I wonder if this would be different if there was an expectation, as there is presently, that only the original manufacturers will ever update software, and that the release you have is either remote updated or the software you have for life?

It would be nice if we had deployment systems which were freely available that didn't require manufacturers deploying "closed" updates or planned obselesence as the only available update mechanisms.

That said, maybe in a good future Amazon could continue to sell manufacturer's hardware that the manufacturer is not putting out updates for... if it's demonstratable that the hardware is user-updatable. Maybe that would provide better incentives?