Is Android open? Really?

Is Android's openness an advantage or a disadvantage? Increasingly it is a disadvantage. Android's openness leaves it ripe for the carriers (the bad guys in our little story) to ruin what should be a great user experience. Ironically, you get a more "open" phone by buying Apple's rigidly controlled (by Steve Jobs) iPhone.

To understand why I say this, take a look at this article from TechCrunch, with which I completely agree:
"Android Is As Open As The Clenched Fist I’d Like To Punch The Carriers With"
http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/09/android-open/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

As TechCrunch pointed out, carriers load up their phones with useless bloatware. Furthermore, carriers won't even provide the latest version of Android, months after it has been released. I happen to have an HTC Nexus One (which gets the latest updates as soon as they're available, uncluttered by the carriers' crap) and a Motorola Droid X. The Droid X is a great phone. But the Nexus One is better. Purely because it is free from the bloatware that Verizon insists on loading onto it.

Here is a chart showing the percentage of users on each version of the Android operating system. At the time I started writing this post (early September), only 4.5% were on Froyo (v2.2). The most recent version of this page (up to September 1, 2010) shows 28.7% of Android phones have Froyo. Still not as many as I would hope. And notice the 29% on Cupcake (v1.5) and Donut (v1.6) that might never get upgraded.
Android Developers, "Platforms Versions"
http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html
I don't remember exactly when, but I believe I got Froyo pushed to my Nexus One in late May or early June.

Those poor people who bought crap like Motorola phones with early versions of Motoblur are even more screwed. Here's a report from AndroidGuys:
"Motorola Tweaks Android Update Timeline… For the Worse"
http://www.androidguys.com/2010/09/10/motorola-tweaks-android-update-timeline-worse/
While I am impatiently waiting for Froyo on my Droid X, these guys might never even get Eclair (v2.1).


All of this reinforces why the Nexus One was so important. See my blog post about the Nexus One: "Adios Nexus One, we hardly knew ya.", July 26, 2010.