[HTC Droid DNA] BarryH_GEG:
First, I have nothing but respect for the XDA devs who put tons of effort in to helping people for little in return. They've also been able to solve problems (EG: Asus tablets) that the manufacturers create and sometimes can't figure out themselves. I've been running custom ROMs since the WinMo days (Scott Crossler’s actually) before Android was even released and did so primarily for speed improvements when h/w was over burdened by s/w. That and to get features the U.S. carriers gutted from their versions of international devices. As for Android, I enjoy the freedom it provides and have gotten new-gen versions of both phones and tablets as they're released and have no plans on moving to another OS. With quad-band GSM/HSPA phones being pretty much standard now I also only buy international versions of a device so I’m not dependent on the U.S. carriers for updates nor do I have to live with their “enhancements.”

That said, the Android ecosystem is a train wreck and Google patently sucks at UI design. Less than 7% of devices in use are on JB. You blame the OEM's and their overlays. Based on the usability of earlier versions of Android compared to iOS they should be thanked. People on XDA are referred to as the "enthusiast community" and are estimated to make up 5% of the marketplace. The development and marketing that Samsung, HTC, and Motorola put in to Android is what has made it successful and a viable iOS alternative. The overlays many here detest add(ed) features and made/make devices easier to use for lay people and that contributed to where we are today. There was a recent article comparing the shortcomings of both Apple and Google. The conclusion was that Apple's Achilles Heel is anything Internet-dependent and Google's was UI design. But, measured in years, it's thought Google can learn UI design faster than Apple can master the Internet. Google's mission isn't to sell s/w and h/w; especially the latter. Their revenue is derived from ad sales (and later content sales) and Android was introduced because they saw the importance of mobile and were terrified by Apple's potential dominance of it. And their goal isn't going to change any time soon. They bought Motorola for its patent portfolio; not it's h/w capabilities. The launches, sales, and support for the N4/7/10 are a cluster and if between them they earn 5% of their respective markets Google will be lucky. The GN sold a pitiful 750K units even though it's "pure Google" and an enthusiasts dream. The N4 at $349 is still $150 more than a subsidized DNA or SGS3 and only works on half the U.S. market (AT&T and T-Mobile). So, to your point, Google is the engine that powers Android. But the OEM's are the manufacturers that built the rest of the car around it and shoulder the burden (and risk) of R&D, development, manufacturing, distribution, sales, and support which would cost Google billions to replicate and years to introduce at the same level. So with one OEM (Samsung) owning 70% of the Android market who's the tail and who's the dog? And based on Google's core mission of selling ads and content their totally fine with it.

As for custom ROMs vs. stock I gave up rooting and ROM'ing with my Teg3 One X. I travel a lot internationally and registering on foreign networks with a modified device is and always will be a mess. I'm also a heavy productivity user and the features of Sense and TW make me more productive. So to avoid DRM issues and other niggles that are inherent to custom ROMs I've given up some FPS in playback and a couple of milliseconds in transitions and screen draws. With the h/w finally exceeding the capabilities of the s/w the issues that drove me (and I'm assuming others) to use custom ROMs aren't as pronounced as they used to be.

So as was said before everyone uses their device differently. Some can’t live without AOSP/AOKP and that’s swell. Some see the value in Samsung and HTC’s investment in usability and that’s swell too. It’s great to have choices which is why we’re all on Android in the first place.