It looks like the Obi202 was first released in April 2012, more than FIVE years ago; given the 1xx is no longer supported (and no longer supports Google Voice), when should we expect the 202 to become a paper-weight like the older Obi products of GV users?
I hate to pull the trigger only to have it 'bricked' a year from now. I'm willing to incur the expense, as I found value in the 1xx Obi device, but as George W. Bush once said, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice...and you won't fool me three times."
Are there plans to release a 302 in the not-too-distant future and force GV users to upgrade again?
...and is this correct?!? Were the dates transposed, as I would expect the 200 model to release before a 202 version.
- Obi 200: Released May 2013
- Obi 202: Released April 2012
I was going to consider an upgrade to the 202, but with the recent EOL issues so many of us are facing, it now looks like the Obi 200 might "last" a little longer for GV users.
Or is it just time to move on to something a little more predictable?
Hunh?
No, none of the current OBi products are at end-of-life. Trying to infer that from the product's release date is meaningless. Products can become EOL for many reasons. For example:
- The architecture used by the product becomes obsolete, or it has declined in use by the industry, to the point where fewer people know how to maintain the code it runs, or it becomes costly to maintain staff and spare units for hardware and/or firmware maintenance.
- Electronic components inside the product become obsolete, or are no longer available for purchase, or have been superseded by new components that require a major redesign of the product.
- The manufacturer has introduced a new generation of the product, with significant improvements, making the old product obsolete from a marketing and sales standpoint, or redundant to manufacture or support.
- The contract manufacturer (i.e. in China) goes out of business, or is bought or sold, or otherwise can no longer make the product at the original cost.
None of those conditions exist for the current product line. They all share the same architecture, similar hardware components, and similar firmware. If certain hardware components (e.g. memory chips or other integrated circuits) become obsolete, and direct replacements are available, a circuit board revision may be necessary. However, the firmware will likely continue to work as-is, or with minor updates.
Bottom line: I would not be concerned about any of the current products reaching EOL from a support perspective.
Quote from: SteveInWA on December 10, 2017, 06:38:33 PM
Hunh?
No, none of the current OBi products are at end-of-life. Trying to infer that from the product's release date is meaningless. Products can become EOL for many reasons. For example:
- The architecture used by the product becomes obsolete, or it has declined in use by the industry, to the point where fewer people know how to maintain the code it runs, or it becomes costly to maintain staff and spare units for hardware and/or firmware maintenance.
- Electronic components inside the product become obsolete, or are no longer available for purchase, or have been superseded by new components that require a major redesign of the product.
- The manufacturer has introduced a new generation of the product, with significant improvements, making the old product obsolete from a marketing and sales standpoint, or redundant to manufacture or support.
- The contract manufacturer (i.e. in China) goes out of business, or is bought or sold, or otherwise can no longer make the product at the original cost.
None of those conditions exist for the current product line. They all share the same architecture, similar hardware components, and similar firmware. If certain hardware components (e.g. memory chips or other integrated circuits) become obsolete, and direct replacements are available, a circuit board revision may be necessary. However, the firmware will likely continue to work as-is, or with minor updates.
Bottom line: I would not be concerned about any of the current products reaching EOL from a support perspective.
Does Obi 100/110 meet any of the above listed categories?
Products can become EOL for many reasons. For example: Force customer to dump a working device buy a new device to increase cash flow
Quote from: utsc on December 11, 2017, 02:17:56 AM
Does Obi 100/110 meet any of the above listed categories?
Yes. For example, the main chip in the OBi1x0 models was a custom OBi chip with a MIPS processor core. The OBi2xx models are based on an ARM processor core.
Quote from: SteveInWA on December 10, 2017, 06:38:33 PM
- The manufacturer has introduced a new generation of the product, with significant improvements, making the old product obsolete from a marketing and sales standpoint, or redundant to manufacture or support.
I would think this bullet point item is valid.
Anyway, I blame Google for all these obsolete issues. If they would stop screwing with things and kept to a standard protocol, there would be no issues.
Quote from: david2 on December 11, 2017, 05:16:45 AM
Quote from: SteveInWA on December 10, 2017, 06:38:33 PM
- The manufacturer has introduced a new generation of the product, with significant improvements, making the old product obsolete from a marketing and sales standpoint, or redundant to manufacture or support.
I would think this bullet point item is valid.
Anyway, I blame Google for all these obsolete issues. If they would stop screwing with things and kept to a standard protocol, there would be no issues.
EXACTLY!!! Considering how much we pay for Google Voice... Oh .........wait..............Never mind....
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As folks who have an Obi110 as well as an Obi200, we can be viewed as good enough customers, and as such, a response to the EOL idea was posted here:
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=13277.msg85616#msg85616
(Not quoting here in order to avoid duplicate posting...)
Best Wishes to All !!