Why is it I buy a new phone for $500, then within a year it's only worth $50 and a packet of chips?

It's like buying Madden! A year later the new one comes out with the few added features and suddenly the demand for the old drastically goes down and so does the price.

I find great value in getting the Nexus from the year before. It's much cheaper and you know Google is going to have it updated way before the others, even new flagships.