If your iPhone breaks and can't be repaired and you want another one, you have to buy a new one from Apple, because Samsung doesn't make iOS devices. Meanwhile the fact that old iPhones get minor damage and then cost more to repair than they're worth increases the "I can afford an iPhone" signaling value of having one because they become less common and cost more to maintain in a state of good repair. In other words, it's a Veblen good.
That doesn't work for commodity markets like Android devices and PC laptops because it's all fungible commodity hardware and it all runs the same software. And then even if the user has no idea what "pentalobe screws" are, they do know that their laptop broke after the first year and all the repair shops told them it was unrepairable junk and recommended a different brand.
Meanwhile even Apple is playing a dangerous game here, because eroding repairability increases their new sales in the short term, but it also damages their reputation with technical people over time. So you get more sales, but more of the sales are to douchy investment bankers who then stand around holding your logo in their hand while telling girls they're fat and firing people's dads and bloviating about how much better they are than you because they drive a BMW.
And on top of that, there is a trade off between more sales and more users. When your platform's devices don't last as long you may get more sales, but it lowers your installed base because the devices fall out of it faster. The fact that a used iPhone is more than a new Android phone pushes more people away from your platform. But the number and quality of the apps people make for your platform is proportional to your installed base. This is how Windows got so sticky on the desktop -- it's Office, but it's also the long tail. That line of business app which is only used by 2% of people except that there are sixty of them and they're each mostly a different 2% of people, so 90% of people need Windows. Apple has a long-term problem if that's what accumulates over time with Android, but it's a direct trade off against short-term exclusivity.
I have a separate mp3 player already, but I use the headphone jack to watch youtube videos on the phone.
I'm waiting a bit to upgrade my phone. I've always had a Samsung up until now, but I won't be buying one without a headphone jack. Hopefully they'll come to their senses. Bluetooth is a painful joke.
If your iPhone breaks and can't be repaired and you want another one, you have to buy a new one from Apple, because Samsung doesn't make iOS devices. Meanwhile the fact that old iPhones get minor damage and then cost more to repair than they're worth increases the "I can afford an iPhone" signaling value of having one because they become less common and cost more to maintain in a state of good repair. In other words, it's a Veblen good.
That doesn't work for commodity markets like Android devices and PC laptops because it's all fungible commodity hardware and it all runs the same software. And then even if the user has no idea what "pentalobe screws" are, they do know that their laptop broke after the first year and all the repair shops told them it was unrepairable junk and recommended a different brand.
Meanwhile even Apple is playing a dangerous game here, because eroding repairability increases their new sales in the short term, but it also damages their reputation with technical people over time. So you get more sales, but more of the sales are to douchy investment bankers who then stand around holding your logo in their hand while telling girls they're fat and firing people's dads and bloviating about how much better they are than you because they drive a BMW.
And on top of that, there is a trade off between more sales and more users. When your platform's devices don't last as long you may get more sales, but it lowers your installed base because the devices fall out of it faster. The fact that a used iPhone is more than a new Android phone pushes more people away from your platform. But the number and quality of the apps people make for your platform is proportional to your installed base. This is how Windows got so sticky on the desktop -- it's Office, but it's also the long tail. That line of business app which is only used by 2% of people except that there are sixty of them and they're each mostly a different 2% of people, so 90% of people need Windows. Apple has a long-term problem if that's what accumulates over time with Android, but it's a direct trade off against short-term exclusivity.