That's the dealbreaker for me.
I can no longer purchase new apps for the ipod touch I bought in 2011 because with almost no exception, every new app requires iOS 7 or higher, which my device does not accept.
While the PC I built in 2006 and have progressively upgraded since then can run any current flavor of Windows, Linux, or OSX and any application for any of the three.
I'll never willingly buy another guaranteed-obsolescence device.
Things become obsolete only because something better comes along and the old device or software can’t handle the new demands. Hence, it’s a good thing. Otherwise you’d be out there starting your car with a crank.
That said, the author recommends not buying he apple watch quite yet, because a new, slimmer version with better apps (and a lower price) will be out sooner rather than later. There’s a whole class of people known as “early adopters” who will buy it, of course, but for them the whole point is to have what’s newest!
the VERY FIRST iPad (although you said iPod) will not take iOS 7 either. And that’s because Apple is FIVE GENERATIONS into future iPad models right now, which are much more powerful and have more RAM and run systems that require more computing power and have apps that require more power.
The reason why customers buy NEW MODELS “today” is for that “more power” and more capability and more advanced apps.
You would have the ENTIRE MARKET held back, even FIVE GENERATIONS later, just so that all the apps and the system can run just as slow as it originally did with no additional power to it ... LOL ...
Well, then you can enjoy your teletype there grandpa.
I hate to be the one to break it to you, but functional obsolescence has always been part of technology, the only difference is the time window. This window will continue to get shorter no matter what brand you buy, because technological innovation is growing at an ever faster pace.
What has helped make Apple the most valuable company in the world, is partially due to the fact that they are not spending dollars are obsolete technologies, they have made it very clear that when something is no longer viable to them, they will move on.
Could you get ios 8 to run on your 4 year old iPod Touch? Sure, but it would be so slow that it would be unusable. At a base simplistic level processing power doubles on every 2 years so your iPod Touch is 1/4 as powerful as a new device.
Its the reality of the world... You think this is just an Apple issue? Not at all, go fire up a 2011 Droid smartphone and even if you can get the latest version of Android to run on it and tell me how much you like it.
I’ve been in tech for over 30 years, the idea that you are going to buy a dedicated computing device and expect more than a 5 year lifespan out of it are virtually done. Laptops/PC’s perhaps, but everything else? Nope.