[XPERIA X10 General] 1Learning:
To be fair, the other companies do have their own unique experience layered on top of the stock Android. The key point though is that it is layered on top and not integrated the way SE did with their software. SE embedded their software so deep into the Android OS, that it became difficult for them to "decouple" their software or whatever term the representative had said in some interview a while back for them to both update the Android OS and their software (google it- the guy was saying how they would be better in the future regarding OS updates and why they can't/won't do OS updates on the current crop of phones).

Motorola has their Blur, HTC has their Sense, and Samsung has their special widgets (I forgot what they call it); many people like the HTC software but like the SE (or other company's) hardware and have ported the HTC software over to other handsets. So each of the other major manufacturers do have their own unique software, just that they were better in how they integrated their software with the Android OS so that it was easier to upgrade the underlying OS while keeping their unique software. This being SE's first Android phone is not an excuse - SE wanted to lock down the software as much as possible and now they realize they went "too far" in that it made it "too difficult" to upgrade. Whether this Sony UX is worth not being able to upgrade to the latest Android OS is up to the individual consumer. To be fair, one would not be able to know about the Sony UX until they buy and use the phone. Some places do have a return policy, others don't (they might allow exchanges).

Interestingly enough is that SE has sacrificed some of their unique experience, their Sony UX, so that the OS can be more easily upgraded - their new Mediascape for the Arc for example, is basically the stock Android media player with a SE skin on top. Aside from the major system updates provided by 2.2+, it is also about about some future proofing. While all technology will eventually become obsolete, by not updating the underlying OS, SE has essentially shortened the life span of this model significantly. Think about it - when the X10 was on Android 1.6, there was a lot of apps the X10 couldn't use b/c they required 2.0+ for example even though the hardware was sufficient. This will eventually be true of more and more apps as more will eventually require 2.2+ as 2.2+ allows install to SD for example which allows for much larger apps and the other performance upgrades 2.2+ has. For example, Google Earth is a pretty large program - the X10 phones does have sufficient RAM to cover it but it will eat into the amount of free space significantly; eventually more programs will require such space and the amount of space Google Earth requires will seem normal - this was seen with computers. As another example, Firefox Beta requires significant space also. The basic hardware of the X10 can handle most (if not all) of the apps but the software would not b/c of the OS.

Google has stated that now that Android is a bit more stable, they are looking to kind slow down the frequency of updates so what has occurred here will less likely occur since companies could not keep up with the OS updates.

Also, aside from performance upgrades, there are also issues of security and such. While Android OS is a pretty secure OS, in the early days, someone found a security flaw in the Android OS (though I vaguely recalled it required user intervention for it to implement, the point is that a security flaw was found). So what if someone found a security flaw in 2.1 within the next few months? Then all of us stuck on 2.1 would be vulnerable to that security flaw unless there was a patch available that didn't require an update to another OS version. What if SE decided not to release that patch even though it was integral to the security b/c it would interfere with their Sony UX? Would people be ok with that? I wouldn't be. Now to be fair, SE has stated that they will continue to update the X10 with "new and exciting" updates or whatever their PR/Marketing terminology is but if the patch requires an OS update, I would rather get the OS/security update over their "new and exciting" updates. While this is a hypothetical, it does illustrate a point regarding upgrades; at the time of the security flaw, every manufacturer did an OS upgrade as quickly as possible - there was no hedging.

Complaining is not whining; simply b/c someone is displeased with something does not make them a kid or someone who does not have a job or something similar - if they didn't understand the value of money, they would simply chuck the X10, go buy the Arc (or some other phone), and move on but b/c they do understand the value of money, they're not and want to maximize their return on investment - just as SE does. The key is finding the balance where SE can see their returns and the customer too. As it stands right now, SE just does not want to divert the resources into supporting it current batch of phones with OS upgrades b/c they fail to see the potential returns on them. If people complained effectively, they might decide otherwise - they might decide that it is a PR nightmare and people will stop buying their future phones, etc.

If no one complained, women would not be able to vote, black people would never have been freed from slavery, etc. These all required a person to step up and voice his/her concerns - each person became a part of a collective voice, which in turn lead to movements and eventually change. There is nothing wrong with that. But yes, become informed so that when one does complain, one can complain effectively - name calling like calling them a whining kid, telling people to shut up, and other such behavior is not informing people of anything and is in fact detrimental.

Arguably this can be on the same scale as civil rights (consumer rights and civil rights often overlap - that is why factories are not allowed to hired children to work in the mills, why there are work place safety laws, sexual harassment laws, equal protection laws, etc. - people can argue about their implementation but most agree that the laws are necessary) - there might be sufficient evidence for some kind of class action in the US. While I am not going to outline a case (since why should you do the work for SE and show your cards - if a case ever does form, let them do the research and defend accordingly), there might be sufficient facts for a case to warrant fraud or some other similar charge. Also there are federal and state consumer protection laws (at least in the US) where the facts of this case might fit. As an example, where people complaining worked - in the US, the phone companies used to have to not disclose the simlock on their phones but through lawsuits and new laws, the phone companies now have to disclose the simlock (after a sufficient time and certain other criteria have been met) on their phones if the consumer requests it. And the fact that SE Brazil was even discussing/thinking about about OS upgrades shows that consumer complaints might be effective - especially when you consider the stock phrases the SE reps have been taught to use regarding future updates.