why do people always talk about phones that aren't even out yet?

[Fire&Blood]

Why do people always talk about phones aren't even out yet?

Because it pisses off people that either made the wrong purchase or they doubt their purchase.

As was said, making a 2 year commitment is a big deal. Phones are priced very similarly but offer very different performance and value retention over the contract duration. It's very important to get the best bang for the buck in the fast aging world of mobile hardware.

The counter argument "but there is always something better coming in the next few months" is very valid. However, phones do not progress evenly over time, every once in a while there is a leap forward. Right now, there are few things happening (migration to the 28nm fab quad core SoC's, faster and more power efficient DDR2 memory entering production and new displays innovations) that will set up the next leap forward.

 

[rudeguy]

Why do people always talk about phones aren't even out yet?

Because it pisses off people that either made the wrong purchase or they doubt their purchase.

As was said, making a 2 year commitment is a big deal. Phones are priced very similarly but offer very different performance and value retention over the contract duration. It's very important to get the best bang for the buck in the fast aging world of mobile hardware.

The counter argument "but there is always something better coming in the next few months" is very valid. However, phones do not progress evenly over time, every once in a while there is a leap forward. Right now, there are few things happening (migration to the 28nm fab quad core SoC's, faster and more power efficient DDR2 memory entering production and new displays innovations) that will set up the next leap forward.

but when?

But will most people actually need those improvements?

But will I want those improvements?

I'm probably wrong, but it seems like some people have this elitist attitude about it. "Your choice in phone sucks because I know about a phone that may or may not come out that may or may not do X. You are stupid for making that purchase!" Meanwhile they are using a Droid 1 or an iPhone 3G or a dumb phone.

 

[mammador]

that's exactly what I'm talking about. Every phone is inferior to phones that will be out in 2 years, 1 year or even six months. Its almost like electronics fearmongering.

this is how ICT works. and not just in phones, but computers also.

I would say that any computer should be bought to suit needs, including smartphones. If a smartphone meets needs, and is supported in all ways (OS, apps, servicing, customer support, etc.) then IMO that's all that matters.

 

[stlc8tr]

Why not talk about upcoming handsets? The more information available the easier it is to make an informed decision.

For example, if you were on Sprint and didn't know that the Evo 3D was coming down the pipe, the Evo or Epic might look like a nice phone. But knowing that the Evo 3D was coming, you can decide if waiting two months for a higher resolution dual core phone would be worthwhile.

 

[Fire&Blood]

You are confusing new features with improvements. Why would one not want faster memory and better performing CPU's?

Talking about this is pointless if one cannot identify flaws and bottlenecks of existing phones.

I bought my HD2 on a 24 month contract on 3-24-2010, based on my research of performance, build quality, listed specs and my taste. My other options were mytouch 3g, Motorola Cliq and other crappy phones that I could have bought for about the same price but get a lot less for the money.

Instead of being stuck with phones that lag even when pulling down the notification bar, I have 2.3 on it, it's working great.

A small example of benefit: I killed the last 30 minutes at work play Galaxy on Fire 2. I doubt these other phones could even start the game, much less play it with a good frame rate. Because I made the right decision on the hardware, I am in no rush to buy a new phone and can simply wait til I become discount eligible to get my next phone, according to the best buy upgrade checker, in January 2012.

I listed what's brewing in the previous post on this topic. The benefit of it is coming and I can wait til it's implemented to get my next phone.

The phone "survived" past 12 months and is still in great shape and still offers great performance. I doubt I would have been happy with the other devices that were available when I bought it.

 

[ponyo]

What exactly is it that you're expecting to see? Things have constantly been getting better and the platforms we're talking about are mostly less than five years old.

HD2 was released in Nov. 2009 and Nexus One in Jan 2010. We're now almost halfway in 2011. Current phones are not significantly better than these two phones. When Apple device has the best or near the best hardware and they only refresh once a year, hardware is advancing too slowly. OS improvements have been slow too. I'm more disappointed in Google than Apple.

 

[zerocool84]

HD2 was released in Nov. 2009 and Nexus One in Jan 2010. We're now almost halfway in 2011. Current phones are not significantly better than these two phones. When Apple device has the best or near the best hardware and they only refresh once a year, hardware is advancing too slowly. OS improvements have been slow too. I'm more disappointed in Google than Apple.

Hardware is developing at an insane rate, faster than it ever has before in the mobile world so I have no idea what you're talking about. It's advancing faster than Moore's Law.

 

[Fire&Blood]

I would rather say it's catching up to Moore's law and the primary reason is a bottleneck outside Moore's law: Power draw

If mobile devices weren't restricted by battery capacity, we would have seen a progress rather similar to the desktop evolution.

Limited battery capacity is what holds the mobile industry back. So, focus shifted to power efficiency. As result TSMC is holding performance hostage.

 

[YoungGun21]

I think it is fine to wait a couple months, but don't be surprised if that launch date that was supposed to be in March ends up in May or June (or never).

It is ok to look ahead, but you can't look too far ahead.

 

[lothar]

You are talking about CPU's and I'm talking about cell phones. Two completely different things.

Read any cell phone blog right now and you will see:

1. Phones that are out and still very much current
2. Phones that are set to be released (these usually offer some small advancement)
3. Phones that "will" be coming out (these may or may not have release dates and actual specs)
4. Phones that are rumored.

So at any given time you could wait two months and then X phone will be out. That's if its release date doesn't get pushed back. That's also assuming that it will work right when its first launched. But by the end of those two months, the phones that were just rumors will now have a release date and there will be new phones rumored. At what point do you say enough is enough and just buy a darn phone?

I gave an example using CPU's, but the same logic still applies to cell phones.

2.) I don't consider dual core or LTE to be a "small" advancement. If I'm going to buy a phone on contract for 2 years, I damn well better get my money's worth. If I'm going to a prepaid carrier like Pageplus or Virgin Mobile, I wouldn't care about future advancements because the amount I save from them over the big telecoms would be more than enough to buy a new phone 1 year later without me having to selling my old handset.
3.) It is ridiculous to buy a Droid X on contract now when the Droid Bionic and Droid X2 will be released in a month or two...But then again, that's just my own opinion. If I was interested in the Droid X, I would have bought one 4-6 months ago.

That is up to you to decide...It is up to you to put your own foot down and determine what you want or at least set some kind of minimum expectation.
For example:
a.) Dual core is a must for me on Android at least....Do I care about quad core phones and rumors? No. Will I care about a quad core announcement with no specific release time frame, date and/or specs when I've found the dual core phone I want? No, not really.
b.) Unlocked boot loader and/or support from the modding community is a must for me.
c.) LTE? Not really a must but if I can get it why not? I won't sacrifice the other two options above to get it though since I consider them to be more important.

Double/triple camera flash or sensors, mega pixels, 3D and other pointless things, I don't care about at all.