These are all really good points. We can piss and moan all we want, but manufacturers will keep pumping out devices, and we'll probably keep consuming them like Skittles. In my opinion, the WORST move ever made was the OG Galaxy Tab... I bought it a month after it came out, thinking it was going to be epic; it's a great device, and there's some decent dev work going on for it, but Samsung shipped that thing, intending for it to be DOA (dead on arrival). Even though it's a proven powerhouse of a device (I see Quadrant scores around and just over 3000 on the CM9 build), Samsung threw it into the market as a "feeler", to gauge the public response to Android tablet devices, with little/no intention of ever updating the thing. Turns out, I bought a $600 as-is device, under the assumption that it would be supported, and the next thing you know, there's a new line of SGT devices. That was the most epic manufacturer fail of all time I think.
Honestly, I could care less about the variety of devices out there, but they need to be supported, and they need to not be redundant... the Bionic and D3 are essentially the same device, just +/- the keyboard, the Razr, Razr Maxx, and D4 all look the same (haven't checked specs though), and don't even get me started on the poor people who bought the Atrix. The Xoom has been repackaged to include a "family" edition (whatever the hell that means), the Xyboard is out, and the Xoom 2 is on the way... variety is great, but how many of those devices are seeing regular OTAs (say one every 4 months), and how many will still be relevant by June? If carriers and manufacturers just updated these devices (and I mean OS updates, not maintenance patches), like they're supposed to (for a duration of 18 months, post release), then I wouldn't really have a problem...but they don't.
If Jellybean (awful name btw) IS going to drop, I would almost bet money on a summer release, on a Verizon quad core tablet, and then a series of excuses as to why the OS isn't ready for phones yet. Honeycomb proved one thing to Google and device makers...that we are rabid about getting what we want (see all the HC ports as evidence), and the same is starting to happen with ICS. I think they're seriously threatened by the great, progressive developers our community has (because YOU extend our device shelf life!), and are responding by amping up production across the board.
In any event, I've raved like a mad man for long enough... I would love it if a mod could move these last few posts to a separate thread, because I think it's a conversation worth having...but how about that AOKP port?! Sounds like a great idea, yes?!
D3 droidian1441 ICS 4.0.4
