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Fragmentation vs. Obsolescence In the Android Ecosphere
whisper_jeff writes "Engadget has an interesting article up discussing whether or not Android is fragmenting. While the article discusses the concept that it may be more about handsets becoming obsolete at a dramatic pace rather than the OS fragmenting, it also begins by noting that there are currently five different versions of Android on the market, which implies there is a notable degree of fragmentation. Regardless of it being fragmentation or handsets becoming obsolete to new feature sets in a terribly short period of time, I believe this development cycle could turn casual consumers away and hurt Android's chances for long-term mainstream success."
"you have to buy the OS upgrades, which I haven't bothered to do"
$5 is that tough to part with?
There is no 'problem'.
The only people you hear spewing this bullshit are Apple fanboys in the media and Apple fanboys in forums who are desperate to spread whatever the latest Apple Android FUD talking points.
They gave up on the 'more apps' talking point after seeing the insane growth rate of Android apps and everyone started laughing at the idiotic iPhone owners who could never name these 'amazing' and 'magical' iPhone apps that you simply had to have an iPhone to make it through your day.
'teh fragmentation' is all Apple fanboys have left to spew. Google kicking Apple into distant third place has got the Hipster Douchebags into a desperate frenzy.
Fucking awesome to watch these loser's world be rocked by Android and Google.
It has little to do with Apple. People are used to having their software up to date when they use smart phones. Android has plenty of defects in the earlier iterations that you need to develop work arounds for. The newer versions give much better functionality and performance, but if you are not able to develop your application for the newer platform, none of the benefits will pass on to the end user. While the iPhone apps keep getting better, Android developers will be catering to the least common denominator.
You start by saying it has little to do with apple, and then close by saying that apple will "keep getting better". That's good I guess, because apple has a LONG way to go before their platform catches up. I know, you are probably thinking I'm crazy, but you'll see as time goes on. OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH SHINY will wear off, and soon.
Also, I'm not sure why you think smart phone users are "used to having their software up to date".... WTF? Since when? I've got a treo 600 on my desk that hasn't had any updates in several years, and the only updates it ever got were ones I hacked in. I've got a drawer full of RIMs you can have, none of them get updates. Iphone/Android and a few earlier exceptions force updates on users, almost no other platform has done this in the past. You were LUCKY if you got updates. They were not a forgone conclusion, as they seem to be now.
what are you talking about? Nobody's gonna buy your app if it's that expensive. Sell it for free and people might download it. Again, I'm super skeptical that you're making anything worth a penny, even if you feel like charging for more.
Nobody supports your bullshit of "lets charge iphone app pricing". Even iphone app pricing is a ripoff.
So the GP comes on here multiple times per day with the same schpiel about how he charges his "customer's" 4x for Android apps and how his friends can't install the same apps and one time he was talking about somebody he claimed to know in Australia that was having problems with their Android phone being locked down and when somebody finally just flat out calls him out as being full of shit about it all, that person gets modded flamebait? Get fucking real, people. I know this site has literally degenerated to nothing more than a fanboy warzone but, seriously, have a little bit of integrity. The GP is a phoney. It's too obvious that no one who is just a developer would dedicate the amount of time on this site just to slag a particular platform. No way in hell. I hate to say it but when I joined Slashdot 6 years ago, this was the premier place to talk about tech. But these days, I'm sad to say that between the constant fanboy mod wars, trollers, and astroturfers, some how some way, Digg has become a better place for actual tech insight. I never thought I'd see the day.
If you are charging your customers 5x the cost, I sure hope the customers get enough sense and purchase from someone who is more capable of programming on the platform. This sounds like pure platform bias and quite unprofessional conduct for a development house.
If I said I plan to charging Mac users 4x for a game than Windows people because I felt the Mac platform sucked, I'd be tarred and feathered.
Maybe you should simply get some programming skills so that your software works well on all Android devices. You know, like 99% of all Android apps and developers already do.