The complete lack of responsiveness in the Android UI, regardless of how difficult it is to fix, needs to be remedied, and needs to be top priority.
The UI is the connection between the user and the device. When it's laggy and unresponsive, the experience of using the device is always going to be sub-par, no matter how many new features and optimizations the developers have added.
Whenever I've had a chance to test out the latest and greatest Android phone, I've always been blown away by how awful the scrolling performance and animations are, to the point where I really don't understand how people put up with it on a day-to-day basis. My iPhone 3G, at least when it's not randomly hanging due to 4.0, feels more responsive than any Android phone I've tried, and it's running on 3+ year-old hardware (it's got the same processor and memory as the iPhone 2G, IIRC).
Smooth animations, not benchmark results, are equivalent to speed to the average person, and who can blame them?
Even the -illusion- that it's working quickly will help. Remember those checkerboards that would show up on the iPhone when the screen couldn't paint fast enough? People tolerated it because the -activity- on the screen matched what the user's finger was doing.
I find it a weak defense for Android by saying "well the newer phones don't have that problem". Most people can't afford to change their phones with every new hardware rev, so it does matter that the OS makes every attempt to make all user experience optimizations on any given piece of hardware. You can't rely on Moore's law to improve usability for existing customers.
With the exception of the 4.0 OS upgrade, I can't say that I've had major performance complaints on the iPhone 3G either. Myself, I'd like to use my current phone as long as possible before giving any phone manufacturer more of my money.
The UI is the connection between the user and the device. When it's laggy and unresponsive, the experience of using the device is always going to be sub-par, no matter how many new features and optimizations the developers have added.
Whenever I've had a chance to test out the latest and greatest Android phone, I've always been blown away by how awful the scrolling performance and animations are, to the point where I really don't understand how people put up with it on a day-to-day basis. My iPhone 3G, at least when it's not randomly hanging due to 4.0, feels more responsive than any Android phone I've tried, and it's running on 3+ year-old hardware (it's got the same processor and memory as the iPhone 2G, IIRC).
Smooth animations, not benchmark results, are equivalent to speed to the average person, and who can blame them?