I think google did the right thing - get the critical mass - then use the leverage.

see:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/31/google-tightening-control-of-android-insisting-licensees-abide/

You get the choice of buying android from a different carrier/manufacturer.

With apple, you're stuck with iTunes... no other choice or option.

Since when is apple a carrier?

Last time I checked, Carriers make money through call tariffs - barely from accessories or ad revenue etc.
Apple makes their money from selling the hardware. Motorola, Samsung, HTC etc make their money also from selling hardware.

Some carrier see greater value in Android as they can fill it up with their rubbish content and try making even more money - beyond the call charges.

Thankfully, Android is open and you can just rip away all the garbage some carriers push into it.

The German people in east Germany wanted to be freed.

big difference.

It became "one of *the* big names" after it partnered with Google and went for Android.

17 out of 29 current HTC devices run Android, the rest WinMo.

What's your point?

1 - It's the apple trolls that claim that iOS is the largest (in terms of market share) platform - so if you play their game you might as well give accurate facts.

2 - Market share proves nothing except for how successfully a product was marketed.

3 - You keep comparing the iPhone line to all Android phones in existence. And you somehow attempt to pass this as a valid comparison by treating android as a BRAND, when in fact it's not a brand. You fail to realize that android is an open platform that is running on a host of different devices. Android is like Linux - it can run on ANYTHING - even those over-priced under-performing shiny white toys apple tries to pass as "computers" - oh, sorry.. i meant, "The Apple experience delivery platforms".

4 - If we refer back to point (2) you will note that Android is EXTREMELY successful, in terms of a financial success and being a market leader. It does not mean that android is "better" or is a whole "solution". Whether you like it or not, Android is doing in the phone space what Windows has done in the PC. Yes, PC is the dominant platform - even though Apple tries to present as a platform for suit wearing "serious" consumers, compared to the trendy and cool musical-silhouettes Macs are.

5 - Units sold is the measure by which Market share is determined. And while we agree it says nothing about the quality of the end product - the fact that Android has a massive market share, makes the entire platform more attractive for developers which in turn increases the market share even further. That's a positive feedback loop. Just like Microsoft has in the PC market.

6 - "average" experience is meaningless, because had you listened to anything I had to say, you would realize that Android is not the WHOLE solution. it's merely PART of the solution. And the fact that carriers deter from the experience is not Android's fault... but that doesn't matter, since the more android phones there are the more "alive" the platform is. See point (5)

And here lies the difference between us.

You care about building or cheapening a "brand".

I care about the technical aspects of a product.

I think a lot of people who can't afford an iPhone are quite happy with an extremely powerful android alternative for the cheap on low end hardware. They don't care about the updates as much as you think.

Apple needs to update what ... 4 different devices that they have absolute control over?

That's not the same for Android. you rely on your manufacturer's kind-heartedness. Some do a better job than others... so beware.

It's all about choice at the end of the day. Android gives you that choice... Apple? not so much.

In the post you're quoting, Where do I speak about one particular android handset?

The question of support can is normally answered through manufacturer reputation. There's no way of determining if a mfr will live up to its reputation apriori.

When you say "By the time support might be an issue for a particular model" - as far as I know, all android handsets are sold with warranty and support. Some mfr give pretty damn good support, even if you've unlocked and rooted your phone (see HTC)... not sure about apple doing the same.

Regarding software updates - Most manufacturers post software updates and bug fixes. The topic we're talking about is full OS updates... which to most people don't really matter... and why would it? The latest honeycomb for instance mostly improves on the UI and makes it 3D like... that doesn't make sense for devices which don't have a powerful enough GPU. I think you'll find that's not much different than apple.

Completely agree. That's why I think the only android phone worth getting is the Nexus line. But turns out not all users care so much about updates and the hardware specs on some of these phones beat the hell out of the iPhone.

That is off-topic.

But normally you can read online reviews and figure it out...

Sure, that might be asking for too much for most users as they don't care.

But then again, if they don't care about reading reviews they probably can't care less about OS updates... granted, if you buy a recent android handset it will last you for a few years and if it doesn't get updated to the latest android most users won't know/care.

I though that was the whole apple demographic - non tech savvy people who want things to "just look pretty" and not go "beep beep beep", right?

Do you even know what fragmentation means? How does this relate to the topic in any way?!

The Market polls periodically to check for updates. About once a day.

Unless you've somehow configured it to not check for updates at all, then It's probably quite accurate.