The point is that they are getting updates, not because NASA paid 865 million in 1970s but because it is doing scientific work that no other spacecraft is able to do currently. If Voyager was orbiting around Earth it would get no updates at all, no matter how much NASA paid to get it into orbit.
So my point stands - if Voyager ran on an iPhone it would get those updates.
The point is: It gets updates because people are being paid sufficiently to provide updates. There is incentive given to see them get done.
There is no incentive for Apple to provide longer term support because nobody is ponying up the money to see that support happen. People cheap out and are only willing to pay for short term support – probably because they know that they can afford to buy a whole new, better phone (most likely for less than longer term support would cost!) again in a few years, so they don't care to brunt the cost of longer term support.
NASA knows they can't afford to buy a new Voyager every 5 years – no amount of money can place a new one to replace what is out there that far out in space – so they are buying long term support instead.
Your point only stands if NASA paid Apple enough to see them agree to update an iPhone for decades or more. Simply buying a $1,000 iPhone off the shelf and sticking it into a Voyager probe would not make Apple care or change their updating tune. And if that is your point, what is the point? You would be just restating what was originally said, which seems rather pointless.
randomdata|2 years ago
There is no incentive for Apple to provide longer term support because nobody is ponying up the money to see that support happen. People cheap out and are only willing to pay for short term support – probably because they know that they can afford to buy a whole new, better phone (most likely for less than longer term support would cost!) again in a few years, so they don't care to brunt the cost of longer term support.
NASA knows they can't afford to buy a new Voyager every 5 years – no amount of money can place a new one to replace what is out there that far out in space – so they are buying long term support instead.
Your point only stands if NASA paid Apple enough to see them agree to update an iPhone for decades or more. Simply buying a $1,000 iPhone off the shelf and sticking it into a Voyager probe would not make Apple care or change their updating tune. And if that is your point, what is the point? You would be just restating what was originally said, which seems rather pointless.