
Phones easy to change with contracts, iPad1 getting a bit old but still used every day, Mini upgraded myself and still going strong - happy with it all
Phones easy to change with contracts, iPad1 getting a bit old but still used every day, Mini upgraded myself and still going strong - happy with it all
I guess I'm really weird - my iPhone is 3 years old, my iMac is 7, and my MBA is 6. I'm planning on replacing all 3 this year (iPhone battery isn't lasting long enough and MBA isn't performant enough. I could probably hold onto the iMac for another year or two).
Disloyal? I'm a just customer, I buy what I want and when I want it.
In my opinion that would more likely drive disgruntled customers away from buying Apple products again and destroy the environmental credentials that Apple has worked so hard to achieve.
But what do I know, I'm only a disloyal customer?
Thanks for your opinion, traitor. Upgrade all your apple devices now or you will be dishonoring Steve's memory.
iPad vs. Mac
My father called the other day looking for advice on a new desktop. I started by inquiring if he would prefer a laptop this time so he could sit outside or in another room. His response? "If I want to go outside I will use my iPad."
It makes me think one reason why people are upgrading iPads at the same rate as their computer is because they don't differentiate between the two.
My father called the other day looking for advice on a new desktop. I started by inquiring if he would prefer a laptop this time so he could sit outside or in another room. His response? "If I want to go outside I will use my iPad."
It makes me think one reason why people are upgrading iPads at the same rate as their computer is because they don't differentiate between the two.
I'm disloyal
I hold absolutely no allegiances to any corporation for anything.
if you want my money. You have to earn my money. (just like if i want my bosses to pay me, i have to earn it.)
Just because it has a shiny apple glowing logo on the back doesn't mean I am going to buy it. I will buy tools or toys that solve the needs, wants and desires I have.
if my current product does 100% of what I want. I'm not going to buy a slightly modified new version of it just because it's 15% faster (especially if i dont notice the difference in my activities).
if apple stopped providing what I needed, Why should i continue buying from them?
Brand Loyalty is fine in regards to opinions of quality. there's nothing wrong in forming certain opinions like "Apple has historically made premium quality long lasting parts, so therefore, i will put serious consideration to their product since that is a concern I have in my next purchase".
there's an entirely different matter than saying "I must buy the new thing because apple released it and therefore, i must have it, because it's an apple product, and they're obviously the best of the best of the best, because I said so and they're Apple"