Feb 16 2019 – Kevin Yaworski

I stopped getting similar OS updates to the one in the image below on my Samsung Note 4 with Roger’s after two major updates or about two years and then stopped even getting security updates after the third year.

Similar occurs with other smart phones and networks. This often leads to many people replacing a device that meets their needs early. This is adding to the amount of e-waste generated and rare elements required which often use destructive extraction methods and or corruption of local governments.

Our governments regulate other aspects of this and other industries. Do you think they should regulate these and related devices that are frequently replaced while still functional? Forcing security updates for longer periods at least?

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More specifically my phone stopped charging intermittently after the third year and became a risk with security vulerabilities, the data on it as it is required for my work and was putting other devices on my home and work networks at risk if compromised.

I am cautious and have been told by my kids I go overboard compared to most other parents with cyber security at home and with their devices so I thought I would wait for it to die completely.

It lasted a few months more than stopped charging completely so I asked my work to replace it which they did with no issues.

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I just got the update notice today. Should I jump onboard or wait and see if it has any major or annoying bugs or one of the rare updates that is so bad it retracted?

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