This is the new NOOK Tablet

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It will continue to function exactly as it did when new, yes.
That is not always a good thing.

Android is a moving target, with regular OS updates every year or so and, unlike Windows, where Microsoft carries the burden, it is up to the hardware vendor to distribute the updates/upgrades. And in some cases create the patches if they relate to hardware-specific code.

B&N does that for their branded tablets, like the update they distributed when it came out that their seven inchers shipped with malware. Absent B&N it would've been up to the user to find a solution or not.

Curated platforms like Macs, Windows, Playstations, and yes, Fires, take flack for the varying degrees of restrictions and mandatory updates they carry, but for a lot of people those "annoyances" are welcome handholding. A value add feature, not a bug. And there are more of them than us.

To some people the long term viability of the vendor matters.

If you say so. Most Android tablets (and phones) receive an update or two, maybe. And that's it. B&N doesn't seem any different in this than any other vendor.

My Lenovo Tab2 received one update. Yet I still prefer it to a Fire tablet. If you were to take a poll of Fire tablet owners, I doubt regular O/S updates would be one of their primary reasons for purchase.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

If you say so. Most Android tablets (and phones) receive an update or two, maybe. And that's it. B&N doesn't seem any different in this than any other vendor.

My Lenovo Tab2 received one update. Yet I still prefer it to a Fire tablet. If you were to take a poll of Fire tablet owners, I doubt regular O/S updates would be one of their primary reasons for purchase.

You might be right but it *is* a consideration for many just as is the embedded user support. Amazon uses the Microsoft support model rather than the phone company model.

Phone companies would rather have users upgrade the phone so they don't typically support OS upgrades. Other Android devices are different: NVidia, for one, has supported their SHIELD streamer for three years and three OS versions with no end in sight.

Amazon made it clear years ago that, because they make most of their money when people use their hardware, they don't have a need to force hardware churn. It's like with the ereaders where they still support the very first kindles in one form or another. That is typical behavior of content-focused players vs the hardware focused players. In that Amazon is more like the console vendors than Apple or the phone vendors. They make more money off the content so they prefer you use older hardware and spend your money on content. There is more profit in selling $100 of ebooks than in a $100 tablet. So upgrades make sense for them.

And I'm not the one saying that android updating is a problem: it is the tech industry, from Google on down, saying it.

Here: https://searchmobilecomputing.techta...-more-problems

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

You might be right but it *is* a consideration for many just as is the embedded user support. Amazon uses the Microsoft support model rather than the phone company model.

Phone companies would rather have users upgrade the phone so they don't typically support OS upgrades. Other Android devices are different: NVidia, for one, has supported their SHIELD streamer for three years and three OS versions with no end in sight...

And I'm not the one saying that android updating is a problem: it is the tech industry, from Google on down, saying it.

And in the end, none of that would prevent me from buying the new Nook tablet if I were in the market for a tablet and it is at least of equal quality to my old Lenovo Tab2.

If your tablet works for you and you aren't sideloading .apks from sketchy third party sources, you should continue to be fine. Updates or no.

How many people refuse to upgrade from Windows 7 or even Windows XP?

[Dazrin]

Most software still works with Windows 7 though but there are plenty of apps that no longer work with older Android (or iOS) versions. My wife has been running into this constantly recently. Apps that work on my phone don't work on hers because the OS hasn't been updated recently and she doesn't want to get a new phone (they're all too big).

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

And in the end, none of that would prevent me from buying the new Nook tablet if I were in the market for a tablet and it is at least of equal quality to my old Lenovo Tab2.

Me either. I'm not quite sure what the issue is here. Almost all Android tablets have a limited number of updates. But you're still looking at (probably) five or six years of usefulness from one of these Nook tablets, despite what happens with Barnes & Noble. Pretty much the same as with all Android tablets.

[HLS]

I noticed it has the same screen resolution as the fire 10"

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

I noticed it has the same screen resolution as the fire 10"

The Lenovo Tab2/3Plus/4 Plus have the same resolution as well. Makes me wonder if they're all using the same panel?

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The Lenovo Tab2/3Plus/4 Plus have the same resolution as well. Makes me wonder if they're all using the same panel?

probably

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Me either. I'm not quite sure what the issue is here. Almost all Android tablets have a limited number of updates. But you're still looking at (probably) five or six years of usefulness from one of these Nook tablets, despite what happens with Barnes & Noble. Pretty much the same as with all Android tablets.

Five or six years? I don't see Android lasting that long. The new Pixel Slate already won't be running Android anymore, but Chrome OS. We will see when the next Pixel phone will also go to Chrome OS next year - it only makes sense. Android is too clustered as it is. Chrome OS will put the updates back into Googles control, where it should be.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Five or six years? I don't see Android lasting that long. The new Pixel Slate already won't be running Android anymore, but Chrome OS. We will see when the next Pixel phone will also go to Chrome OS next year - it only makes sense. Android is too clustered as it is. Chrome OS will put the updates back into Googles control, where it should be.

You might be right, I don't know. I do know that I'm still regularly using a couple Android apps on my 2013 Blackberry Q10 (it emulates Android, a virtual machine). I've got Kindle for Android 7.2.0.27 on it. I've got Android Simplenote 1.5.5 (I use Simplenote all the time). I've got Amazon's Appstore — and a few utilities, like Sip.fm, Wifi Analyzer and SpeedTest (hardly ever used).

So, I guess I should say, for my limited Android needs the Nook Tablet would probably be useful for five or six years.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by rcentros

So, I guess I should say, for my limited Android needs the Nook Tablet would probably be useful for five or six years.

On media-consumption tablets in general, the hardware remains useful much longer than the OS support. No moving parts, no heavy duty applications; they *should* last as long as LCD displays and TVs, which routinely last a decade or more. The likeliest point of failure on mobile devices are the battery and the power connector.

As long as the content providers themselves keep on supporting the old versions of the apps the device will remain useful. (Not a certainty, though. Quite a few services update their apps regularly.)

A problem of some concern is malware.
The internet is a dangerous place so an old browser exposes the device to viruses and hacking. Old android devices constitute one of the bigger targets of botnet operators and the Play store is not immune from infiltration with trojans. There are more risks in outdated software than in the hardware.

[John F]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

On media-consumption tablets in general, the hardware remains useful much longer than the OS support. No moving parts, no heavy duty applications; they *should* last as long as LCD displays and TVs, which routinely last a decade or more. The likeliest point of failure on mobile devices are the battery and the power connector.

As long as the content providers themselves keep on supporting the old versions of the apps the device will remain useful. (Not a certainty, though. Quite a few services update their apps regularly.)

A problem of some concern is malware.
The internet is a dangerous place so an old browser exposes the device to viruses and hacking. Old android devices constitute one of the bigger targets of botnet operators and the Play store is not immune from infiltration with trojans. There are more risks in outdated software than in the hardware.

Maybe. My IPad essentially became useless for browsing: continuous crashes, I think due to not enough RAM.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

On media-consumption tablets in general, the hardware remains useful much longer than the OS support. No moving parts, no heavy duty applications; they *should* last as long as LCD displays and TVs, which routinely last a decade or more. The likeliest point of failure on mobile devices are the battery and the power connector.

I think that is far too optimistic.
For powerful devices like tablets the battery will degrade to the point of being unusable much sooner than that.
Not just that they won't hold power, but that they will generate enough excess heat to cause instability.
I have a NotePro 12.2 tablet, which I've had for about three and a half years.
Battery life has dropped from 10-12 hours to maybe and hour or two if you are lucky.
Once it gets below around 40% it is likely to spontaneously reboot, and it does that a couple of times a day regardless of charge level. It is permanently a bit too hot to be comfortable around the top middle of the screen.
Power socket still works fine, but the headphone socket has stopped detecting whether headphones are plugged in.
If there was an equivalent replacement I would have got one at least a year ago, but there isn't.
I'm still running Android 4.4.2, so I agree with your general point that the hardware remains useful long past any OS updates, but I think the viable timeframe is much shorter than you think.
Battery technology is the limiting factor for most tech.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

I think that is far too optimistic.
For powerful devices like tablets the battery will degrade to the point of being unusable much sooner than that.
Not just that they won't hold power, but that they will generate enough excess heat to cause instability.
I have a NotePro 12.2 tablet, which I've had for about three and a half years.
Battery life has dropped from 10-12 hours to maybe and hour or two if you are lucky.
Once it gets below around 40% it is likely to spontaneously reboot, and it does that a couple of times a day regardless of charge level. It is permanently a bit too hot to be comfortable around the top middle of the screen.
Power socket still works fine, but the headphone socket has stopped detecting whether headphones are plugged in.
If there was an equivalent replacement I would have got one at least a year ago, but there isn't.
I'm still running Android 4.4.2, so I agree with your general point that the hardware remains useful long past any OS updates, but I think the viable timeframe is much shorter than you think.
Battery technology is the limiting factor for most tech.

Mileage varies.
But I have a Vista era Netbook that (through multiple upgrades up to Win10) still works. Battery life is less than two hours. But it still runs fine. Noticeably better than when new thanks to the OS upgrades. The power connector is mostly okay. A bit loose. A replacement battery is $15 but running it strictly off AC is good enough.

My older-still Compaq tablet works fine off battery but the power connector just won't connect. I have an external battery charger and a spare so it works on battery power but it's too much of a hassle to bother.

At the day job the experience is similar; power connectors and batteries are the first to go, screens the last.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Mileage varies.
But I have a Vista era Netbook that (through multiple upgrades up to Win10) still works. Battery life is less than two hours. But it still runs fine. Noticeably better than when new thanks to the OS upgrades. The power connector is mostly okay. A bit loose. A replacement battery is $15 but running it strictly off AC is good enough.

My older-still Compaq tablet works fine off battery but the power connector just won't connect. I have an external battery charger and a spare so it works on battery power but it's too much of a hassle to bother.

But both those machines would be dead if they were modern tablets, which can't run directly off external power with no battery, and where you can't swap the batteries out.
Batteries are the weak point in all devices at the moment.