Google doesn't make better phones, they were just less hostile to the consumer. That seems to be going away :(
Leaving Google for Apple, and expecting a more open app store, is going to be disappointing. I’m not a Google fanboy by any means, just pointing out the landscape out there
By itself, this throttling is a good thing and keeps phones usable for longer, because a phone that is slow is better than a phone that randomly reboots.
The problematic part was that they a) didn't disclose it, and b) did this for phones within the warranty period, so instead of the phone visibly crashing and you returning the obviously broken phone, it just lost performance which you might not have noticed in time to get a free replacement.
People definitely complained about the random reboots, especially on the Nexus 6P, since that phone wouldn't boot again until after it was connected a charger plugged into a power outlet.
Heaven forbid you had a medical emergency away from a power outlet with a phone that unreliable.