Am I the only one upset about the state of updates for phones? My 9800M GTS still receives "updates" from Nvidia. My HD7950 still receives updates. Just because 2 years passes dosen't mean I don't deserve the latest updates.
I really don't think this is a fair comparison at all. You are comparing an entire computer system to a single part in the computer. That is an Apples and oranges comparison, pardon the pun. Did the Windows 7 computer your dad bought from Dell get a free "update" to Windows 8 or 8.1 when that was released years later? Heck no, for years the standard for OS updates for entire systems is you pay for them.
Apple is actually being more of an outlier on this, and initially the free updates to iOS was a new thing for them since they traditionally charged for OSX updates. Heck, even old Apple doesn't give us all updates out of the good of their hearts. By releasing updates for all devices it creates a treadmill effect for iOS where they can COMPLETELY avoid the decades old OS problem of backwards compatibility. Phones are either non-supported on or the new version, which completely removes them from responsibility for a situation like the old "why doesn't my Windows XP app run on Vista/7?" It is the same reason they are giving away OSX updates- now they don't have to spend as many resources on depreciated OS versions. It works for Apple because they control the devices AND the ecosystem, but without control over both its hard to justify the cost (or in MS's case loss of revenue).
So I think this concept that we are entitled to updates is a false narrative. You are entitled to what you bought the day you bought it. On phones just like regular Windows computers, you only get an update if you put effort into it. For a Windows system that means paying for and installing the update, for Android it means effort before you buy to research and get a phone like the Nexus that guaranteed gets updates. And you know what- most people are ok with that! Most people don't have a concept of an OS, and they only notice updates when its a big change (like iOS6 to iOS7).
What benefit to the Android OEMs get out of updates? Unlike your Nvidia GPU that basically acts EXACTLY the same after an update (except maybe a little faster hopefully), Android updates can change the entire GUI! That is "cool" to people like us that want to try new and different, but for people who can BARELY grasp how to use these devices an update might force upon them a new learning curve just because they woke up one day. So these people call support and complain, which wastes resources when they already spend EXTRA resources to port over the OS update anyway. So then OEMs have to spend time making the new OS update look like the old one, which mitigates the appeal of the update for a nerd like yourself. It is a huge Catch 22.
I am not saying OS updates aren't a good thing, and I agree it is ridiculous that some Android OEMs drop support for their devices while they are still being sold in stores. The Android sections in the AT&T or Best Buy stores can be a graveyard, with old "free" phones running an OS two versions back. I personally avoid Android OEMs that have a bad track record for updates, and on Swappa its easy to see that the "Nexus" brand carries a premium for people (the Moto X too) because of its access to OS updates. But I also think its ridiculous to feel entitled to these updates in a short timespan for an older non-Nexus device.
If updates matter to you, which is probably the case if you know what an OS is and you read the kind of websites that even talk about the Android OS update, then get a device that will be updated quickly. We have a solid list of those devices and it is growing. If you don't want to think about it that much and you just want to buy something then simply don't buy anything without the word "Nexus" in it. The Nexus 7 2012 and the Nexus 4 are both about to get Lollipop. I know in iOS world where my wife's iPad 2 from 2011 runs iOS 8.1 this isn't amazing, but on the Android side that is about as much as you can hope for in regards to free updates for what were basically cheap devices in both cases.
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