5 ms·

Somehow, Google's upgrades do not tend to end up on the phones, or only with substantial delay. So I don't think claiming that "Google got it right" is accurate

Somehow, Google's upgrades do not tend to end up on the phones, or only with substantial delay. So I don't think claiming that "Google got it right" is accurate if you talk about smartphone software.

kenjackson 16y ago
Sorry, I should have split that out more clearly. Google's dev process for building updates is right. They rapidly iterate to generate new updates and versions of Android. It's arguably better than iOS now, but w/ a far worse app ecosystem, IMO. BUT Google falls down the same way WP7 does... too many phones to support. The process of getting updates to all of these different phones is painful, but Google and MS differ here too -- and this difference, while maybe cosmetic, is important. Since Google drops source and OEMs pick it up, Google has moved the update responsibility to the OEMs. Nobody screams at Google because the Samsung Galaxys took a long time to update. It was Samsung's issue. MS OTOH owns the update process. They get the blame for not supporting all the phones. The end result for MS is a double whammy since they may not be able to move as quickly as Google (since Google can just drop source, and each OEM needs to get it working with their device and skin) AND Microsoft gets the blame for being slow.
- recoiledsnake 16y ago
  While you make very valid points, this is the very first update for WP7. What further complicates things is that firmware upgrades from carriers/OEMs are pushed along with this update, and the need for OEM/Carrier testing further delays things. IIRC they haven't done similar updates for Windows Mobile.While it sucks now, if MS learns from the issues, it has potential to be a better update process than Android, because users don't have to depend on OEMs which cause major delays for updates. The key difference is that OEMs on Android are allowed to(and make) a LOT of changes to the UI etc. resulting in things like MotoBlur, HTC Sense and that Samsung skin. This results in delays of several months(or no updates at all) because of all the required changes to the UI skins which WP7 can avoid(since they don't allow OEMs to mess with internals or the UI) if they learn from the first update and speed up things.
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    I agreed with everything you said... six months ago. I've lost faith that they can execute on this now. I honestly hope I'm wrong.
- cube13 16y ago
  The real end result for both systems is that the devices just don't get updated. The only difference is that we know that Google has produced code, and MS hasn't released any. Blame doesn't really matter, because at the end of the day, neither Google nor MS are getting their updates out to consumers at this point. So while Android 2.4(when it comes out) might do everything better than the iPhone, stop world hunger, and cure cancer, it doesn't matter if people can't update their devices to it. They're in the exact same boat as MS.

Somehow, Google's upgrades do not tend to end up on the phones, or only with substantial delay. So I don't think claiming that "Google got it right" is accurate if you talk about smartphone software.

kenjackson 16y ago

Sorry, I should have split that out more clearly. Google's dev process for building updates is right. They rapidly iterate to generate new updates and versions of Android. It's arguably better than iOS now, but w/ a far worse app ecosystem, IMO. BUT Google falls down the same way WP7 does... too many phones to support. The process of getting updates to all of these different phones is painful, but Google and MS differ here too -- and this difference, while maybe cosmetic, is important. Since Google drops source and OEMs pick it up, Google has moved the update responsibility to the OEMs. Nobody screams at Google because the Samsung Galaxys took a long time to update. It was Samsung's issue. MS OTOH owns the update process. They get the blame for not supporting all the phones. The end result for MS is a double whammy since they may not be able to move as quickly as Google (since Google can just drop source, and each OEM needs to get it working with their device and skin) AND Microsoft gets the blame for being slow.

recoiledsnake 16y ago
While you make very valid points, this is the very first update for WP7. What further complicates things is that firmware upgrades from carriers/OEMs are pushed along with this update, and the need for OEM/Carrier testing further delays things. IIRC they haven't done similar updates for Windows Mobile.While it sucks now, if MS learns from the issues, it has potential to be a better update process than Android, because users don't have to depend on OEMs which cause major delays for updates. The key difference is that OEMs on Android are allowed to(and make) a LOT of changes to the UI etc. resulting in things like MotoBlur, HTC Sense and that Samsung skin. This results in delays of several months(or no updates at all) because of all the required changes to the UI skins which WP7 can avoid(since they don't allow OEMs to mess with internals or the UI) if they learn from the first update and speed up things.
- kenjackson 16y ago
  I agreed with everything you said... six months ago. I've lost faith that they can execute on this now. I honestly hope I'm wrong.
cube13 16y ago
The real end result for both systems is that the devices just don't get updated. The only difference is that we know that Google has produced code, and MS hasn't released any. Blame doesn't really matter, because at the end of the day, neither Google nor MS are getting their updates out to consumers at this point. So while Android 2.4(when it comes out) might do everything better than the iPhone, stop world hunger, and cure cancer, it doesn't matter if people can't update their devices to it. They're in the exact same boat as MS.