Anyone else here in the post-PC era?

The Nexus One will not be getting Android 4. So there's your fair comparison.But whether it really is fair, depends on the purpose of the comparison. From the point of view of which is better for the buyer - where the reasons for lesser support or assigning responsibility for it don't matter - the comparison as given is the only one that matters.

I don't see that it even matters at all.

Did you read it in context ?It matters to the people buying Android phones. What good is it to you if someone who bought a Nexus S gets good support if you don't ?That's why the comparison as given is good for the customer. It gives you some basis for working out how much support you can reasonably hope for.

This chart and article are dealing with OS updates, not support. Secondly, this is insinuating fault with Android when it clearly IS manufacturer/carrier who is at fault. If There was only 1 Android phone you could buy, made by Google, that NEVER changed (same exact phone since release), this comparison would work.

Are we forgetting the support that the community provides?They're called custom roms, and they allow you to stay up to date, even if your manufacturer won't.And for those saying that "the average user" doesn't want to fool around with custom roms, the "average user" doesn't even know what version of android he's running on his phone, or if he can even update at all, rendering the longevity of support quite moot.

quote:

---

This chart and article are dealing with OS updates, not support.

---

OS updates ARE support.

quote:

---

Secondly, this is insinuating fault with Android when it clearly IS manufacturer/carrier who is at fault.

---

Well I was prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt when you ripped my initial point out of context, but obviously I was mistaken.
As I said, I'm not talking about blaming anyone, I am talking about the service that customers actually get. And that is a valid reason for making a comparison.

quote:

---

If There was only 1 Android phone you could buy, made by Google, that NEVER changed (same exact phone since release), this comparison would work.

---

But it wouldn't tell customers how much support they can reasonably expect if they buy an Android phone. That is something that is worth knowing, given the cost of a smartphone, when the contract is included.Again, let's make the point that you are ignoring. The fairness of the comparison depends on the purpose of the comparison. If you are interested in the service that customers actually get then the only fair thing to do is look at the service that customers actually get.

it is an Android/iOS comparison. It is NOT the fault of Android. Android, in this comparison, is being held accountable for what is at the hands of phone manufacturers and carriers. The implied purpose of the chart is to try and show somehow that iOS is better because they "support" longer. Just look at the subtitle: Android vs. iPhone. iPhone is a device, Android is an OS. How many iPhones are there to choose from?Now, let's look at what has been released in major OS releases from iOS. How has iOS changed since it's inception? How has Android changed? iOS revisions just don't matter as much as Android revisions. iOS 5 looks and performs damn near identical to iOS 1.

No, support updates are on this chart, too. Well, ok, but from the ground up it was always the design of the Android paradigm to market it on handsets which Google didn't manufacture. Manufacturers and carriers have the power to simply refuse to update their handsets with the newer versions of Android specifically because Google thought it advantageous to give them that power.So the fault is with Android - Android was always designed to allow manufacturers to essentially abandon handsets they've already sold. Well, right. And there would only be one Android phone made by Google if that's how Google had decided to sell Android phones.But it isn't. Google decided to allow handset manufacturers to put Android on phones with no requirement that they support new versions of Android. You can hardly say that the fact that they were wrong to do so (and Apple was right to be the only manufacturer of iOS devices) proves that it's an "unfair" comparison. It's like saying that you can't compare the gold and silver medalists of a 100-yard dash because one is faster than the other. No shit, that's the point of the comparison.

The reason that it's in the hands of manufacturers is because the design of Android explicitly puts it in the hands of manufacturers. As such, Android can be held "accountable". No, absolutely wrong. Since iOS 1, Apple has added:iTunes purchasing on the phone
The App Store and the ability to run third-party apps
Support for stereo bluetooth headphones
Copy and paste
MMS
GPS integration in Maps
Push notifications
"Genius" playlists
Video recording
HTML5
Tethering
Support for Nike+
Multitasking
Facetime
iBooks
App folders
AirPlay streaming
Notifications center
Wifi sync
SiriEdited by crashfrog, : No reason given.

quote:

---

it is an Android/iOS comparison. It is NOT the fault of Android

---

It is not just an Android/iOS comparison, because it deals with multiple Android phones, and can help customers pick out models that might get better support (like the Nexus series).And as I said the fairness of the comparison depends on the purpose, and the purpose I am talking about is NOT assigning blame.

quote:

---

The implied purpose of the chart is to try and show somehow that iOS is better because they "support" longer.

---

And you know what, it IS one area where iOS is better than Android, at least to the ordinary consumer. It is just one factor, but it is one that could do with more publicity because it isn't something that the average punter is likely to find out on their own.

Where are all the top models? Where's the galaxy s, the desire? The desire recently got updated to 2.3, the most recent version of android, as did the galaxys s. The desire is almost 2 years old now, the galaxy s 1 and a half. Why aren't they in the chart? Too positive for android?

"Every iPhone and Android model released before July 2010"

Double post, see below for intended reply.Edited by Huntard, : No reason given.

The desire was released somewhere in march over here, but i see an important qualifier : "released in the USA before july 2010". Nevermind that the phones were available much earlier in other parts of the world, making the chart much more beneficial for android. No, the USA is the only country that matters, of course....

There was an article along with the chart, which actually speaks to this point, maybe you'd like to read it?