So what’s the pattern I see? Since Google can’t control the versioning issue, they can at least control core functions and apps among the operating system variances. So when Android 2.x learns a new trick, there’s a good chance Android 1.6 will learn it too.

The above article discusses Google and the fragmentation issue on Android devices.

It’s a good observation, but really only describes how Google can get some of its bigger features on older versions. I don’t agree that this addresses fragmentation:

• There’s still the issue of varying screen sizes, and many other hardware differences. 
• There’s still the issue of the different UIs and software various vendors put on the device. 
• There’s still the marketplace issue. Even if you upgrade 1.6 with selected 2.0 software features, the OS is still 1.6, so you’re presented a different marketplace than higher versions are.

These are what lead to fragmentation, and Google can do nothing to address them. Nor do they have any particular incentive to.

They just want you looking at their ads, and whether you run 1.5 up to 2.1, they’ve got you for that. Heck, if it was about anything other than ads they wouldn’t be giving the OS away in the first place.