The Glade 4.0

I was framing my comments withing the smartphones and tablet context... Personal Computers are an entirely different discussion....

Not anymore they aren't, and especially if you're lumping in tablets as well. Consider what the smart phones and tablets do. These devices are very much like miniature personal computers, except that you can't change out any hardware, and you can't change your operating system without buying a new device. (Yes, I know you can jailbreak them).

Let's go back 7 years before "app" was a common term. Hell, let's go back 17 years before "internet" was a common term. Suppose you had a copy of Word Perfect 6 running on Windows 3.1, and you really liked it. If you switched platforms, you no longer had Word Perfect 6. The concept of platform loyalty predates smart phones, only before we used the term "apps" we used words like "programs" or "software." Before "downloading" programs, we went to a store to buy them and brought them home in boxes that contained disks. (Perhaps floppies - we're in 1994).

This isn't a new idea. We've all been dealing with this for years. It's been the bane of our existence since we first started using computers. It's the mid '90s all over again, except now it's phones and tablets instead of desktop computers.

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Agreed on all points, Corolinth, except Midgen was talking about phones. Going back to the 90's (or early 2000's), switching your phone didn't have those software entanglements. You learned a new OS (which was primarily a matter of menu navigation), and you were done.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

yes, thank you kaffis,

My observation was the difference between upgrading a handset now, vs upgrading your old cell phone, and how your (possibly significant) investment in applications might affect your decision to migrate to a new phone platform.

Just a few years ago, all you had to worry about was migrating your contacts over to the new phone.