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.
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.
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)
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...).