Here is a copy of what I wrote to Mr. Mohamed. I am also going to send this to the OotP and Ombudsperson through the Rogers web site.
We MUST get a confirmation of this before we continue.
Dear Mr. Mohamed,
I am writing to you today to try to clarify recent reports that, according to someone named "Simon" in your office, Rogers will _not_ be issuing an upgrade to HTC Dream and Magic phones to update them from version 1.5 to version 1.6 of the operating system. Can you please confirm if this is true?
I am a member of a growing online community of upset Rogers Android customers, I am familiar with the person who who corresponded with Simon initially, and I wonder if perhaps there was a misunderstanding? He reported to us that Simon claimed no agreement was made with HTC to upgrade the phone, and Simon apparently suggested we wanted this upgrade so that we could "hack" our phones. This last part is why I think there must have been a misunderstanding. The HTC Dream and Magic run on an operating system much like a PC runs on Windows. Microsoft upgrades Windows, and if you want to be able to run newer software, and get more benefits from your PC, you have to upgrade Windows. It is the same thing with the Android phones; version 1.6 of the Android operating system was released at the beginning of October, and US customers have had it on their phones since then. To be clear, having the 1.6 upgrade will _not_ allow us to "hack" the phone. In fact, the phone can be hacked right now, as is, and most people will have to resort to doing just that if that can't get the upgrade to 1.6. We are demanding the 1.6 upgrade precisely so we _won't_ have to hack our phones.
Android offers an exciting opportunity to Canadian wireless customers with its ease of use, utility through availability of applications from the market place, and as an alternative to the iPhone. However, for Android to be successful in Canada, Rogers will need to properly understand what it is, and how it works. Lack of proper support for this new platform will leave your customers disappointed, angry, and searching for a new wireless provider. Already there are new applications in the Market Place that _don't work_ on our phones because we are stuck on the older version of the Android operating system. If this continues, eventually there will be _no_ applications available to us on our phones, and you can bet we _won't_ buy our next phone from Rogers.
Simon also seems to have suggested to the original writer that the update would not be released for the HTC Dream because of incompatibility, however this update is _already_ running on the HTC Dream in the US and elsewhere around the world. I assure you that Rogers is way behind other wireless providers in understanding and implementing Android, and it makes Rogers look foolish.
Mr. Mohamed, I look forward to hearing from you very soon with a clarification and confirmation of Rogers commitment, or lack thereof, to our Android phones.
As a large and growing group we are becoming very upset, and very impatient, as we have been pursuing this matter through customer service, and the office of the president, with conflicting results. We have already begun reaching out to tech media, like CBC writer and radio personality Jesse Hirsh, as well as online tech and cell phone blogs. We have begun an online petition, and we are writing about this issue daily in very popular Android forums, in the Rogers forums, in the comments sections of online newspaper stories, and on Facebook and Twitter. We are prepared to warn existing and potential Rogers customers that if they buy a Rogers Android phone, they should be aware that Rogers may not support them with _necessary_ upgrades to the phone's operating system. We are not going to go away, unless it is to another wireless carrier to punish Rogers by with-holding our patronage. We are angry, and we are looking in to all options, including being released from our contracts with NO penalty.
Yours truly,
Michael J. Schmidt
Disgruntled Rogers Android Customer
(And a loyal Rogers customer for more than 15 years)