Quote:
Originally Posted by sconnelly
With all due respect, that doesn't make any sense.
We have always had the option of purchasing any phone for any carrier in Canada (as long as it is compatible with the carriers signal format).
I can only speak for myself but I prefer to purchase a phone with a plan because I am not interested in paying $600.00 for my smartphone. The lease plan (essentially what it is) makes it easy for most people to obtain this technology.
|
I'm the other way. I want the freedom but unlocked isn't nearly as easy or available as it is elsewhere. Expensive, limited, or must be imported. Buying from ebay or hong kong for example is not what I'm going to do. However sure, you can get unlocked and they don't all cost $600. Still the better deal long term. And someday we'll get lower rates without the contract.
Quote:
As I mentioned before, Google really messed up! They are the ones that allowed the hardware manufacturers and carriers dictate what modifications could be done to the phones, and whether or not to allow OTA OS updates. If they followed the iPhone model, we would be in this messed up situation where your Android is destined to become outdated before it should. Even if we do receive the [likely] one-time OS 2.x update, it doesn't change anything. Meanwhile, owners of 2 year old iPhones, still receive the latest OS and will continue to enjoy updates (OTA or over the desktop) until the hardware actually becomes outdated.
It is because of this sad state of affairs, that I will never buy another Android, until they solve all these issues (but it is very likely that Apple will always be a generation ahead).
|
I disagree. Google does the right thing by giving it away without restrictions. Sure the manfs can and will do their own thing which will not be the same as the next guy. That's fine, I just have to be careful about my choice and have a lot more choices to satisfy my needs. If you want the iPhone experience then get an iPhone. To eliminate the extra complications that providers are doing you get an unlocked phone or root it and that is where google is good. They don't care if I root it, they just won't support it. Apple gets a lot more upset and can stand behind their rules when they do that easy push update that you say is ideal.
So it is the best and worst of all worlds. Subsidized and cheap (you pay big time over the long term) by the provider, takes your chances that they will send an update. Unlocked and free but up to you to be sure it works and then hope the manf keeps it updated. Subsidized or unlocked and use any of the varieties of free and legal ROMs. For sure it isn't as easy as an iPhone but I'm willing to take a few moments to learn what I need and from then on it is dead simple. That's why this whole Rogers thing doesn't affect me since I assume they will act this way and I can and did my own thing. 1.6 and happy. Android is much more to my liking than anything so far.