Google Announces Android 2.2 Froyo

no. I think that the furthest a phone manufacturer should have to continue updating a phone is 2 years, and only for SIGNIFICANT changes. AkA, while nice, I don't think the 2.1 update was really needed for the droid (especially if it meant shorter approval for 2.2)

up to date software is NOT a selling point. Case and point is the iphone. It is updated once a year, often merely adding features that have been present in other phones for years (hello copy/paste)

What sells a phone are the features present on the device AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. The problem with most tech people, and thus tech blogs, is that they are used to the apple "everyone on the same page" update scheme, even though Apple (and webOS) are the ONLY platforms doing this. Winmo, Blackberry, Symbian, etc all have separate update cycles for each device.

If Motorola followed a standard upgrade cycle, they would upgrade their phone once a year, IF THAT. So this means the Droid would be "stuck" on 2.01 until december, when it could get Gingerbread (or maybe froyo depending on spec requirements). And then you would go another year before any updates but bug fixes. That is how Apple, blackberry, et al do their upgrades. Once a year, if at all.

Not to mention the fact that Android's updates are FAR more significant than any other OS out there atm. 2.01-->2.1 was the smallest of the updates, and yet it had more changes than most Iphone OS refreshes, and significantly more than blackberry 4.7-->5.0 did.

1.5-->1.6 was like Windows 95->Windows XP, and 2.2 is like Windows 10. not only are there significant software rewrites, but the hardware required also is a lot higher. People don't realize that because they're still in the lazy, once a year zombie fest. but look at apple, they are FINALLY innovating their hardware and software, so it is breaking older devices. I can promise you that if Steve Jobs wasn't ****ting his pants about Android, os 4.0 wouldn't have 80% of it's features and it would work just fine on the original hardware.

The only reason so many people (even people who read tech blogs) got worked up about the 2.01-->2.1 upgrade "saga" with the droid was because everyone (including mass media) was making a huge deal about it, even though they understood nothing about how upgrade cycles work, or just how insignificant (or in the case of 1.5->2.1 for the Hero, just HOW significant) the update was.

Google is updating their software faster than any other market before this (even updates to computers in the 90's). A device that you thought was awesome running 2.1 will still be awesome once 2.2 is out.

If people need the newest technology NOW, they need to accept that they'll be buying phones full retail. If they just want everything on the same page, they need to accept that they need to chose a different OS, one that inhibits innovation to string their customers along, purchasing new equipment every year for fewer innovations in 12 months than google does in 3.