As an owner of a iPhone 3G I don't agree with the solid green color that it gets. It was rendered unusable by iOS4.0, and although it was on "the current version" up until the release of iOS5 I don't recall it getting any actual feature from iOS4 other than faster javascript in the browser. So things are not as binary as depicted there.
It also seems like you're looking at Android through an Apple lens where the only phone updates come via the OS and having the latest version is the key metric. This means that e.g. any delay in releasing an iOS update has no impact on your graph, but if the Nexus team bust their chops to get an update out early, it makes every other phone look bad in relation.
What would it look like if you charted when the phones last received an update to their Maps, Youtube, or Gmail client apps from Google?. For Maps they would all be green I believe, less so for Youtube which is currently 2.2+ only so 15% of current devices wouldn't be able to get the latest version.
Glancing through the list of new features in iOS5 it seems to be equally split between a) things Android already had (twitter, notifications, no pc required updates), and b) things that are considered Applications, not part of the OS in Android (e.g. To-do apps, email/calendar improvements, e-magazine reader app) so there doesn't seem to be as much reason for Android users to have to upgrade.
So generally, from this point of view, you seem to be a bit loose with equating "support" from Google to mean new OS version e.g. your phrase "tracked down every update that was released for each device" isn't strictly true if you consider a newer version of Maps or the Market an update. And I would imagine the average person in the street would.
You saved me writing a post. Totally agreed on the features part which matters most for the updates second to security.
The only open issue with Android is security updates. Manufacturers often release minor patch level updates (HTC did recently for their logger fiasco for e.g., My Atrix went 2 minor updates before getting Gingerbread etc.) but that still leaves the phones vulnerable to browser based attacks at least.
With Google making Browser and many other system apps uninstallable/replaceable in ICS may be they can update it like every other app - through market.
With Android 5.0 Google should focus on near complete modularization - all user space apps / libs can be updated by Google independently of the phone just like GMail. This may not be 100% possible but they should do as much as they can practically.
I got my Nexus one around 14 months ago. I choose it because its was the official Google developer's phone and so mostly likely to get updated! Except of course we now know that the Android benchmark device that's less than 2 years old will not be getting any more updates.
BTW - I am willing to bet that when ICS source is released someone works out how to get ICS on it. I.e - I doubt that there's any fundamental reason it can't be done?
I think I bought it about 6 months before the 3GS came out. I no longer use it as a phone, but still use it for other stuff.
I also have just got a Nexus One (and have another Android phone). I'm not particularly disappointed that it's not getting ICS. I've not figured out one actual feature I care about that this announcement will deprive me of yet[1] (and as you say, I'll probably be able to put it on anyway. The key sticking point seems to be limited storage space, which custom ROMs have worked around before). Perhaps it'll mean I get better scores on javascript benchmarks with the default browser, but I'm keen to try Firefox anyway now that I have an ARMv7 device. But if the only thing I get is version number bragging rights, I'm not sure I'll even bother with ICS.
[1] Face unlock? No front facing camera on the Nexus One, Android Beam? No NFC chip. Better browser? I'm not sure how much the benchmarks translate into reality. Built in VPN capatablities? actually that's interesting. Folders? We're scraping the barrel now. Different multitasking UI?
Good points. Also since there will be loads of users stuck on Gingerbread / Froyo the N1 will probably be useful as a development test phone in my case.
It also seems like you're looking at Android through an Apple lens where the only phone updates come via the OS and having the latest version is the key metric. This means that e.g. any delay in releasing an iOS update has no impact on your graph, but if the Nexus team bust their chops to get an update out early, it makes every other phone look bad in relation.
What would it look like if you charted when the phones last received an update to their Maps, Youtube, or Gmail client apps from Google?. For Maps they would all be green I believe, less so for Youtube which is currently 2.2+ only so 15% of current devices wouldn't be able to get the latest version.
Glancing through the list of new features in iOS5 it seems to be equally split between a) things Android already had (twitter, notifications, no pc required updates), and b) things that are considered Applications, not part of the OS in Android (e.g. To-do apps, email/calendar improvements, e-magazine reader app) so there doesn't seem to be as much reason for Android users to have to upgrade.
So generally, from this point of view, you seem to be a bit loose with equating "support" from Google to mean new OS version e.g. your phrase "tracked down every update that was released for each device" isn't strictly true if you consider a newer version of Maps or the Market an update. And I would imagine the average person in the street would.