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Comment by wvenable | Hacker News Reader

> then people won't buy Dell phones

But why must the software be explicitly tied to the hardware? We don't buy desktops or laptops that way. I periodically upgrade the ROM in my smartphone and the result is amazing. Why should I have to toss a perfectly good piece of hardware just to get software improvements?

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> But why must the software be explicitly tied to the hardware?

"People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware."

- Alan Kay

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alankay375550.htm...

Sorry, I deleted my comment because I felt it wasn't very useful. The software needs to be tied to the hardware because the carriers are completely incompetent at software, and are generally unable to expend the effort to QA all the crapware they have put on the phone for a new OS; they also have a financial incentive to force you to buy a new phone from them as often as possible.

Yes, but the situation you describe exists because the software is tied to the hardware. When you upgrade Windows or install Linux on your PC, Dell doesn't have much to do with the process.

I agree that both manufacturers and carriers are incompetent at software -- that's probably why my phones run so much better and faster with a custom ROM put together by some hacker in his basement. In my opinion, if the software wasn't tied to the hardware the result would be better.

Sure, but Dell would love to have something to do with the process, and with phones, they can finally try their damnedest, e.g.:

http://androinica.com/2010/07/14/motorola-says-if-you-want-t...

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/G2-HTC-G2-Rootkit-Jailbreak-G1,n...

Android isn't really tied to hardware very much unless the carriers make it so. Hell, I can run Android on my Windows Mobile phone (Samsung Omnia II.)

> The software needs to be tied to the hardware because the carriers are completely incompetent at software

AFAIK, the real reason is that there is no standardized design for phones, whereas most desktop/laptop/servers look basically the same to the OS.

Smartphones are remarkably similar. I can run Android on my older Windows Mobile phone with almost all the functions working (WiFi, phone, bluetooth, etc) because the hardware isn't vastly different. There are only a small number of mobile chipsets. Considering the huge variation of hardware a PC OS must handle, mobiles should be much easier.

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