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Android set to self destruct?

This is why I believe the Motorola DROID will be the last to win an accolade such as "Gadget of the Year." When the DROID came out, it put Android OS on the map (no disrespect to our G1 brothers). But what it did was say, "Android is here to play; we are serious!" Unfortunately, with the subsequent release of the N1 then shortly thereafter the Desire, Android is seriously diluting its devices. What Google should be doing is releasing a new device with each major iteration of the OS, not minor iteration. Okay, so Google added gEarth and TTS in search, but did that necessitate a new device? No. It's an update for 2.x. The N1 and Desire will never be considered GOY for 2010. It will be iPhone 4.0. That being said, if the gPhone came out with Android 3.0, and it was a substantial game-changer then, yeah! That could be device of the year. Google does need to put a wrap on these devices coming out, slow down the development, at least to a 6-month cycle... not 2-months.
 
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Google does need to put a wrap on these devices coming out, slow down the development, at least to a 6-month cycle... not 2-months.

I'm fine with a new phone coming out every two months. It advances the technology, gets Android devices into more hands and gives me something to read about. When I do decide to get a new Android phone, I'll have a nice selection of devices to choose from.

The vast majority of people who purchase Android phones on a one or two year contract simply will not care if they ever get updated. They're going to use their phones for the duration of their contract or longer and be content. People tend to buy phones based on what they can do at the moment of purchase, not what they'll be able to do in the future.

I see more and more people buying Android based phones. I've talked to a few of them who are buying Hero / Eris class phones. All of them know that their phone is slower and has an older OS than the Droid or N1. They simply don't care. One person even swapped his Droid for an Eris against my advice and he's quite happy with that decision. Good for him.

Phone geeks like us are in the minority.
 
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Fragmentation can get way out of hand if they allow it. Google should put something in place that ensures if the hardware can handle it, the hardware companies should be made to keep them upgraded and pretty standard. That's why I dislike things like Sense and Motoblur...make them choices aftermarket but stock Android the default for everything shipped.
 
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Google Android Is Doomed to Self-Destruct - PCWorld

Interesting read, and a situation I could see developing.....I'm a Droid fanboy no doubt but I really think Google needs to get this under control even though I don't think they will. What does everyone else think?


This is EXACTLY what a lot of the members here complain about, and now some of you are complaining that PC World is biased?

Which is it?
 
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i read this article earlier today
and aside from the eris being quoted to have 2.0(and it has 1.5)

i agree with the article 90%.

I got the droid & the droid eris
1) it wasn't apple iphone(I wanted something new, different, and fresh not something EVERYONE HAS)
2)The commercial enticed me
3)I love the customization it offers
4)I love the fact that it's introduced me to all the aspects of google which has helped my life greatly with their different features

But as a consumer...it feels like we have to compromise certain qualities in the hopes manufacturers remember us...

Buying the eris, i had to sacrifice speed and a current O.S. in hopes that they will remember us little ppl(Erises & all phones before) in order to get looks yet with the droid i had to sacrifice looks and feel to get what was a fast phone for two months and now im stuck waiting for an update "Any day now"

Android has great potential however i'm starting to realize that Apple's approach to updating all of it's past generations to it's current OS...works. That way people who do purchase last years phone are still remembered and it doesn't feel like we wasted our money on the phone and company only to be forgotten less than a year down the road....
 
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I really see multiple problems here...not really any of which are much of googles fault.

1) Android OS is obviously still maturing. During this process, major new features will be added, which older phones may not be able to take advantage of for whatever reason (hardware requirements, beefier processors to get good performance with new features, etc). Windows Mobile had the same problems.

2) The keeping the phones up to date problem is more an issue with the carriers, not google. Verizon is not going to support any phone for too long. You're lucky if you ever get 1 software update in the lifetime of a phone from them. And they will focus any software upgrade efforts they do provide on the top of the line or most popular phones, like the droid. The Eris is still waiting for their 2.x upgrade. (Btw, the article said that the Eris came with 2.0, and it did not. it came with 1.5 or 1.6).

This is why if you are in the group of people that constantly want the latest and greatest, your only real option is to go the custom ROM route. That is what I did with my XV6700 win mobile phone, and that is what I'll continue to do with my droid, until it's time to upgrade and there is a phone out that is worth upgrading to.

-Joe
 
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I disagree with the article and feel it's similar to someone claiming the original IBM PC (30 years old next year) was headed for destruction because it was an open system. In the 28+ years we have seen amazing innovation in the hardware, operating system, and applications. The key is developers must decide if they will develop for the lowest common denominator or if they will push the envelope and the product forward. Both paths can be successful choices. Like the PC, the variety should lead to lower cost AND more capable devices.
 
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Android has great potential however i'm starting to realize that Apple's approach to updating all of it's past generations to it's current OS...works. That way people who do purchase last years phone are still remembered and it doesn't feel like we wasted our money on the phone and company only to be forgotten less than a year down the road....

That is true, but that won't last forever. at some point the older iphones won't be able to handle the newer OS versions. But they have done a good job of it so far. Perhaps the iphone OS was much more mature when it first came out then android was.

This also is similar to what I was saying in that verizon is the culprit here, not google. Verizon has to approve the software updates going out to verizon phones. While they work with google to iron out bugs, Google can't just release an update and expect it to work on all phones.

-Joe
 
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That is true, but that won't last forever. at some point the older iphones won't be able to handle the newer OS versions. But they have done a good job of it so far. Perhaps the iphone OS was much more mature when it first came out then android was.

This also is similar to what I was saying in that verizon is the culprit here, not google. Verizon has to approve the software updates going out to verizon phones. While they work with google to iron out bugs, Google can't just release an update and expect it to work on all phones.

-Joe

Case in point the new Plants vs. Zombies runs like a dream on the 3GS I hear but on 3G it CHUGGS once you get 3-pea-shooting flowers. Apple can only keep that up for so long, and the same with Verizon...it would be nice if the Eris could run Android 3.9 but hey by the time we get to it it's probably not happening. They want you to buy a new phone ever 2 year at the earliest and the latest maybe 5...not hang on to that Razer you've had since 98 :p
 
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I think the article makes very valid points. The one big thing Apple has going for its iPhone is consistency and control--ironic, huh? All the phones in each generation shares the same specs, but with Android phones it's all out there.

Does that necessarily mean that the platform will self-destruct? Well considering phones have been relatively different since the conception of the first few flip phones... I think not. I do believe it is something Google needs to fix though--create a standard set of specs so that all Android users can benefit from the Android market and not make the experience of owning an Android totally different.
 
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That is true, but that won't last forever. at some point the older iphones won't be able to handle the newer OS versions. But they have done a good job of it so far. Perhaps the iphone OS was much more mature when it first came out then android was.

This also is similar to what I was saying in that verizon is the culprit here, not google. Verizon has to approve the software updates going out to verizon phones. While they work with google to iron out bugs, Google can't just release an update and expect it to work on all phones.

-Joe

I agree and I agree with the post above me as well. It's just the fact that apple/at & T still remember their customers have 1st gen iphones and not just 3g/3gs that they try to make sure ALL THEIR products are on the same O.S and as a consumer, I feel more secure with that but eventually they will have to stop because it will be like kicking a dead horse. It can't do much once it reaches it final breath and any1 using a 1st gen iphone wanting the features of any future iphone 4.0 and beyond needs to suck it up and buy another iphone or switch to android :)

It's just annoying when you buy a "new" phone that is technically old when it hits the shelves...

Which is why I am switching back to my droid...it's still kind of current lol
 
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For all those who don't know what FUD means it stands for "Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt"

There is not an iota of substance to this article, it's sensationalistic scaremongering. If you doubt the media does this, this look up "summer of the shark." The tech media is no different, as Joe noted, this is a ploy for page hits.

His only real criticism is the fracturing of the OS, and as someone who just started developing, let me tell you this isn't as big a problem as it seems. But since the author gives little to no technical information to back up his doomsday prediction of a fractured world with a scorched Google earth, I will provide you with a technical anecdote of my own.

When I released my app, it was accidentally targeted at 2.0 and above in the SDK. However when a samsung owner asked me why they didn't see it in the market, I realized I had to try and quickly port it back to 1.5 and 1.6. You know how long that took me? About 10 seconds. I just had to click a button. Now my app is nothing special but it does use the recommended architecture for presenting a GUI to the user and writing data and maintaining a life-cycle.

Furthermore, maintaining backwards comparability and low system requirements for apps is stadard practice among developers. Frankly, I wonder if the guy who wrote this article thought the internet would die out because everyone viewed web pages on different computers.

It's absolute nonsense. It's an attack on open, customizable platforms designed to scare and anger Android developers and users for page views.

Android went from 1% to 16% of the global smartphone market last year. Ticking time bomb? Please.


Anywho, lesson for the day: don't believe everything you read in the media, especially the tech media.
 
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I disagree with the article and feel it's similar to someone claiming the original IBM PC (30 years old next year) was headed for destruction because it was an open system. In the 28+ years we have seen amazing innovation in the hardware, operating system, and applications. The key is developers must decide if they will develop for the lowest common denominator or if they will push the envelope and the product forward. Both paths can be successful choices. Like the PC, the variety should lead to lower cost AND more capable devices.


I think while there are some comparisons to PCs, Android devices with respect to the OP article are a bit different. While the hardware could support features of an updated OS, Google doesn't put in all the specific hardware support - maybe because the hardware vendors don't want to give the specs? So that leaves us users waiting on the hardware vendor to tweak the new version of the OS to optimize it for their devices, then the carrier has to approve it and roll it out.

Then what happens if at one point, there's a new major version of Android and some new devices that support it, but the hardware vendors don't want to spend the time to tweak this major version on their previous hardware? Us users are stuck with an older OS version. Then developers start writing apps that take advantage of the new OS, and we can't use them.


I see what the article is alluding to. This could get bad for those of us that don't want to have to buy a new phone every year just to get the new software goodies that our current phones could run.
 
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This is why I believe the Motorola DROID will be the last to win an accolade such as "Gadget of the Year." When the DROID came out, it put Android OS on the map (no disrespect to our G1 brothers). But what it did was say, "Android is here to play; we are serious!" Unfortunately, with the subsequent release of the N1 then shortly thereafter the Desire, Android is seriously diluting its devices.

But the N1 was for a different carrier! If Android wants global penetration to beat the iPhone, different phones need to come out for different carriers. And if they have a slightly modded version of Android, so what? As long as the apps all run like they do on 2.0.1, 2.0, 1.6, 1.5, etc., then its all good.

I think the biggest fuel behind these "fragmentation" articles is the fact that someone is mad that their Droid no longer is the top dog. Well, that's evolution and technology evolves quickly. I'm not mad that the N1 has 2.1 and my Droid doesn't. I bought the Droid for what it was, expect upgrades when I can get them until my Droid can no longer handle them and by then my contract runs out and I buy whatever is hot at that moment. I'm not expecting the next iteration of Android OS before anyone else, just on a timely basis.
 
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(sorry if this is already mentioned..)

I dont mind Google and whatever partner releasing a new handset every month, as long as they do what microsoft (gasp) is gonna do and have a base requirement for hardware.

This would give app devs a baseline for their apps.

Now, this baseline can be upgraded every year or two. It makes every maker upgrade their phones (possibly around the same time as the iPhone ;))
 
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