Every September a phone company tells you the device in your pocket is now embarrassing. Every January a showroom full of fridges with screens tells you your kitchen is out of date. And these days, roughly every Tuesday, someone on LinkedIn tells you that if you aren’t using AI yet, you’re finished.
You’ve been here before. You lived through MiniDisc, 3D televisions and the brief, baffling era of the smart egg tray. The good news is that the instinct that got you through those, quiet scepticism, is still the best tool you own. The trick is knowing where to point it, because a handful of tech changes really do need you to act.
Why does every new gadget feel so urgent?
Because it’s meant to. The fear of missing out, FOMO to the younger crowd, is not a side effect of tech marketing. It’s the business model. Annual launch cycles only work if last year’s model feels old, even when the differences are a slightly better night-time camera and a new shade of grey.
Here is the uncomfortable truth for the industry. Phones, laptops and televisions hit “good enough” several years ago. A mid-range phone from three years back will still take decent photos, run WhatsApp and online banking without fuss, and get you through a day on one charge. The jumps that used to be huge, from dial-up to broadband or from a brick to a smartphone, now come as small steps dressed up as leaps.
So when you feel the pull of a launch event, ask yourself a simple question: what can’t I do today that I’d be able to do with this? If the honest answer is “nothing much”, you’ve just saved several hundred pounds.
How do I know when I really need to replace my phone?
Forget the camera specs. The one number that matters is how long your device will keep getting security updates. These are the regular fixes that close loopholes criminals use to get into your phone, your accounts and, through them, your bank. A phone that no longer gets them still works, but it gets steadily less safe to use for anything important.
The UK now helps you here. Under the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure regime, which came into force in April 2024, makers of internet-connected kit sold in the UK, from phones to smart speakers and doorbells, must tell you the minimum period they’ll provide security updates. The same rules banned weak default passwords such as “admin” or “12345”.
That gives you a useful rule. If your phone is still getting updates, and the battery still lasts the day, keep it. A replacement battery from a reputable repairer costs far less than a new handset. When the updates stop, start planning a replacement. When you do buy, compare the promised support periods as carefully as the prices, because a cheaper phone with a short support window can cost you more in the end.
While you’re at it, check your contract. Ofcom banned mid-contract price rises linked to inflation for new phone and broadband deals from January 2025. Any rises now have to be set out in pounds and pence when you sign up. That’s a good reason to read the small print before you’re talked into an “upgrade” you didn’t ask for.
The few deadlines you really can’t ignore
Most tech news can wait. A few changes can’t, because they happen to you whether you’re paying attention or not.
The first is Windows 10. Microsoft ended mainstream support in October 2025, so a Windows 10 PC no longer gets the security fixes it used to. Microsoft offered home users a year of Extended Security Updates, a stop-gap that keeps the fixes coming for a limited time, but that’s a breathing space rather than a solution. If your computer can run Windows 11, upgrade. If it can’t, you can buy a new machine or move to a Chromebook or a Mac. Or, if all you do is browse and send email, you could try a free Linux system. What you shouldn’t do is carry on banking on an unprotected PC and hope for the best.
The second is the landline. The old copper telephone network is being switched off, and landline calls are moving to digital lines that run through your broadband router. BT’s target for finishing the move is January 2027. For most people it means plugging the phone into a different socket. But it matters a great deal if you, or an elderly parent, rely on a telecare alarm, the pendant that calls for help after a fall. Some older alarms don’t work reliably on digital lines, and in a power cut a digital landline stops working unless there’s a battery backup. Tell your provider if anyone in the household depends on the landline. They’re expected to offer extra help.
The third is already mostly behind us. The UK’s 3G mobile networks have been switched off, so very old phones and some older in-car or alarm systems that relied on 3G may have quietly stopped working. If you have a spare handset in a drawer “for emergencies”, check it still connects.
Ignore the launch events. Pay attention to the switch-off dates. One sells you things, the other leaves you stranded.
Do I need to get on board with AI right now?
You need to understand it. You don’t need to panic-buy it.
AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot can be really useful. They’ll draft a stiff letter to the council, explain a confusing bill or summarise a long document in seconds. All of them have free versions that are more than enough to find out whether they’re any use to you. Try one on a real job you’d otherwise put off and judge it on the result.
What you can safely skip is the rush to pay for premium subscriptions, AI-branded laptops and gadgets that promise to change your life. Many of those features will turn up free in software you already use within a year or two. Remember too that chatbots can sound completely confident while being completely wrong. Check anything that matters, especially medical, legal or financial answers, and don’t paste in personal details you wouldn’t put on a postcard.
The bigger AI risk for most people isn’t falling behind. It’s being scammed by it. Fraudsters now use AI to write convincing emails and even clone voices. The National Cyber Security Centre’s advice still holds: be wary of urgency, check requests through a number you already trust, and turn on two-step verification, the extra code or prompt that stops a stolen password being enough, for your email and bank accounts.
A simple filter for everything else
Before you buy, subscribe or upgrade, run it past three questions.
Does it fix a problem I actually have? Not a problem the advert has just invented for you, but one you were annoyed about last week.
Will it still be supported in five years? Check the promised update period. Be wary of smart-home kit from brands you’ve never heard of, because when a company folds, its app and its cloud servers can go with it.
What happens if I wait six months? Almost always: the price drops, the early bugs get fixed, and the reviews tell you whether it was worth it. Waiting is free, and it’s the most underrated tech skill there is.
Spend the attention you save on the dull stuff that really protects you. That means software updates, a password manager, backups of your photos and a quick check that the landline switchover won’t catch anyone in your family out. It doesn’t make for an exciting launch event. It does mean you’ll be fine whatever comes next.
In short
Most new tech can wait, and you lose very little by waiting: prices fall, bugs get fixed and reviews come in. What can’t wait are the changes that happen to you, such as Windows 10 losing support, the digital landline switchover due by January 2027 and devices that stop getting security updates. Put your attention there, try AI tools for free before paying for anything, and let the launch-day hype pass you by.
Sources
Midcent Tech
Alex Innes explains technology for men 45 and over who have seen every gadget since the ZX Spectrum and are not easily impressed. AI and ChatGPT, phones, cars, the smart home, the subscriptions worth keeping and staying safe online – what it does, whether it's worth the money, and whether you need it at all.
One of Midcent's writers. Spotted something? Write to alex@midcent.uk.
