I've said for a long time that it's wrong to compare the iPhone and Android. iPhone is a phone and a brand. Android is an idea, arguably a philosophy. It is not

I've said for a long time that it's wrong to compare the iPhone and Android. iPhone is a phone and a brand. Android is an idea, arguably a philosophy. It is not a brand. Let me put it another way: when people buy an iPhone, they're buying an iPhone. When people are buying an Android phone, they're buying a phone (or, in some cases, they're not buying an iPhone). I've now had the opportunity to use a HTC Desire, an iPhone 4 and a DroidX (in that order). Inconsistency of UI/UX (as well as hardware) is a huge problem for Android. Even Microsoft abandoned the handset manufacturer and carrier customization model with Windows Phone 7. You are seeing what carriers are doing: the Samsung Fascinate from Verizon is just the most recent example. You also see people still releasing 1.5/1.6 devices when there really is no technical reason to do so (carriers/manufacturers like product differentiation, no matter how illogical or how much it hurts the UX long term). That being said, from Google's perspective, Android is a huge success. Google is successfully commoditizing the mobile OS, lowering costs and driving adoption of smart phones, which drives mobile Internet usage. The carriers and manufacturers are simply being complicity in their own execution in this race to the bottom. It reminds me of net books actually (almost no profit, commodity hardware, very cheap). One error made with Android (IMHO) is the proliferation of buttons. It's confusing, inconsistent and (with the possible exception of the back button) unnecessary (beyond the one home button). Well see just how much pent up demand there is for the iPhone when it spreads to other carriers. My guess is a lot.