2001: I have a new phone. How exciting! Perhaps I can access the Internet on it via a Sharp Zaurus. This is so the future!
2002: Ooh! A new PalmOS device! Amazing! HotSync backup and off we go!
2004: Wow! This WindowsMobile device has a keyboard, as is basically a mini laptop. Cool!
...
2026: I must get a new black slab because security updates have run out on my current black slab which, for all other intents and purposes, is absolutely fine. The new black slab does nothing new for me, and all I see is the chore of setting it up.
@neil fwiw, fairphone offers a five year warranty, eight years of software updates, and user-replaceable parts for most of the components
they're the one and only that does it, so the exception that proves your [very valid] complaint. i usually get no-overlay phones that are on some version of handset alliance / pure android / whatever, but those have only lasted three to four years because of security updates. alt OSes are nice, but they don't support corp/auth apps, so they're useless to me