So Himself went seven bubbles off plumb and apparently delivered quite the raveout during the AAPL earnings call yesterday, arguing that “open vs closed” is missing the point and that “fragmented vs integrated” is the issue. Some Android bigwig replied (in a series of Unix commands, natch) that “the definition of open” is essentially that you can download and build the OS yourself.
NOBODY DOES THIS.
I am serious. I do not know one single solitary person myself who has ever downloaded, built, and compiled a phone OS from source, AND I’M A GEEK. I am sure that it is done, and I am sure that it is very satisfying for the sort of hopeless paste-eating spaz that does that sort of thing, but the number of people who want to do that and are making their choice of phones based on that IS LESS A ROUNDING ERROR.
The problem Android has is twofold: one, handset makers and carriers are using “open” to build their own modifications to the phone, which means inconsistent UI and varying OS versions – which will eventually have an impact; if somebody is running Android 1.6 their functionality is limited compared to somebody running Froyo (2.2). And manufacturer and carrier modifications have a material impact on whether a phone gets upgraded – right now, the only way you get all the updates and can run the latest version of the OS on the day it drops is if you have a Google-purchased Nexus One with independently-bought service on AT&T or T-Mobile. If you bought any of the Verizon or Sprint Android phones, if you bought the ridiculous Backflip or one of those Samsung Galaxy S things or something out of the MyTouch series or a CLIQ or…whatever, you are pretty much at the mercy of the carrier as to when you will be permitted to upgrade.
Android may be “open”, but in almost every case, that “openness” is of benefit only to the carrier, and is compromised before the phone ever gets into the hands of the end-user. The iPhone didn’t go to Verizon because the big red V wanted their own UI, their own apps, their own branding, and Himself told them to go shit in a hat – and rightly so. Because Android is “open”, Verizon doesn’t have to ask anybody, and as a result you get Android phones in their own image, with the sole exception of where they’ve produced an “official” Google phone (original Droid being the best example). Still, go in there and dump that VCAST app. I’ll wait…what? Oh.
And now everybody is howling that Android tablets are going to put the smack down on Apple once and for all? Tablets that with the current OS are limited to 800×480 resolution? The only response is: do it. Ship it. Try it if you got the sack. The market will tell you whether you’re any good. The whole market, too – because as Apple learned the hard way, marketing to Gizmorons and Slashdot maniacs leaves you with an awful small slice of users…