How many non-geek people sideload? On how many phones is it impossible to do so because of a locked bootloader or other technological impediment?

I do agree that it's a manufacturer issue - specifically with a revenue model that give no reward for staying up to date (which is also horrible for device security...).

So what if non-geeks can't upgrade? It doesn't matter how skilled or un-skilled you are. You can take the G1 to a shop and get them to upgrade it for you. You can't take an iPhone and do the same thing.

Does it really matter? The upgrade would be pointless. Any first generation iPhone or Android device couldn't run the newest version of the OS well.

I'm using a G1 and the latest Android, and it has fine performance... It supports the latest apps and still does everything it did on release day.

When I see videos like these with a lot of lag I don't consider it to be running the OS well. It's bearable at best, which is always a matter of opinion.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ0abA1fksE www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovUMS3f-QLw

Clickable links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ0abA1fksE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovUMS3f-QLw

I have the same phone and I do not experience anywhere close to that amount of lag.

Same here and the phone runs great.

even if it has lag. you have the option.

do you rather wait 2seg for an feature to finish executing or not have the feature at all? (as it would be if you had bought an iphone 3G instead of the G1 at the time)

He'd rather not have it, see copy/paste before iOS 3.

Says you. I've heard that some people with G1's have gotten some great performance with Cyanogenmod...

I also have a G1 running 2.3.4 and it works great. Using it for dev as well.