The "android fragmentation" rant

Ok, so I'm not an Android fan. Granted. 

But also am not an iPhone fanboy. Or anything else. I do not believe there is one better computer operating system, or mobile platform or whatever. Every solution has it's upsides and downsides. 

Now when we say "Android", some other mobile platform fanboy (many known as "analysts") will immediately cry out "fragmentation" and nod with a "smart" grin in their face. But they don't even know what fragmentation is! 

"Hun... it's like they have all these devices, and they are all different and stuff". WRONG. That's DIVERSITY. Freedom to choose different devices with different specs that suit your needs. That, is GOOD. Not like being stuck with a crappy camera from the only model available (iPhone).

But what fragmentation really is, is why I really can't find myself to use an Android device more than just the enough time necessary to review it, and to confirm it's still there, and is getting worst.

That the "Home" button has been, once more, moved. That the thing that looks like a back arrow, and lies where on previous devices the "Back" function was, is the f* "Menu"!

That there are now 200 ways to do something I'd like to do with an app from the market, but they all suck big time. Even, or especially the paid ones... And that they mostly look like crap. And crash on low-end devices. Or older software versions. 

And new versions that are slower (!) than older ones because of the hardware... Take a lesson from Microsoft and set mandatory minimum hardware specs for each new software release, AND make no exceptions...

Like "special" features as the "HTC Sense", only available on selected devices/countries/carriers. It's a mess. It makes other people mad they can't have it, and it's not even that big of a deal! (it's not like a full Office Suite is it?).

And about software versions... They are country and operator dependent. I can't upgrade it because I live in a specific country or bought it from a specific operator? It's like a f* Nokia S60 phone all over again!

And on the software. Why does it get slower and more sluggish every day? Even if you don't install stuff, and just use it as a mobile. It gets slower, and slower and eventually e-mail and other stuff stops working, and it will take 20 seconds to open the camera app, and it will need a master reset. Again the S60 haunting the Android... As for the mobile platform itself, I even like it. I just can't use a device more than a couple of days.

So that is what fragmentation really means. Too many apps/options/features/problems, depending of software version, hardware version, device capabilities, country, operator and what not.

Woa! the Xperia X10 just got pinch to zoom! Somewhere... else. Some time. Maybe. This is just stupid. Take a lesson from Apple on this one. The new software just gets released. Period. Anyone can get to it.