supitsmike wrote:I believe it doesn't need to be said that they are working on it. And, take into consideration how large Verizon Wireless actually is. Just because it's a big deal to us, in scale and comparison to the benefit of a whole company it really looks tiny. I understand your concern, however testing and releasing an update that gives not only great features but a huge UI overhaul takes more than just a few people to test. It takes time.And besides if you really wanted an clue on how Verizon is working on the updates then I would just suggest keep browsing your regular tech sites (Engadget/Gizmodo/Phandroid/Androidandme/AndroidGuys) as they will have information faster than this site (See: The Touch Pro 2 Update threads).
Mike,
First, I just want to say I enjoy reading your posts. With your knowledge and understanding, I get the feeling you're an employee.
I just have a question and need some of your wonderful feedback because I'm not understanding what you are saying. Since I'm not good at expressing myself, please forgive how I ask this. Allow me to just bare my thoughts in the form of brainstorming.
I am gathering due to the size of VZW, the quickness of the release of updates gets delayed even though the Droid has been (with millions of VZW dollars) marketed as the one phone to break the matrix and usher in a new era of openness for VZW's customers. So within the scope of things, this just is a small matter and people need to be patient and wait on Big Red until the company is ready to communicate with the people that keep it alive. Even though the number of Droids sold are huge, these customers are still a small part of the customer base and they need to remember that. Big Red really should not communicate with it's customers because it's are not understanding. It's customers are overdemanding and never are reasonable.
Thanks, Mike. I hope you can help me out here. 
Big_Red_Loyal wrote:
Mike,
First, I just want to say I enjoy reading your posts. With your knowledge and understanding, I get the feeling you're an employee.
Just to get this out of the blue; No I don't work for Verizon. I've tried. But typing "Created the Android and You 101 Thread on the Verizon forums" on my resume really isn't something that really give me credentials. I sometimes feel like I SHOULD be working for Verizon, but the fact of the matter is that I don't; I just have a small understanding as to what happens.
I am gathering due to the size of VZW, the quickness of the release of updates gets delayed even though the Droid has been (with millions of VZW dollars) marketed as the one phone to break the matrix and usher in a new era of openness for VZW's customers. So within the scope of things, this just is a small matter and people need to be patient and wait on Big Red until the company is ready to communicate with the people that keep it alive. Even though the number of Droids sold are huge, these customers are still a small part of the customer base and they need to remember that. Big Red really should not communicate with it's customers because it's are not understanding. It's customers are overdemanding and never are reasonable.
Thanks, Mike. I hope you can help me out here.
Yes. Absolutely, only to some. And it really stinks, I know. The Droid was advertised like crazy, and now, if Verizon didn't want to release a single update then that's how it would work. I agree that the Droid has had a plethora of sales, especially since it has sold about 1/5th of the iPhone sales in only one country (Versus the 8 that the iPhone was released in.)
You, me and Sally down the street cannot deny how huge Verizon Wireless is. We're talking about two phones in a company that has sold only a fragment of something that the Blackberry's have sold. You see, BlackBerry's get a lot of treatment because they're are tons of them. Everyone has one. In fact I'm sure that for a while the BB series was a crutch that Verizon stood on to help them sell.
However in comparison Android is still very small and pales in comparison to every OS out there aside from WebOS (Sorry Palm users).
That being said, if you look at it in a business perspective you must take into consideration of a few things such as the business itself, profits, other phones, employees, etc. How high do you think is the "Update Android phones" on the list of things to do when really, some of the problems with these phones are so small the only thing 2.1 would really do is update the UI.
And, put this into perspective; HOW long have Sprint users had the Hero WITHOUT an update? A long, long time. Think about it, when it's a Google Experience phone, updates come out like hotcakes (See: G1/MyTouch/Droid withing respects, of course). Layered UI's (Sense/Blur/TouchWiz) don't get out as fast. That process in itself takes a long time. However now I'm starting to believe that it has to do something with the CDMA technology. Is it a coincidence that both Sprint and Verizon are taking "Long" times to release updates, or is T-Mobile just really focusing on the Android platform? Is the UI that's the problem, or is it the rolling out process that's difficult? Is Verizon attempting to increase my service experience or are they slowly working on my update for my phone?
I encourage users to ask themselves these questions as they allow you to have an open mind on these things to match your open-source phone. I haven't worked for Verizon -- I've just been with Android since it's birth. And when you do a little reading it can seriously educate you on how the whole process really is.
In the same respect, compared to the whole Verizon Online Community, I'm a small, almost non-existant percentage of what is represented. My assumptions and thoughts are my own. Generally I'm not afraid to say I'm right, but it's your choice to believe it or not.
Edit: To answer your last statement; Verizon should go and communicate with it's customers. However look in the past and whenever a big company does, it's generally a lose-lose situation. Anyone can give an 'estimated' time for a release. But there's a fine line between what customers what to hear, what a company should say, and what is the 'reality' of a situation. And commenting on any of the three without factual, 100% evidence is like jumping off a plane without a parachute, hoping that you'll land somewhere safe.
Cheers,
Mike