Re:Two-year-old Nexus 4 issue status changed to obsolete
by cesarb on Thursday January 01, 2015 @08:03AM
(#8822813)
> Your Nexus 4 doesn't stop working when it stops receiving updates.
That would be the case if it were an isolated gadget. But a smartphone is a networked gadget; if it stops being updated while the world around it doesn't, it will gradually lose functionality. This could be seen in Ars Technica's long review of every Android version (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/building-android-a-40...).
As an hypothetical example, imagine what if your phone could use only SSLv2, SSLv3, and optionally TLSv1, using a SSLv2-compatible handshake (this is the case with Windows XP, for instance), and a new TLS 1.3 were released which forbids servers from accepting SSLv2 handshakes (this is seriously being considered by the TLS standard developers). As servers upgrade to the new standard, your phone would lose the ability to connect to them.
And that's without considering security vulnerabilities. As time passes, more security vulnerabilities which affect your old phone are discovered and published, and without updates these vulnerabilities won't get fixed.
That would be the case if it were an isolated gadget. But a smartphone is a networked gadget; if it stops being updated while the world around it doesn't, it will gradually lose functionality. This could be seen in Ars Technica's long review of every Android version (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/building-android-a-40...).
As an hypothetical example, imagine what if your phone could use only SSLv2, SSLv3, and optionally TLSv1, using a SSLv2-compatible handshake (this is the case with Windows XP, for instance), and a new TLS 1.3 were released which forbids servers from accepting SSLv2 handshakes (this is seriously being considered by the TLS standard developers). As servers upgrade to the new standard, your phone would lose the ability to connect to them.
And that's without considering security vulnerabilities. As time passes, more security vulnerabilities which affect your old phone are discovered and published, and without updates these vulnerabilities won't get fixed.