This is not really about "Android vs Apple" or Apple fanboys trying to push a certain view on others. What it's about is carriers and cell phone manufacturers b

This is not really about "Android vs Apple" or Apple fanboys trying to push a certain view on others. What it's about is carriers and cell phone manufacturers being used to shipping phones with a single OS release, and never having to provide any updates at all (except for serious bugs). The only thing special about Apples software update policy is that it's more similar to how things are done in the PC industry, where you get OS updates as long as your hardware supports the new operating systems (although Apple is quicker in discontinuing iOS devices, something I don't like). I can't think of a single reason why delaying, or not shipping a software release for a capable (but discontinued) handset is _good_ for the customer. I can think of many examples of why it is bad. If your theory is right and a year from now I'll be able to upgrade an Android 4.x phone to be feature equivalent with Android 5 through app downloads, then great, why would anyone really complain about that? An example of the PC and mobile worlds colliding: When Nokia discontinued the 770 with the Tablet OS 2007 release, do you think the outraged 770 owners were rabid Apple fanboys? No, they were PC users that expected the expensive toy they just bought to be supported for more than a year and two months with software updates.