[makecheck]

I think the last one (manufacturers providing updates) is the most important and is probably why Android is doomed in the long run: because carriers do not appear to care about updates at all.

Having a device with Android 2.1 was cool for about a few months until it became clear that it would never, ever be upgraded again. I have since moved to an iPhone and am overjoyed that it is updated regularly (probably because it is Apple, not the lazy carriers, who decides when an update is allowed). Sure, Apple eventually drops old hardware too, but at least they wait years to do that and in between there are several really substantial improvements.