I agree on the phone front. My iPhone 5 is my first smartphone, bought only after my old flip phone (about 6 years old) started randomly powering down. Death throes. And I expect this iPhone, now a year old, to last a bare minimum of two more years. I’ll be seriously ticked if it dies anytime before then, but it’s well built so I’ll also be very surprised if that happens. Not the least bit tempted by the 5s, and like you surprised and dismayed by how often people change phones.
On the other hand, I also have an iPad mini. Great little machine, and really quite powerful all things considered. But I am tempted by higher resolution, faster processor and, especially, more storage. A phone doesn’t really need much storage, at least not the way I use it, but among the best uses for a tablet (IMO) is loading photos for viewing while travelling, rather than carrying a laptop for that purpose. That means local storage is important to me, so I’m unlikely to have my current iPad as long as my phone. It does feel silly and wasteful to trade up after less than a year, so I will hold out as long as I can, but it’s really unlikely I’ll have this iPad for three years or more.
