Because your carrier botched the update doesn't mean you can't update, and the number affected is really not that much given the amount of android handset out there.

I know they still sell phone with 2.3, but they tend to be budget models, and you have a choice of not buying them. Speaking of choice it's something you have with android, want a big screen? Get a galaxy note, want big battery? Get a razr maxx. Whereas with apple, you can buy an iphone, or you can buy an iphone. Personally I think the occasional botch up is worth the choices and freedom (and why you shouldn't be the first guinea pig in line for anything).

The Droid platform does what I want right now, while the iPhone gets in my way right now. So I choose to risk the Droid pooping the bed in 2 years when it won't update to Toasted Caramel Smoothie, instead of being secure in the thought that the iPhone will faithfully keep getting in my way for 3+ years with a very up-to-date operating system.

I know this has been discussed on another thread, but I thought I'd bring it up since it seemed to be fairly relevant.

For those mentioning buying a simpler cell phone to compliment/backup their primary (even if they don't plan on always carrying it), there are still phones out there with Direct Talk capability.

Basically these phones have a feature that function like a walkie talkie out to a few miles even if there is no cell signal. The best part about it is you don't have to actually have service with the carrier, at least to use this feature (though you will need a sim card to boot up the phones, they don't have to be active).

I'm just learning about them, but they seem to have some advantages over the FRS/GMRS blister pack radios.

Now, there are limitations -- transmission power is less than 1 watt so you're probably only looking at a couple of miles in good conditions, but it does use spread spectrum and there is an option to transmit only to a particular phone (not just privacy codes like in FRS/GMRS setups). Plus it's digital so audio is pretty clear from what I understand. Some phones have GPS built in to provide you with an accurate location (again without service), and on some phones you can swap out antennas for something better.

Seems like they might make pretty decent backups for close proximity (but out of earshot) use.

The only thing that would make it better in my eyes is if you could do SMS transmission and send texts to each other using this setup.

Honestly, I think this type of thing (connectivity even without cell phone towers), along with NOAA weather and FM radio should be built into all phones, especially smartphones. Why not? And with SMS forwarding, it may even help re-establish ad-hoc mesh type communications after a disaster.

http://nextelonline.nextel.com/assets/pdfs/en/about/directtalk_fact_sheet.pdf

http://blogs.n1zyy.com/n1zyy/direct-talk-compatible-phones/

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As far as regular cell phones go, we had a bad storm here the other day and lost power for about 3 hours. The internet on my phone started getting sluggish, and I figured it was either due to the cell towers being affected by the storm or the network being saturated (what's the first thing people do when the power's out? Get on their cell phones!) I switched 3G off and used edge, and immediately saw performance _increases_ (edge is slow, but the 3G was at a crawl) when it came to loading pages. I guess since so few people are on edge now things got through?

I use an Iphone through AT&T, however I also have a verizon mifi. Unless all the carriers are knocked out in an area, it's nice to know if one happens to be having problems I can try the other one.

As far as power goes, I have an external battery (8,800 mah) which at 2 full charges per day will get me about 3 days worth of use with no other source of power. Also have a Goal Zero guide 10 setup for solar power if I need anything beyond that, though I need to invest in a generator.

Yeah, in my EDC bag I keep a smallish Li-ion battery pack along with a travel sized 120VAC/USB/cigarette lighter charging cord.