Getting value of select (dropdown) before change

Answer 1

How about using a custom jQuery event with an angular watch type interface;

// adds a custom jQuery event which gives the previous and current values of an input on change
(function ($) {
    // new event type tl_change
    jQuery.event.special.tl_change = {
        add: function (handleObj) {
            // use mousedown and touchstart so that if you stay focused on the
            // element and keep changing it, it continues to update the prev val
            $(this)
                .on('mousedown.tl_change touchstart.tl_change', handleObj.selector, focusHandler)
                .on('change.tl_change', handleObj.selector, function (e) {
                // use an anonymous funciton here so we have access to the
                // original handle object to call the handler with our args
                var $el = $(this);
                // call our handle function, passing in the event, the previous and current vals
                // override the change event name to our name
                e.type = "tl_change";
                handleObj.handler.apply($el, [e, $el.data('tl-previous-val'), $el.val()]);
            });
        },
        remove: function (handleObj) {
            $(this)
                .off('mousedown.tl_change touchstart.tl_change', handleObj.selector, focusHandler)
                .off('change.tl_change', handleObj.selector)
                .removeData('tl-previous-val');
        }
    };

    // on focus lets set the previous value of the element to a data attr
    function focusHandler(e) {
        var $el = $(this);
        $el.data('tl-previous-val', $el.val());
    }
})(jQuery);

// usage
$('.some-element').on('tl_change', '.delegate-maybe', function (e, prev, current) {
    console.log(e);         // regular event object
    console.log(prev);      // previous value of input (before change)
    console.log(current);   // current value of input (after change)
    console.log(this);      // element
});