It does get better

I couldn't disagree more with the title of this recent blog post from BuzzFeed writer Matt Buchanan, which argues that updates don't make most devices better.

You might buy a new phone that's missing something, thinking, "It will get better." No, it won't. If I were to tell you one thing about buying technology, it is this: Buy something because you like what it is right now, not because you think it's going to get better, or that one day it'll be what you really wanted it to be. It's kind of like marrying somebody and thinking you'll change them and they'll get better. They might. But they probably won't. Over time, you'll just hate them even more. And yourself, at least a little.

The writer makes several good points about making sure you're happy with a device you have, not the one you're hoping to have with the next update. And I completely agree with him about Android phones. Unless something changes dramatically in the next few months with regards to carrier OS updates, I won't ever buy another non-Nexus Android phone again.

But Buchanan oversells his case. Almost every device I have is better than it was when I first bought it. My MotoACTV running tracker has a dramatically better battery life, more features and better reliability thanks to the magic of software updates. My Nook has sharper text and changes pages more quickly than it did last year. And let's not forget how much better the iPhone was a year after its launch, when third-party apps had begun to truly transform the device from something cool to something transformative.

Buchanan concedes as much about the Xbox, but argues that it's an isolated case. He's wrong. Devices usually get better with updates. Let's hope tech journalists do, too.