The diversity can be bad for consumers, too. Marco makes a great point: How many 6 month old Android phones are never going to see an Android update? How many Android phones available right now will never get Honeycomb?
With an iPhone, you know you're going to get iOS updates for at least a few years, to the extent that the hardware can support various features. I've got an iPhone 3GS that's over a year and a half old and I'm running the latest and greatest iOS.
(Honest question: How many Android phones released in the summer of 2009 -- Android 1.5 days -- can now run Android 2.3?)
Rumours are that the iPhone 3G (which was the top model until the summer of 2009) won't be able to run iOS 4.3. If Google supports Android 2.4 on the Nexus One they'll support it with upgrades longer than Apple supported the 3G.
Sorry, I got fixated on "summer 2009" date in the original comment and got confused. My original point stands in much reduced form: A Nexus 1 should have a similar support period to an Apple phone. Better? probably not.
With an iPhone, you know you're going to get iOS updates for at least a few years, to the extent that the hardware can support various features. I've got an iPhone 3GS that's over a year and a half old and I'm running the latest and greatest iOS.
(Honest question: How many Android phones released in the summer of 2009 -- Android 1.5 days -- can now run Android 2.3?)