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Comment by arcticbull | Hacker News Reader

A first-gen iPad is 13 years old. How many tablets running a 'user-friendly' OS from 13 years ago do you still think are actually out there, being used? The only old tablets I see are running iOS/iPad OS. Probably because they're built on solid metal and glass skeletons.

While I agree things could be better, Apple also does a commendable job of providing updates and support for devices much longer and much more consistently than their competitors. They are after all incentivized to do so thanks to their cut of App Store revenue.

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The Google Nexus 7 is from 2012, so 11 years ago, and is still perfectly usable with a battery upgrade (possible because it's not glued/soldered) and a custom ROM (possible because the bootloader is open).

Hmm I would beg to differ. I have some N7s and they are too slow to even run as a panel for home assistant. Apps have really got much heavier since then.

Of course they are running only a mid-range SoC from 2012 so that makes sense.

From what I've read, it's mostly a battery issue (the battery is so dead the CPU gets heavily throttled).

I don't think so, the battery on one still works fine, and on the other I have replaced the internal battery with a DC-DC converter, so according to the tablet there is a "battery" which works fine and never runs dead :)

I always do this when I use tablets as wall panels, because eventually the battery will bloat and possibly catches fire. This way I can remove the battery altogether. None of the tablets and phones I have tested are capable of even starting up on USB power alone: With a dead battery or removed battery they simply won't even power on.

> None of the tablets and phones I have tested are capable of even starting up on USB power alone: With a dead battery or removed battery they simply won't even power on.

This is likely to combat instability. A large sudden spike in current draw that has to be supplied by the wall wart a few feet of wire away from the PCB can trigger a brown-out. Especially with the usual quantity of decoupling capacitors, specced around having a large current source on tap much closer to the point of use.

I have a N7 with Ubuntu on it. It's my distraction-free writing box. Runs vim great.

It’s true, but also it would cost little to unlock the device after they add it to the Vintage category.

I’m sure that the EU will eventually come up with legislation that forces some larger manufactures to open artificial gates automatically after they declare the products “obsolete”

How do you see this being viable without completely compromising the security of people who, for whatever reason, still use those devices?

The pixel, for example, already has a secure yet user-unlockable bootloader. So do modern x86_64 PC's. Statements like these, claiming that only apple can properly secure a device (and hence that users deserve to be locked out), simply show astounding ignorance.

The M-series Macs also have similarly open, but secure bootloaders.

Sure, but they were designed with that in mind, and have presence and authentication requirements, that, as I understand, are not retro-fittable to older devices.

My claim isn’t “it’s impossible to implement a secure bootloader that also has escape hatches”. I’m saying it’s borderline impossible to do that retroactively for a fleet of obsolete devices, in a way that doesn’t compromise security of those.

>A first-gen iPad is 13 years old. How many tablets running a 'user-friendly' OS from 13 years ago do you still think are actually out there, being used?

How many first gen iPads do you think are still being used. Those were slow as a sloth from their first year and quickly stopped getting support from Appel. Most users gave up on them and upgraded. So yeah, they're also e-waste.

just saying they could be better, dual booting support for one.

that would already fix the e-waste complaints

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