A new version of their “phones” every few months smacks of planned obsolescence to me....
Uhhh...last time I checked they update their phones once a year, just like cars, appliances, computers, etc., etc.
Or are all of those planned obsolescence too?
I know, you are still driving a Model T, aren’t you?
Uh, then you don't know what you are talking about, Ern.
Apple releases new iPhones once a year, not every few months. Samsung, HTC, LG, and the other Android phone companies release multiple phone models every four or five months. . . and again, many Apple iPhone users are still using three and four year old models with no problems. They are not "planned obsolescence" but updated models with new capabilities and better, faster processors, better cameras, etc.
That doesn't make the ones already out obsolete. In fact, only 30% of people with iPhones upgraded to the iPhone 6 or 6plus last year, opting to hold on to their iPhone 4s, 5, or 5s, waiting for another year or so. The iPhone 4s was released 4 years ago. . . and a lot of people are still using it. The iPhone 5, three years ago, 5s, two years. That is not frequent releases.
As a matter of fact, iOS 9, the new version of the operating system that will be coming out on September 16th, will run on every iPhone from the 4s onward. You cannot say the same thing about ANY Android new OS release. In fact, the latest iOS 8 has been adopted by 93% of all iOS devices in the wild. . . again proof of no obsolescence.
On the other hand, only 15.5% of Android users have adopted the latest OS version of that system. Many of even the latest Android phones cannot be upgraded, because they truly are obsolete.
In just 2015 alone, Samsung released 24 different smartphones. . . and there still are three months yet to go. That's not counting different memory sizes.