Toby Atkin-Wright

I read almost all web pages using the “reader” mode in Safari. It would be great if pages could open automatically in reader mode if they have suitable content; it looks like Twitter are testing defaulting to reader mode in their iOS app, so perhaps we are seeing movement in that direction.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/31/twitter-tests-ad-blocking-reader-mobile

It is refreshing to read content from news sites without seeing menus, logos, adverts, sidebars, downloadable fonts, popups, comments, or, for that matter, any aspect of page design.

The new iPhones look appealing, but with the forthcoming iOS 7 supporting our family’s iPhones and iPads, I don’t feel the need to upgrade. However good the hardware revisions are, I tend to find more value in software updates, and as long as those keep coming I am happy with the hardware that we own.

The same thing applies to computers. I was motivated to upgrade my old Mac Mini when it would no longer run the latest OS X; I suspect I’ll be using the replacement Mac Mini until it too no longer runs the latest operating system.

Does this mean that phones now have a useful life of four years? I don’t feel the urge to upgrade every two years, as I was doing a decade ago. This is partly influenced by buying my recent devices outright and using SIM-only contracts, so I don’t have the upgrade cost included in my monthly payments.