It's interesting to see how many people here are jumping on the bandwagon and either claim that vendors act maliciously by delaying updates, or blame Android for this.
Fact is - you bought a phone which did everything you needed at the time, and it still does.
The phone didnt suddenly stop working or lose features.
No, people are just giddy that there is another "new big thing" and want to update to it.
Please note that 99.9% of the USERS of those devices dont care.
They are still happily browsing the web, sending emails, and checking flight status with their Android 1.x devices.
For geeks, nerds and people who compare version numbers of their phones at cocktail parties, there is a simple solution.
Buy a "Google Experience" device, like the Nexus-One or Nexus-S devices.
Those devices receive the update straight from Google, and come unlocked and "open" to update the OS.
Now you say - but - you can't afford to spend 500+ bucks on a phone, if you can get one for $99 from your carrier.
Well, in that case, if you buy a carrier subsidized device (actually, you didnt buy it, it's more a LEASE), then you shouldnt complain that it comes with strings attached, and your carrier remains free to make a business decision which phones to upgrade, and which not.
Unless the other 99.9% of users who dont care, start calling the help desk and start asking for upgrades, until then - you're out of luck.