From state-of-the-art to obsolete in less than a year? (player, linux, performance)

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Give examples, if they exist.

[Ttark]

"Smart" phones (quotation marks used sarcastically).
Any type of computer equipment
Dirt bikes (especially these days)

But hey, it's great if you're looking to buy used or NOS. You can seriously cheap out and have fully-functioning kit that does the job just as well if you shop around, if you don't mind having last year's model.

[Tek_Freek]

We keep our smart phones for years. They are only "obsolete" if your a fanboi and need the latest even if the "upgrade" is minimal.

Ditto for computer equipment.

Dirt bikes. I dunno.

[Tek_Freek]

Some threads on City-Data. Not necessarily this one. LOL!

[BoSox 15]

My guess is the last iteration of any product before it becomes obsolete.

VCR
Walk Man
CD Player

[macroy]

I guess it depends on one's definition of obsolete. Samsung Galaxy S phones come out w/ a new version pretty much every year. Albeit that doesn't necessarily make the previous version "obsolete" from a technical capability perspective.

[elnina]

They are not obsolete, but many don't get updated if they are older than 2 years or so.
If you depend on updated data, then yes, they are obsolete to you because with the age they will lose the original functionality.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by elnina

They are not obsolete, but many don't get updated

My parents (in their 80s) have two Samsung SCH-U410s which were released in 2007. They hate them but they hate the idea of dealing with something new even worse.


I've toyed with the idea of a phone with a tracker, but I am thinking one of those devices that fits in a car and measures performance might be better. In theory they should sense if the automobile has been in a crash.

So you not only know where people are located, but if they've been in an accident.

[Ttark]

Dirt bikes. I dunno.

Well, I saw an advert in a motocross magazine a couple years ago for a Yamaha (might have been?) bike that interfaces with an Android Linux cell phone program, using Bluetooth, that allows the user to customise ignition mapping and other aspects remotely via cell phone. And what happens when they stop supporting that software or version of Android Linux? You have a dirt bike that may run but you're dependent on old, outdated computer hardware to manipulate its settings. Planned obsolescence. Show me one of those that's still going to be serviceable (let alone running) 30 or even 5 years from now.

That magazine has been out of print for a while now so I don't know if they still make that bike any more.

Hence, dirt bikes, especially some of the ones they have nowadays.

[turf3]

"No longer the latest thing available" is NOT THE SAME THING as "obsolete".


"Obsolete" means no longer suitable for use in current conditions. The 1903 curved dash Oldsmobile is obsolete; you could not safely reliably use it for transportation in the modern world. The 2003 Toyota Corolla is not obsolete; even though it doesn't have the latest electronic gadgets, you can drive it 80 mph all day long on the Interstate and park it in any current parking space.


When digital cameras came out, they did not make film cameras obsolete, at least not immediately, as one could still obtain film and processing anywhere. Now, 20+ years on, the Polaroid camera really is obsolete because it's nearly impossible to obtain film for it; and the 35mm camera is getting very close as it's difficult to obtain film and processing.


So, once again, just because a new thing has been introduced doesn't mean the old thing is obsolete. At a minimum it usually takes some years for the capabilities of the new thing to change the paradigm of how its functions are used, and for the support structure of the old thing to get harder and harder to access.