Alex Dobie, editor at Android Central writes:

The open -- or "openy" -- nature of Android has its advantages -- a wide variety of hardware, hackability and custom ROM support, endless choice in screen sizes, software customizations, multimedia chops, chassis styles and industrial designs. But it comes with one major Achilles heel -- the labyrinthine, time-consuming and expensive process of getting phones updated with a new version drops. It’s not anyone’s fault, it's a weakness that's built into Android's DNA, and one we doubt will ever be overcome.

This is why Android is just not for me.

Don't get me wrong; Android is a fantastic platform...but it just has too many hurdles that prevent users from getting their hands on the latest version.

I love well-designed software. I love using software the way the designer meant for it to be used. I love software designers that have the balls to say "No" to feature requests because they have a clear vision and they're sticking to it.

Whenever I see that New Software Update indicator, I jump on it immediately because I always want the latest and greatest. I may not have the money to upgrade to the new iPhone every year. But when Apple releases a new version of iOS, it feels like it's a new phone. And that's enough to keep me happy and hold me over through my two-year contract.

But the reality is there are some people that are the complete opposite. There are people that get annoyed by software updates and go on as long as possible avoiding it.

Those are the jailbreakers. The tweakers. The "I want to customize every bit of my smartphone to make it unique" kinda people. The people that want more hardware specs bang for their buck instead of well-designed out-of-the-box software.

Those are the people that will never have the latest version of Android running on their smartphones...and they're perfectly fine with that.