- Nov 16, 2013
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Excerpt:
Full article: Moto and Updates: More Planned Obsolesce from Lenovo’s MotorolaPlanned obsolescence is a tricky grey area in every field. Advancements in science and technology allow equipment and components to last longer and perform reliably, but these improvements also have a very direct short-term impact on the sales of your future devices.
After all, if the previous device is still working, that is one less compelling reason for a consumer to purchase the next device that the company will release a short while later. A lot of decisions that smartphone makers take also play directly within the scope of planned obsolescence, even if the prime motive behind the decision was something else. Sealed batteries, forced updates that slow down the device and as is the case with Android OEMs, not providing updates at all — everyone is guilty of factoring in some element of obsolescence in their releases.
Just to take our minds off phones with sealed batteries for a change, let’s talk about Lenovo and Motorola. Before Lenovo acquired Motorola, the company was praised for its Moto X lineup, how they performed for the money they asked for, and how quickly the devices got updated owing to their minimal skin over pure Android. The Moto X 2013, on Verizon of all carriers, received its Android 4.4 KitKat update just around three weeks after KitKat was announced — even before the Nexus 4 got the update!
The Moto X from 2013 was a Motorola phone that received an update faster than a Nexus
But ever since Lenovo acquired Motorola, things have been…different.