*>Why can't someone exchange money for a service they find valuable? As I understand it, that has long been a common practice.

[lifts hand up] Uh-uh, me, pick me: because most consumers have been trained and conditioned by corporations that they pay for the HW, the thing that they can feel and resell, and that the SW running on it should come for free.

Most consumers can't put a value on SW ownership, unless that SW is a video-game on a disc in their hand. Thanks to Google, Youtube, we've grown to expect that everything of value should be free.

Yup the software side has been built into the pricing of the hardware. They weren't the first to do this either since this business model has been around for quite awhile since we got away from buying software as a box.

It's also more convenient for the consumer to have a one and done payment.

The only thing I wish is if there was a monthly maintenance package when my devices get older so I can keep getting updates that keep my device running fast, secure, and can maintain some form compatibility with most apps.

Which is kinda weird. We used to have to pay for a new version of Windows or Mac OS (or however it was capitalized back then).

Then it became free.

When you got a computer with Windows 8 you would get 8.1 and 10 for free. 11 if you have the right TPM / chip (doubtful). Same with Windows 10 to Windows 11, provided you meet the specs. Same with Mac OS (not versed enough to list the versions).

I believe Apple started this yearly iOS update (and with that a more rapid deprecation).

I don't think people would want to spend $1,200 on a phone knowing they have to pay each year for a software upgrade. They also would not spend $1,200 on a phone knowing that next year you have to BUY a new one to get the latest software.

And in Apples mind all of this is fine. iOS has the highest adoption of the last iOS version. So in terms of non-security bugfixes they can focus on the last version. Only security fixes might warrant an update for an n-1 version of iOS.

The problem with this is that you need to make those updates something people want to buy. And at some point, you have a game of diminishing returns. Even the hardware is starting to feel that way.

Yet, security updates aren't "free". I'd guess that keeping an OS secure is probably more expensive than developing new features. That part gets tricky.

Also, supporting 5+ year old hardware gets harder since that hardware stops getting made and the new stuff gets more and more different.

If people are complaining then just don’t buy the phone!! Problem solved.

If the market were there for it, it might happen, but the reality is that someone using a 10 year old phone is extremely cost conscious and not likely to shell out the engineering money required for updates.