I have mixed feelings about this for four reasons.
I’m an engineer who understands the tech of the equipment I use better than the maker’s tech support does. I’m reluctant to discard any piece of working equipment, knowing that it is unlikely to be recycled. I’m not impressed by f.e.a.t.u.r.e.s ., but performance. I understand mean time between failures.
My car is a 2008 Honda I bought used in 2015. It runs like new and is easy to maintain. I’ve no reason to replace it, even if gasoline cost $10/gallon, unless a critical part becomes unavailable as new or salvage.
I spent 25 years working in IT fixing other people’s computer problems. I used the same “previously owned” Windows XP computer 8 hours a day for 10 years and still use the same glass CRT monitor. In 2017 when I was retired and could no longer get AV software to run on it, I replaced it with a Chromebook whose support updates ended last June. I reimaged it with the Lacros browser that continues to get security updates and prepped it as a machine for a casual user. I bought a manufacturer-refurnished Chromebook with a slightly larger screen easier for me to read that should outlast its Google update period of 7 years.
I also look at cost of ownership, utility and reliability.
Because I know how to use a computer more effectively than most people, few new f.e.a.t.u.r.e.s of OSs are worth the hinderance of learning a new user interface that doesn’t make my work easier than an older one. I don’t own computers to be amused by their changing personalities and interfaces. I use them as tools to do work, not play games.
My nearly free Windows PC cost me much, much more in my support time at minimum wage than it initially cost. Switching to Chromebooks required less time than mastering a new version of Windows and apps equivalent to what I had been using were free. I’ve spent less than an hour per year to periodically powerwash them; most of the the apps get reloaded automatically.
My "total cost of ownership"of Chromeboks has been well under $1/week-including software. I’ve spent more on replacing printers that wore out and their supplies. I wear out mechanical keyboards, mice and batteries, not computers with solid state storage.
Objectively, today I probably don’t “need” an insulin pump. I know the statistics. I did better with MDI than 90% of PWT1D do with any diabetes tech. I started using a CGM and pump this past year because I knew my ability to maintain that level of management was starting to deteriorate and wanted to gradually become accustomed to delegating some of that attention and management while I still have a choice.
Unless physically abused, a Tandem insulin pump has only a few things likely to mechanically wear out in less than 10 years: the rechargeable battery, the charging connector and the pump motor. The electronics are less complex than a cellphone, with only the internal storage subject to write cycle wear. My bet is that it could last longer than my indestructable Canon digital cameras.
To me an insulin pump has similar economics as an inkjet printer. The supplies cost much more than the device over its life. Someone pays for it. Itos the mechanucal paryts that might wear out. If I were paying out of pocket and I was younger, I’d keep it past the warranty (prepaid service contract) expiration and wait for it to wear out.
But I pay for a pump and CGM entirely through insurance that costs the same whether I have new equipment or not. So I’ll keep probably it until insurance will pay for a replacement unless there’s a compelling reason like non-invasive glucose monitors paired with vastly superior AID firmware that my t:slim X2 hasn’t the ability to support.
I’d never “upgrade” if it requiresd a new phone to support old abilities. Needing other new hardware is one reason I stopped upgrading Windows.
From what I’ve read, NO pump close to reaching general market release, including the X3 the short tube Tandem model or any “pod” provides a compelling insulin management reason for me to switch. They all require nearly the same amount of physical support to replace supplies.