I agree. For a long time Samsung Captivate users like me were stuck with CM7. By some miracle the Captivate is supported by CM10, so I'm very excited to try it. There are other ROMs out there though. Part of the fun of flashing new ROMs is to try out the lesser known ones. There are still a lot of developers who support the older models.
To your philosophical point, I completely agree. New phones are pushed so frequently that devices become obsolete quickly. I mean, my Captivate was the first Samsung Galaxy, and now we're on the 3rd iteration already, and it's only been two years. While, I always get excited for new gadgets, the lack of support for anything over a year old is unacceptable. Few people have the inclination or money to buy a new phone so frequently. I'm not sure who to blame, but the rapid increase in technology plays a major role.
> By some miracle the Captivate is supported by CM10
It's no miracle. A generous, competent and unpaid volunteer decided to build the support for the Captivate. If your device is not supported, you are free to download the source and fix whatever breaks yourself or pay for someone else to do it.
"rapid increase in technology plays a major role"
some of this is true. For instance the difference between each iteration of the galaxy series seems to come with substantial hardware improvements.
Being a cynic though, I feel that a lot of phones coming out having nothing to do with technology upgrades but instead have more to do with sustaining or growing revenue streams. Some of the iPhone upgrades have been so incremental yet so many people can't live without the newest one, even though they couldn't necessarily tell you what is new about it. I feel this way about vehicles too. Yes the styling changes, in the last couple of years fleet fuel economy has improved, and yes maybe the hp/lb (W/kg) have improved but fundamentally they are the same thing.
I still have my cappy not because there aren't newer and better phones out but because with a good rom it runs great, even though phones have been coming out for 2 years since. How hard has everyone had to twist samsung's arm to release software upgrades for their devices? I don't think it really comes down to money between the carriers and the phone makers but instead they see it as a threat. If everyone had the latest and greatest rom they would find their hardware still runs well for much longer than the average person holds on to their phone. It is simply controlled obsolescence. I am really, REALLY, happy that someone worked hard to build CM10 for the cappy as I can continue to use my perfectly good hardware for a long time.
To your philosophical point, I completely agree. New phones are pushed so frequently that devices become obsolete quickly. I mean, my Captivate was the first Samsung Galaxy, and now we're on the 3rd iteration already, and it's only been two years. While, I always get excited for new gadgets, the lack of support for anything over a year old is unacceptable. Few people have the inclination or money to buy a new phone so frequently. I'm not sure who to blame, but the rapid increase in technology plays a major role.