My gadgets are lasting
longer. But their value for money is actually increasing over time. blog.mindrocketnow.com
Last month, my iPhone 6 plus became 3 generations old, but I
don’t yet feel the need to upgrade it. It’s only when it becomes 4 generations
old with the release of the iPhone X that I’ll be tempted to upgrade. Rather
than this being an example of catastrophically bad product management (who in
their right minds makes their latest 8th gen product irrelevant in a
matter of months?), I think this actually demonstrates impressive technological
longevity.
It’s not just Apple being generous with my wallet; other
companies are following the same model. I play games on my Xbox One, even
though as of last month it was 3 generations old.
Whilst the rate of technology progress has not slowed, the
rate of obsolescence has slowed, at least for these two devices. My phone runs
iOS 11, and therefore continues to run all the apps (just don’t get me started
on catastrophic battery performance). My Xbox One will run all the games that
are released for Xbox One X, thanks to Microsoft’s Play Anywhere programme.
Hardware continues to follow Moore’s Law and improve, but I
no longer need to buy new hardware to benefit from improvements. All my apps
continue to be updated, and new functionality added, almost always for free.
Longevity is assured by software. The rate of compelling improvements has not
slowed, yet the cost has become cheaper.
This has always been a characteristic of other industries,
such as TV. Every so often, there are jumps in technology with backwards
incompatibility, such as the conversion from analogue to digital. But for the
main part, traditional broadcasters are very much preoccupied with ensuring
that no viewer is left behind.
This accounts for the slow pace of change in the industry.
If you look at any EPG listing on any service, the number of SD channels far
outnumber the HD channels. You can see repeats of 4:3 programming with ugly
black bars on either side. Change is evolutionary because there is such a large
consumer base to keep happy. Change is evolutionary because there are
technology and content assets that need to be “sweated”. Value for money must
be maintained for longer.
This is a lesson being learned and improved upon by Apple
and Microsoft. Just as I’m not being forced to upgrade to a 4k TV otherwise my
viewing will be cut off, I’m not being forced to upgrade to an iPhone X nor an
Xbox One X. But if I do upgrade both X-devices, I can be confident that the
devices will last longer, and due to better software, do more, as time
progresses. Value for money will increase over time. My wallet thanks you.
