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that's flawed short term logic. I will never buy another android phone from someone like motorola. My phone is about a year old. Still under contract, and I can

• cookiecaper 14y ago
  Why is that? Your contract allows you to change phones at any time, you just can't get another subsidy or cancel your service without a fee until the extant contract expires. You are free to purchase another phone, second-hand or new, without cell company subsidy and switch to it.
  • jshen 14y ago
    And you think that is a good situation for Android users? Want the new OS, buy a new phone without a subsidy. That is one hell of a tag line for Android
    • technomancy 14y ago
      That's what you get for trusting your carrier. Luckily you can get Android devices that you have control over yourself.
      • dllthomas 14y ago
        > Luckily you can get Android devices that you have control over yourself. Forgive me for asking something that some googling could answer, but... is there a good such device (sans rooting) that has a keyboard?
        • brazzy 14y ago
          I am using the Xperia Pro from Sony, am very happy with it. Bought it unbranded and unlocked, has a great hardware keyboard, and was updated to ICS two weeks ago. The only downside is the rather small amount of builtin memory.
      • jshen 14y ago
        This is true, but that is my point. Most people don't want control, they want a phone that does the latest and greatest. This makes the iphone a much better choice for most, including myself.
        • technomancy 14y ago
          Isn't that just another way of saying most people don't think through the long-term consequences of their choices?
    • tadfisher 14y ago
      Want Siri? Buy the iPhone 4S without a subsidy. Sure worked for Apple...
      • ryanhuff 14y ago
        You know perfectly well that Apple handles this issue much better than the Android stakeholders. And I am an Android user.
• ryannielsen 14y ago
  And vendors like Motorola probably don't care about you and your situation. From their perspective, they likely see two things 1) a still growing cell phone market 2) a rapidly growing Android market As long as the market's still growing, and as long as the vast majority of Android users aren't disgruntled about being left behind, their efforts are best spent on building new phones and acquiring new customers. I'm curious how many people purchasing a new Android or iOS device even know it can be upgraded. Apple has features in iTunes and now in the phones themselves to advertise new versions and strongly encourage users to upgrade. I'd wager most Android users, because their phones never advertise updates to them, are aware it can even be upgraded and, thus, aren't the least bit put off by these vendors apparent negligence. Until the market stops growing, or until the vast majority of users get angry about being left behind, vendors like Motorola have zero incentive to spend time or capital on maintaining old devices.
  • jshen 14y ago
    " Motorola have zero incentive to spend time or capital on maintaining old devices." You are making a large assumption when you say this. Your assumption is that it won't hurt them in the long run. Maybe that is true, but it's a risky bet to make. I certainly won't buy another android phone. Maybe most normal users will, but I'm skeptical of that. Here's how normal users will realize they aren't getting updates, because it happens to me often. Somehow they learn about some cool app they want and they go to the Play store to get it. But they can't find it. It doesn't show up on their search! It won't take long for them to figure out that they can't get it because it doesn't work for their old version of android. This happens to me about once a month.
    • ryannielsen 14y ago
      Here's how normal users will realize they aren't getting updates, because it happens to me often. Somehow they learn about some cool app they want and they go to the Play store to get it. But they can't find it. It doesn't show up on their search! It won't take long for them to figure out that they can't get it because it doesn't work for their old version of android. Yes, but is there anything that enables them to make the cognitive leap from "my phone runs an old version of Android" to "my phone should have been updated to a new version of Android"? What's to keep them from instead coming to the conclusion of "my phone is old, I should buy a new one"? You assume they understand what "Android" is, who creates Android, who creates their phone, and that the thing running on their phone that's called "Android" can be upgraded but the entity that created their phone prevents that from happening. Many people are just buying a phone. Heck, many people are just getting a plan which happens to give them a free phone. They don't, and have no desire to, understand the nuances of the phone they just got. It makes calls, browses the internet, and may let them install these "app" things. And what's to say some of the people who do understand some of these nuances don't erroneously blame Google and Android rather than their phone's manufacturer? I really do bet most people out there just say "damn, my phone's old" and go try and buy a new phone as soon as they're able. Which is a win for companies like Motorola.
• glogla 14y ago
  Yes it is. It's stupid, shortsighted, and it is going to cost them money in the long term. They are still doing this. But I don't understand about you not having option of buying phone. They won't allow you to use different phone with your sim or anything? You can just drop to a store, buy unlocked Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S III, Xperia S or something, and use it right?