Well, my remarks got a few folks going, but not noticeably. This isn't necessarily a great forum for economics lessons or the heated political outcry that always accompany them, yet most of us probably agree on a few things,,, even taking them as a given.
In the open, global market, would a noticeable outcry from a customer group be likely to prompt a response from a supplier? Additionally would any competing suppliers be likely to respond to stated desires/expectations from a potential customer group? If you believe that the current generation of Android and devices are disconnected from any perceived marketplace demands, then please enjoy whichever toy you presently hold, and do so quietly.
On a more technical side, is Android stated or seen to be an OS, or a kernel? I realize that a linux heritage with its separate UIs (such as KDE) might have some thinking that "native apps" of any sort are far beyond the call of ANY OS. Perhaps so. If that's the case, Google could at least somehow let us end users know. I personally don't care if the "contacts app" is written and supported by Google, Verizon, Motorola, or some other party, AS LONG AS THE NECESSARY FUNCTIONS OF A SMARTPHONE, WHICH I BOUGHT AND CONTINUE TO PAY FOR, ARE PROPERLY COVERED. The problem is that Motorola and Verizon really want nothing to do with software, and have done a good job of staying clear of having any stake in Android whatsoever. Google however, wants to be everyones interface to any and all functions we once considered to be software related.
So much of the comments on these forums speak as though any issues that we encounter, in what we consider or assume to be software, are "Googles fault". We shouldn't. But Android is NOT Linux, and it's place, intended function, present limitations, and specifications ARE well known, and Googles power over its implementation and use ARE substantial. My MOTOROLA "droid" phone has "MOTOROLA" in only one visible place (on the front), "Google" in one place (on the back), and "verizon" in one place (on the front).
Android updates and the functions my Motorola A855 phone does ultimately all depend on google. Google has intentionally moved into the position of telling everyone to expect more and demand more from our networked communications and data processing devices, and to look to them (Google) to meet our demands and desires. When I do this some may call me a whiner or moaner, whoever they may be, they haven't been part of the conversation, and can't be expected to respond in an intelligent fashion.
I am a whiner. Palm gets my whining. Palm did a better job 3 (or more) years ago than my Droid does today. My whines are that Palm chose to not even maintain, let alone continue to develop and fine-tune their PDAs. I had a better system when I carried a Samsung phone and a Palm Tungsten (or a Sony Clie') back in 2006. I could have built a better "all-in-one smartphone" with some superglue and maybe a soldering iron! And that, in 2005!
Enough with the whining!!!!!!
