iPhone 11 Emulated on QEMU

I'm still using the first Android device I bought in 2010, an Ainol Novo 8 Advanced tablet. I bought it back then for my wife to use while preparing for her specialist exam because of the high-res screen which made it a good fit for reading PDFs. It still works fine for that purpose, it still plays movies just fine. Someone is still releasing "new" software releases for the thing (where "new" means "new rehashed Android 'Gingerbread', but still). After that I bought a Motorola Defy phone which is still in use as well. Then my whole family jumped on that train when they got similar phones, all of which are in use in some way or another. Even my daughter's phone which she left in her pockets when she put her clothes in the washing machine and was washed a full cycle still works - I had to replace the ear piece (cost: $0.50 so I bought 10) but for the rest it kept up. Since the Defy (released in 2010) never went beyond Android 'KitKat' (4.4) I had to get a newer device in 2019 when the Swedish electronic ID provider "BankID" ceased support for that release. Had they not I would still be using a Defy as "daily" phone since the things keep up remarkably well. Now I'm using a Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, again running a custom ('Google-free') distribution like I've always done. I do not know for how long I'll keep on using this device but I see no reason to change as of yet.

A shorter version of this would be "the short life span of Android devices is highly exaggerated". As a bonus you get a mostly surveillance-free device, apart from the overt surveillance which comes with having a radio beacon in your pockets that is. Put the thing in flight mode and you're fine. In this respect Android devices running custom Google-free firmware (an important caveat) are the Linux PCs compared to the bolted-shut "No serviceable parts inside" Apple Mac and the increasingly invasive Windows world. Even the discussion around them is similar:

- Linux is not ready for the desktop... but I've been using it since 1993 on the desktop, from 1996 on exclusively.

- Linux does not support your hardware... while the opposite is true except for the newest hardware which can take a few weeks to months before support arrives.

- Macs just work... until they just don't work and the vendor tells you it's your fault, or the new release suddenly removes support for half of your software.

- Linux is not suitable for gaming... tell all those people running their games on Linux because they run faster/better than on Windows

- Linux users have to spend more time tinkering to get their machines to work... until it becomes clear that the tinkerers tinker because they see it as a pastime while others just install a distribution (in a few minutes) and use the thing as a tool.

- etcetera.

Even shorter because that wasn't very short either: Android devices can be used for a long time. So can Apple devices. Take your pick based on your wants and needs, ignoring the falsities being spread by the true believers.

Ogg is unfortunately not a mainstream codec. 10 years ago, SomewhatWellKnownMusicTrackerThatShallNotBeNamed supported Ogg Vorbis. They discontinued support due to lack of interest and seeding (this was before the French authorities raided them and caused the tracker to be shut). To me, when that tracker stopped supporting Ogg, that’s when it died. Even the music nerd pirates thought it wasn’t worth supporting.

Bandcamp does this for all of their paid and free downloads. They also do FLAC.

Anyone who does will have Apple users complaining in no time.

Yes it's also easy way to get cheap new open box one.

If the App Store becomes full of “checkbox ports” it’s going to be even more difficult to navigate than it already is.

Part of that is on Apple for not investing more in discovery, but copious numbers of low effort ports isn’t a good thing to have anyway. In the game world, bad ports of console games to PC and bad ports of games from any other platform to the Switch are one of the most consistent gripes — quite often the sentiment surrounding them is that they’d be better off not existing.

You're showing your cards as an android person ;-)

I agree with you, but nearly everyone on apple products will not. I get a (too me very perplexing) very similar respose when I ask things like, "why would it hurt people who want an Apple curated app store experience to allow a buried setting in the settings menu that allows sideloading for the few people who want that?"

its just trust in the brand. A 3 year old iphone has a high probability of still being a decent phone, fast enough, receiving updates, running latest apps... Also, most of all, you can expect another 2 years out of it if you're not too critical.

A random Android phone? Could be slow after 2 years, could be without software updates, could be filled with bloatware of a network provider that isn't actually yours. Could be you buy it and you'll need a different phone 6 months later. And even within the same model, there are huge differences. E.g. Samsung galaxy phones can have different processors inside, and varying amounts of bloatware installed.

iPhones are just a safer choice. Therefore higher worth

A serial number is not a password, it's a username, and copying it down isn't hacking.

The public-information question isn't even an issue that a court would consider in a fraud allegation. (We're not talking about theft of trade secrets here.) It's a red herring and isn't worth the effort to discuss.