I'm not convinced this will stop the hardware upgrading though. I don't' know that it makes less of an environmental impact either, I think it could be worse actually.

And so you should. I certainly wasn't saying that no one shouldn't upgrade, and I mentioned that my son's phone couldn't run everything anymore. Certainly you have to upgrade when you can no longer run the things you want.

I haven't noticed any significant issues with our 3GS running the latest iOS 6 for it. I suppose it depends on the apps, but everything common seems to work well for us. Certainly my 5 is a lot quicker, but our 3GS doesn't cost us anything to have and certainly isn't in any way a pain to use.

Interesting. Strange they would have messed up the reception in the new phones. I definitely notice the difference with our 3GS and 5. My wife's iPad2 is absolutely terrible in the house, there are certain places she can't get signal even though the iPhones show full bars for wifi in the same areas.

Yeah, I have no tablet myself and a well aged laptop (7+ years old, but works just great with Win8) for when I am away from my desktop. If I replace the laptop I definitely want a Windows Pro tablet/hybrid. I'd jump to a Windows phone too if they made full Windows available on the phone.

Sorry, WHAT?

iPhones are seriously overpriced, but the build quality is pretty good...so it is hard for me to fault them too much. I actually *almost* jumped ship to go to the Lumia 920. I like Microsoft and use Windows PCs, so it seemed like a better fit. Leaving all the app ecosystem you've invested in is really hard to do…

Sorry, what?!

Good question. Amazing marketing from Apple? I love my iPhone, but I'd certainly never EVER stand in line to get one. I don't think your phone makes one lick of difference to what type of person you are, but obviously some people do. This is the problem I was speaking about.

Well, it certainly would have been a widely spread news event is Apple bricked a bunch of older phones with an iOS upgrade.

Sorry, what's not true? I mentioned that my son can't run everything anymore. He definitely will need an upgrade after the release of the new iOS if he wants the newest applications. However, as long as safari, Youtube, email, Garageband and his current crop of games continue to work, I don't see needed to upgrade…

Very well put, the contracts definitely do contribute to the perception that upgrading really isn't that expensive. We have similar contracts in Canada.

That doesn't sound like an iPhone, so I can't really comment. Certainly sounds like you need an upgrade, my statement was not against people upgrading when they need to.

As I said, I can't speak to Android personally. I have friends with older Android devices that are relatively useless now. There was lots of fragmentation issues early on with Android and frankly way too many devices to keep a handle on since everyone and their dog was making custom Android versions for their…

I see no evidence that that is true. Millions upon million of people upgraded to iOS6 when it came out, many of them with 3GS. We personally did and suffered no problems. Those are old phones, there simply might be something else wrong with them.

Absolutely. I mentioned the camera upgrade on the 5S as one of the few compelling reasons to upgrade from the 5 in other posts. Upgrades should certainly be done when you need to upgrade.

Oh it is definitely a first-world issue. :)

Absolutely. I wasn't arguing that no one should never upgrade or that there isn't very valid reasons for upgrading. I was speaking to the fact that many suddenly look at their current phone with loathing as soon as the new phones are released. It is very much a status-showing accessory for them. The old phones are…

It is more complicated that that for me personally. I really wanted a voice navigation system, something the 3GS could not do. If that was it alone, I would have likely just bought a Garmin GPS and been done with it. However, my wife also works for one of the big Telco's in our country and gets some money off a new…

I was never saying that people can't or shouldn't have new phones. People can buy anything they want, though I think purchases of electronics should be a little tempered by environmental concerns, but that's just me.