I'm not going to go with everyone and complain about the author being an Apple fan. Actually, he seemed to allude to the idea that WP7 is better than iOS... could just be me reading between the lines, though.
Either way, I lump this into the category of "Android is not for this user, never has been, and I have doubts that it will be any time too soon".
Really, this seems to be a nit-picking blog post, which isn't inherently bad. However, he's throwing the baby out with the bath water, which seems to be common with all of the phone OSs for some reason that doesn't make any sense at all to me. I could easily make a list of problems with the iPhone 4(S) and iOS (for example, the multitasking is a big issue for me, because I multitask a lot on my phone while using it for work, and Android's is only second to WebOS in my opinion--and Android is catching up to WebOS on that regard, too), and I could also make a list of problems about Windows Phone 7 (for example, this Metro interface that they're throwing on Windows 8 now too is hard for me to click with--Android's and iOS both have an interface that is far more natural to me, with Android being the significantly more natural for me out of the three; I mention that specifically because it is my fear for Windows 8, which I fear I will be forced to use for work where I don't have a choice).
Basically, my take: No, Android is not perfect. iOS is not perfect. WP7 is not perfect. There is no perfect mobile OS for everyone. There never will be--the perfect OS will be very different between people (this is true on computers: Windows vs Mac OS X vs Linux ; I'm a Linux guy myself, except for work, where I develop software for Windows). If you throw the entire OS and any phone running it away just because it's not perfect, you're a fool. If some of the imperfections of one is a deal breaker to you, then fine, those things are a deal breaker for you and you should use some other imperfect OS that doesn't have deal breaker imperfections for you. For me, iOS's and WP7's imperfections do get to be deal breakers for me. I can see Android's imperfections, and even appreciate them being raised and discussed, but there are no deal breaking issues in it for me (and there hasn't been since I got my OG Droid running 2.0).
Let's see here:
Facial recognition unlock: I'm probably not going to use it, but to bash it as a negative is stupid. You don't have to use it, but if you do want to use it, then it is a positive. If you don't, then it's neutral. If you don't want to use it and count it as a negative (this article), you strike me as a fool.
The "Hardware Buttons" or in this case software buttons: This is a huge positive for me, not a negative. Clearly, the author doesn't click with more than one option (which iOS does have anyway, being more than one way to use the single button to achieve different results; I don't know about WP7--haven't played with it enough to understand where WP7 lies on some things like this). Personally, 3-4 buttons with some ability to long press etc. for further options on some of those in the sweet spot for me. That's where I get the most productive with the OS without getting confused. I understand when people disagree, but this article bashes it based on personal preference (then again, that's this whole article).
This supposed lag issue: 1. this article only mentions this because SOMEONE ELSE mentioned it. In fact, this gives it away that the author hasn't even actually used Android 4.0 or the Galaxy Nexus. The entire article just lost all merit to me right there. 2. I barely saw this on my OG Droid, and the only time I see it on most modern phones (I have a Thunderbolt, where I actually never notice this except with some issues related to ROMs and other customizations from rooting that the phone wasn't actually made to handle to begin with) is when I'm multitasking and switching between several heavier apps rather quickly (which I do do). Alternative OSs don't even allow me to do what causes this in my experience, so I don't believe it. Especially when you have other people who noticed the lag but then used an updated device and said that it wasn't there any more. Put Simply: this argument is what really kills this article for me.
Questioning the necessity of the screen, 4G, NFC, etc.: This is just a stupid point. If the iPhone had these, a lot of people (probably including this guy, though he would probably REALLY be all over it if a WP7 phone got them) would be excited to get these features. To complain that they're not necessary is stupid. The "Retina Display" isn't necessary, either, but everyone raves about it. Now Android gets something truly comparable (and in my honest opinion better) and it's "not necessary". This argument furthers my point that this article is ridiculous. As for 4G, I *really* appreciate that Android isn't sitting back and waiting for 4G to develop more widely in availability. The fact that it's not available everywhere yet is just a stupid argument. If there weren't any phones that could use it at all, then there wouldn't be any need to have it available anywhere at all, and there would be no 4G at all. It might not be available everywhere, but when you can take advantage of it, it's really nice (I know, coming from my Thunderbolt). NFC is kind of the same thing--yeah, it might not be widely used, but the point is that Google is trying to push it so that it will be more widely used, and Google's not the only one pushing it. When it is pushed more and becomes more useful, having it will be more and more awesome. More and more phones will be getting it. But we can already begin to use it and see the benefits now (Google Wallet, and now the transferring between phones, and there's probably more being actively worked on as I type this).
"Fragmentation": He doesn't use that word himself, instead choosing "diversity" and lists it as a strength and a weakness. This is the most valid point against Android that he makes. It does kind of suck that not all phones are updated right away and a lot of Android phones are so different because of manufacturer skins and other manufacturer choices. However, I think that's a moot point when talking about a Nexus device. This is straight Google. You get all of the updates that come out for this phone right away. Google hasn't abandoned the Nexus One yet, so don't count on them abandoning the Galaxy Nexus any time too soon either. You can complain that other phones might not get ICS for a while (if ever), but you're not longer talking about the Galaxy Nexus there. This isn't WP7 or iOS world where the phones are controlled from a central hub and updated all together. Also, to counter, my friends who had the iPhone 3GS hated it ever since the iPhone 4 came out, because ever since they upgraded iOS, they complain that the phone has sucked royally--I see a hell of a lot less of similar complaints from Android users going through an upgrade. They might get upgraded late, but everything continues to run just like it always has and doesn't suddenly get unbearable to the point of feeling forced to upgrade to the newest version of the hardware as well (which about half of them did, and the others either 1. jailbroke it and tweaked it, 2. just dealt with it but hate it, or 3. switched to a different phone all together). Simply put, every OS is going to have issues with the upgrade process somewhere. Android has taken the route of upgrading to a new OS being slow but stable. iPhone has taken the route of everyone gets upgraded for better or worse. I personally prefer Android's state on that--fragmentation is something I can deal with better than the entire OS coming to a crawl just because I upgraded to something that is supposed to still work equally well.
CONCLUSION (tl;dr): This article is opinionated and rather stupid. Every complaint can be argued, has been argued, and will be argued. It's meat for the people that want to bash on Android and most Android people should (some won't, but will only take it as an Apple fanboy article) recognize that the arguments made are either ridiculous or just a matter personal preference. There's articles going the same way against the iPhone and WP7 as well, and they actually annoy me equally (although I do tend to agree with them a lot more, because they tend to be more in line with my own personal preference).
That's all.
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