Google on why 7 years of Pixel updates and what features it brings to older devices
Google on why 7 years of Pixel updates and what features it brings to older devices
In addition to announcing that Pixel 8 is getting Gemini Nano, Google today talked about how its 7-year update promise will work.
In terms of choosing 7 years of updates after doing 5 (3 OS + 2 security), Google looked at active user data and how long a Pixel device was in use for, including if its resold, given to family members, etc.
“So when we look at the trajectory of where the original Pixel that we launched in 2016 landed and how many people were still using the first Pixel, we saw that actually, there’s quite a good active user base until probably about the seven-year mark. So if we think about, okay, we want to be able to support Pixel for as long as people are using the device, then seven years is about that right number.”
Weird. This almost sounds they're not trying to profit maximize on Pixel sales.
I bet google doesn't have to. They can still mine your data and sell it for profit. They're a data company first after all.
I think these pricier manufacturers are also waking up to the fact that "upgrading" to a newer model every 1 - 3 years is no longer financially viable for a lot of their customers. They've started incorporating new revenue streams (subscriptions for additional features and services) while extending software support to ensure people remain loyal to the product or brand. This is also part of the reason why there are fewer aesthetic design differences from generation-to-generation at the moment, since the reason many of those changes are made is to manipulate people into feeling like their phone is "old" and "outdated" to the extent that they buy the newest model instead.
It's Google, they will probably kill this program at the 6 year mark just like how they killed the pixel upgrade when you paid for that subscription and literally everything else Google has created.
how many people were still using the first Pixel, we saw that actually, there’s quite a good active user base until probably about the seven-year mark.
Definitely not me spoofing all my old devices to be a Pixel 1 for the Google Photos hack, nope...
If only they could include phones that are within those 7 years but already ended support. I'm still on a Pixel 5 which was released 3.5 years ago.
Luckily lineage is keeping it going strong on android 14.
Link didn't work for me, but this one does: