How often do you upgrade your cellular telephone?

As little as possible, but the amount of time that the software is actually supported for is never enough, I think with Samsung you only get 5 years of security support, but some companys like Motorola only give 2 years. I'm not sure about apple though.

I try to keep things like that for as long as possible so as not to waste precious resources.

Are you looking to upgrade your phone at the moment?

Quote from: geekygal on September 23, 2024, 12:48:35 PMAs little as possible, but the amount of time that the software is actually supported for is never enough, I think with Samsung you only get 5 years of security support, but some companys like Motorola only give 2 years. I'm not sure about apple though.

I try to keep things like that for as long as possible so as not to waste precious resources.

Are you looking to upgrade your phone at the moment?

I am upgrading this year. 

Fortunately there is a resale market, many are refurbished and resold, and many parts can be recycled.


Chrissy

Never. I am not one of these smartphone people that seem to go through life like zombies literally obsessed with their phones... to the extent they would walk off a cliff just to like a facebook post. I find that kind of weird. You see people literally messaging each other from two feet away. It's kind of creepy. Very... Black Mirror.

I do most of my stuff on my laptop. I am a very private person. I am also super old fashioned. Phones should only be used for calls, lol. And if I don't want to be in, welcome to voicemail.

Welcome to the 1940s, haha.

I think I bought my last Cellular Telephone in 1999.. after that I bought mobile phones or cellphones. Around the 2010 I got my first 'smartphone' or 'phone' as I like to call it. I sometimes call it a 'mobile' but then that is showing my age!..

I remember having one of those Motorola car phones in my dad's car in the late 80's.. then the 2G phones in the late 90's with little pull out aerials. Moving onto the flip phones and the mighty Moto Razr.. which I loved.. then Nokia with internet access via WAP and my little Psion Organiser doing email on the move in the early 2000's soon upgraded to a Psion Lifebook with a whole 4GB of storage (how could I ever fill the thing??).. and then android (missed iPhone but did get iPad as I went to the launch, sort of felt obliged to get one?) ended up developing for said devices in the 2010's.. and made a nice living at it, though never quite made a flappy birds.. shame.
Now, my phone is my lifeline to my world. My friends are scattered around the US and the Globe. I have contacts and family in the UK that I videochat to regularly and the dreaded facebook and whatsapp keeps me upto date with everyone else.. my phone is my bank cards, my music library, my security to access services, my portal to my child, my entertainment, my work tool and my sat nav.. and so much more. How much I depend on my phone is scary and my daughter has even gotten me to install Instagram, I don't know how to use it, but we seem to communicate on that too.. I am getting old and this tech is only just starting.

And to answer the question - I change my phone about once every 2 years. I always buy an unlocked refurb from a couple of years ago, but high spec, top teir sort of phone. I think the trade off of a couple of smart dongles for a 2 thirds reduction in price is fair.. Currently loving Samsung phones basically because of the pen's and the ability to draw like a pencil on them.. unlimited sketch pad is an artists dream.

Anyone have a flip cellular telephone still in use?

I am looking for artificial intelligence on a mobile device that will provide me accurate, timely, useful, and private information.  Newer devices and their software will facilitate that better than older devices.

We shall see about the timing of this purchase.  One can always wait, as there is always something better promised for the next year.  But if you do not buy now, you can lose out currently on what was previously promised that I hope to be delivered. 

Having to use multiple devices is not desired, but sometimes necessary for one reason or another.

Chrissy

As little as possible.  I only got a cellphone originally out of necessity, and I seldom used it.  When we moved to Nova Scotia, I figured I ought to get a local area code, so I went to the company office to do that.  They informed me that it didn't have enough Gs and that the old towers that it could talk to were being decommissioned the next week. 

Whether that was true or not, he talked me into getting a new one.  Still a flip phone, but one that wasn't obsolete.

I was fine with that for years until our landline went out for a month.  The phone company was in no hurry to fix it because everyone has cell phones, right?  I mean who even uses landlines any more?  Well, we were in an area with zero cell phone coverage.  It was a landline or nothing, so for a month, we had nothing.  If we'd had an emergency, I would have had to drive three kilometres to a secret spot I discovered where I could ping a cell tower across the bay in New Brunswick.

Since that was unacceptable, I decided to upgrade to a phone that could make calls via wifi.  So now I have a modern-looking flat cellphone.  Sure I can do some nifty things with it, like the Merlin bird identification app (apparently everything it hears is a red-eyed vireo!), and it is handy having a camera in my purse all the time.  But it takes so long to boot up that I keep it on all the time.  Which means that I have to silence it in theatres.  But it makes annoying notification beeps even when I have told it to shut the heck up.

My point is that I have it only out of necessity.  I agree that it is prudent to carry it for emergencies, but I hate it.  I give it the bare minimum of my time and money.  I am certainly not about to upgrade until forced to.

Only when the one I have develops a problem, then I order another renewed phone. I never buy new