I agree that the Blur camera is much better than the camera in AOSP Android. I used to run Fission on my D2 for that very reason – I wanted parts of Blur like the camera and the gallery, but the rest to be stock. That said, everything is different in ICS. Apps like camera, gallery, phone, messaging, etc. have all been re-done and have a much better look and feel to them. 

I’m aware that it is not in the manufacturers’ best interest to stop making skins (again, please read my article…). That’s why I present it as a problem for Google, not the manufacturers. 

I disagree with you though.  I think only a small percentage, or a vocal minority, really truly cares about updates and skins.  My wife had no idea or cared that her phone was skinned… she liked it actually.  It wasn’t until her phone started taking a crap on the software side that she finally asked me to fix it (which I did by putting CM7 on it).  She to this day wishes she had SOME features of TW back, but doesn’t want to go fast because her phone doesn’t lag as much.  

You have to remember, we are enthusiasts.  The majority are the users out there like my wife who just want it to work and play Angry Birds without lag.  Sure, the vocal minority convinced HTC to unlock their bootloaders… but see how successful that vocal minority would be if we tried to take away their brand, or Sense.  Ain’t gonna happen.

As mentioned earlier, as HTC, I want a user to have loyalty to the HTC Flavor of Android.  I want them to grab a Samsung Android and say “Ewwww, this sucks compared to my HTC.”  In other words, brand loyalty.  So when that user walks into the store, they’re going to walk straight to the new HTC phones as opposed to the Samsung and Motorola. 

Remember, users don’t care about specs and OMAP vs Tegra vs Snapdragon.  Have you ever heard an iPhone user boast about the A5 in their new 4S?  It’s all about the user experience, and customizing it to their brand so the user will be more likely to buy an HTC vs any other OEM.  

Additionally, there are some basic features that Google really dropped the ball on.  ICS really SHOULD have smart dialing baked into it.  It’s ridiculous that at this point, a phone OS doesn’t have smart dialing.  Apps don’t cut it… most of them are decent at best.  

The comparison to the OG RAZR days (and every VZW phone after that sharing the same UI) was simply to say I don’t think that enforcing a standard UI across platforms is a good idea.  It makes OEMs really just hardware vendors.  I actually look forward to Moto’s upcoming personal cloud software; it has promise.  If it requires Blur to run, I might be tempted to use a Blurry ROM if I continue to buy Motorola phones.  Additionally, if I don’t like a specific aspect of stock, I lose the option of switching to a different OEM to see if the experience is better.  Instead of getting 3 – 4 different flavors of Android, I get 1… and if I don’t like it, I’m going to an iPhone (not me personally, as a user I mean).  

Speaking of Blurry ROMs, I’ve been running CM7 on my DX for a few weeks now.  What a crappy experience.  Stock GB really isn’t all that great. I really miss Liberty and I’m waiting for it to be updated.  Battery life sucks, the Stock Android dialer is dreadful, and some of the Blur pieces actually add great functionality.  The Blur Camera is 100 times better than the stock one for instance, and I’ve already mentioned the Blur Dialer.

Bottom line is this.  It’s not in the OEMs best interest to continue developing and producing Android phones if they can’t create their own user experiences.  Sense is really well made and if HTC picks up their build quality, I might wait for an HTC ICS phone.  Blur and TouchWiz still have a long way to go, but I heard the newer versions of TW were much better. These skins can be removed as seen by our ROM makers, and if the Boot Loader is unlocked, it’s an even easier experience as I learned putting CM7 on my wife’s Fascinate.  Does that clear things up?

Since no one I know shares my passion for technology and devices I’ll rant here.  I’ve had my OG droid for 2 years now.  Although it has been a great phone it is so slow and dated, I need Galaxy Nexus!  I really enjoy my Android phone and it’s connection to my google services, but still have an appreciation for the refinement of the iphone.  However, I just can’t go that locked down and I’m so glad Duarte doesn’t like the faux design principles of iOS.  I’m glad someone thinks that trying to make a modern piece of tech look like some old non-tech object is a horrible idea (no dis to the amazing late Steve Jobs).

I’m very excited to get my hands on a device that has Android’s power, but is refined for new age style – no book case with shelves, no typing sounds, but yet more polished than previous piece meal Android.  I knew there was something I didn’t like about Android’s and iOS’s style, Duarte made it clear for me.  Luckily for me my last Verizon upgrade is Nov 1st, just bring the ICS.  I hope you other Android lovers can appreciate my child-christmas-like excitment for the Galaxy Nexus.

I’m so pumped, Is it Nov 10th yet!?

Let’s look at 3 phones from yesteryear that had similar specs, and were released relatively around the same time.

Samsung Galaxy S (I think the Fascinate on VZW?)

Droid X

Droid Incredible

I go into the store, and I see these 3 phones.  I don’t care about RAM,
CPU Speed, etc.  Screen size doesn’t matter to me, so all 3 phones look
like decent buys.  How do I decide?  I play with the phones, and
determine which one I like the best. 

I decide I like the Sense phone the best so I buy that phone.  I don’t
care about stock Android, I just care about the user experience.  I’m
more likely to buy an HTC moving forward because the Moto and Samsung
phones had crappy experiences. 

If I had walked into the store and all 3 were running stock Android, I’d
be confused and would have to rely on the salesman and his bias. 

Enforcing a single UI (in this case, stock Android) isn’t a good idea
either.  Anyone remember the old feature phone days?  Remember when all
phones had a “Carrier UI” that was unique to the carrier?  The UI on the
Moto RAZR was different on VZW as opposed to AT&T.  I remember
reading thread after thread with people trying to remove the stupid VZW
UI on the RAZR (HowardForums FTW!). 

I think the answer is for the carriers to release a stock ROM for us,
much like HTC has with the unlock tool.  This is probably the only way
for us since the OEM UIs are not just uninstalled with an APK.  This is
why the Moto dialer can’t be ported to a non-blur ROM.