On: Google IO : Android Announcements

[wccrawford]

Sadly, it doesn't say they'll receive timely releases.

At least Google is listening and doing something about it, though.

[montagg → wccrawford]

They need to do more. Not having to think about updates at all on iOS devices is absolutely huge for adoption. My mom doesn't care about "Gingerbread" or "Honeycomb." She just wants something that she understands and won't confuse her later. Right now, the only mobile platform that will handle that elegantly is iOS.

Google still has a long way to go if this is all they've got to announce.

[Kylekramer → montagg]

The general population doesn't care about updates. XP is the world's most popular desktop OS and it was released the same week as the original iPod.

Google does need to work on updating, but I find it very hard to believe it slows down Android adoption at all.

[2muchcoffeeman → Kylekramer]

They did not now about Apps either until Apple popularized the term. Now my parents ask me about iPhones and iPads and what they can do. If apple believes updates are an important differentiator I bet they will start advertising it.

[Niten → montagg]

That's absurd. The general public doesn't know or care about the difference between Android versions any more than they know about the difference between iOS versions.

[nl → montagg]

It's true that more timely updates would be good.

BUT many people ignore the fact that the lifespan of a phone is two years. For those of us used to rapid iteration that seems an eternity, but in reality it isn't a bad situation. Compare it - for example - to the time IE6 (and now IE7) needs to be supported for.