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Comment by lmilcin | Hacker News Reader

IMO both true and wrong.

Upgrade cycle will never end. It is just slowly transitioning into same thing that happens with clothes, which is called fashion. People throw clothes away because new clothes become "fashionable" and because they want to show they can expend effort to follow current trends.

For the same reason a lot of people will not be upgrading. Because they have utilitarian look at old clothes or old computers and if the new computers do not offer anything else than to just differentiate from the old, they just don't see any value in it.

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Computers (other than smart phones) aren't really fashion accessories, though. They're tools. Just like you don't see people upgrading their vacuum cleaner every year, I'm sure most people won't be upgrading their computers every year, unless the old ones just don't run some software they need or want to run.

Arguably cars are tools too, yet people care a great deal about how they look. Same with wristwatches, or glasses, or a host of other things we use every day.

I don't think this is a valid argument. People do not "upgrade their cars" by buying a different looking one every year - rather, when they buy a new car, looks matter then.

> Same with wristwatches, or glasses, or a host of other things we use every day.

It's hard to consider watches a tool these days and both of these examples are fashion related. Most people do not wear glasses by choice.

But they do upgrade cars because they look old or because they can afford better car, even if the old one is still in good working condition.

Soon all phones will offer basically same functionality with only minor differences. After some point there will be no more gains from more camera or screen pixels, more cores, more gigabytes of storage. The only reason to buy a new phone will be if the old one broke or if you feel to switch to a new phone to follow trends.

The average length of time people own cars is 6 years. Sure, rich people lease every 3, but most people aren't rich. It's still an unfair comparison imo.

> Soon all phones will offer basically same functionality with only minor differences. After some point there will be no more gains from more camera or screen pixels, more cores, more gigabytes of storage. The only reason to buy a new phone will be if the old one broke or if you feel to switch to a new phone to follow trends.

We have essentially been at this point for a few years now. Most people I know who don't have to have the latest and greatest don't want to upgrade - but are forced to because of performance degradation, un-repairability, and bad faith phone contracts.

The parent claims phones are fashion accessories even though they are also useful. I'm sure that means cars are fashion in that view, too. And everything else you mention. They're public displays.

> Computers (other than smart phones) aren't really fashion accessories, though.

Really? Then what is with all the RGB kit?

Only a very small proportion of computer owners use these kind of kits. And it's of pretty much every product category that there are a small proportion of users who treat them as a fashion accessory.

Nothing more than a fringe hobby.

> Computers (other than smart phones)

That is, the minority of currently owned computing devices.

What about everything Apple makes?

What about it? My apple products last the longest compared to the other options.

So, that’s you. There’s a lot of people who will upgrade every year, and there’s an obvious signal that they’ve done so - that camera array on the back. People can tell at a glance whether you have the latest (and highest spec) version of the iPhone.

Fashions fade, style is eternal

Yes, but with fashion you are not going to find yourself locked into a completely different business model overnight, your old clothes still work and nobody is going to slip in a bunch of malware in your shorts.

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