A tablet, the new computing platform, should last an expected four or five years–the same as the thing it replaced: The PC. A phone should last at least three years. But, you won’t get that attitude from gadget makers. They want you to desire the latest thing in two years or less. They want you to abandon your old device in favor of the new one that has a better processor, a larger screen–although your laptop had a 17-inch screen–and more features that you now must have.
Humbug!
The answer to this is open source hardware.