Is the Android Ecosystem Fragmented? Short Answer: Heck, No!
0 comments Scribbled by TeleRaviRays @ 9:18 PM
So,
yesterday, I finally upgraded my [AT&T] Captivate to the stable
CyanogenMod-7.1.0, a whole one and a half years after the purchase,
having (mis)used the phone enough to be less worried about the warranty.
After the upgrade, the phone works like a dream, even with 125 user
apps leaving only 45M free ROM. CM7 lets the user control everything,
right from the levels of haptic feedback to the performance.
The main trigger for my upgrade was this article on The Verge about the lack of ICS updates on Galaxy S, because of crappy TouchWiz (http://www.theverge.com/2011/
If you're an Android buyer, focus on buying the best hardware out there - don't look at the manufacturer or the Android version. You have a lot of choice in the market, with sturdy Motorola and sleek Samsungs, with HTC that comes in between. At the time of writing, I will go for the Galaxy SII or the SII Skyrocket over the Galaxy Nexus as the best hardware out there, because I don't care about ICS anymore. I won't get ICS right away on my phone, but I will get it soon anyway through CM - who cares about Samsung anymore - their warranty is already voided.
Exactly, if you can read my mind, you know where I am going with this - once you have the hardware, you don't need to wait for your manufacturer to upgrade your software. That's where CM comes in - CM brings back the control to the user, who owns the phone through his/her one-time investment. CM effectively brings together an Android universe that is apparently fragmented. By updating the OS for each model out there in the planet, CM takes the onus out of Google or any of the OEMs. There's obviously no incentive for Google or any of the OEMs to support a phone that has already hit their income statements, given the huge amount of customizations that go with it. Google has been around for enough to know the importance of communities to build products, and they sure know why they need CM.
The OEMs need to recognize this - stop spending money on the upgrades, and stop worrying about upgrades denting the sales of newer models, and focus on the user instead. Give the user the choice whether to keep their bloatware of get rid of them. Give approvals to CM upgrades and don't take away the warranties of users who switch. The guys at CM do it voluntarily - they need more support (how about some monetary incentives and better placement in the Android Market?) so that their updates are faster (Remember how they gave up working on the Vibrant build because they could'nt figure out the Emergency calling stuff?). Google and the OEMs need CM to be the universal platform that they intend to be.
And if you're considering a CM upgrade still or waiting for that promised upgrade from your manufacturer that never gets released, here's my verdict - go do it, and you will never look back! Unlike any other platform, in Android, the user has the privilege of owning a brand new phone on a whim, with no money spent as long as he or she has compatible hardware. Isn't that awesome?
The main trigger for my upgrade was this article on The Verge about the lack of ICS updates on Galaxy S, because of crappy TouchWiz (http://www.theverge.com/2011/
If you're an Android buyer, focus on buying the best hardware out there - don't look at the manufacturer or the Android version. You have a lot of choice in the market, with sturdy Motorola and sleek Samsungs, with HTC that comes in between. At the time of writing, I will go for the Galaxy SII or the SII Skyrocket over the Galaxy Nexus as the best hardware out there, because I don't care about ICS anymore. I won't get ICS right away on my phone, but I will get it soon anyway through CM - who cares about Samsung anymore - their warranty is already voided.
Exactly, if you can read my mind, you know where I am going with this - once you have the hardware, you don't need to wait for your manufacturer to upgrade your software. That's where CM comes in - CM brings back the control to the user, who owns the phone through his/her one-time investment. CM effectively brings together an Android universe that is apparently fragmented. By updating the OS for each model out there in the planet, CM takes the onus out of Google or any of the OEMs. There's obviously no incentive for Google or any of the OEMs to support a phone that has already hit their income statements, given the huge amount of customizations that go with it. Google has been around for enough to know the importance of communities to build products, and they sure know why they need CM.
The OEMs need to recognize this - stop spending money on the upgrades, and stop worrying about upgrades denting the sales of newer models, and focus on the user instead. Give the user the choice whether to keep their bloatware of get rid of them. Give approvals to CM upgrades and don't take away the warranties of users who switch. The guys at CM do it voluntarily - they need more support (how about some monetary incentives and better placement in the Android Market?) so that their updates are faster (Remember how they gave up working on the Vibrant build because they could'nt figure out the Emergency calling stuff?). Google and the OEMs need CM to be the universal platform that they intend to be.
And if you're considering a CM upgrade still or waiting for that promised upgrade from your manufacturer that never gets released, here's my verdict - go do it, and you will never look back! Unlike any other platform, in Android, the user has the privilege of owning a brand new phone on a whim, with no money spent as long as he or she has compatible hardware. Isn't that awesome?
Labels: android, cyanogenmod, google, strategy
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