Today in 2008, the first Android phone launched – the G1, built by HTC and sold via T-Mobile. \u00a0It was, in many ways, the first legitimate challenger to the iPhone. \u00a0It was interesting, at a time when the dominant smartphone platform was still Blackberry and when Google’s “don’t be evil” could still be taken sort of seriously.<\/p>\n
Today in 2013, Blackberry is selling itself to a Canadian private-equity firm for pennies on the loonie in an attempt to buy time to gather itself and focus entirely on enterprise. It’s possible they could become a specialty maker of highly-secure email devices for the enterprise market. \u00a0It’s more likely that they’ll be shut down and sold off for parts, especially some potentially valuable patents surrounding push email.<\/p>\n
Android has basically been a carrier’s dream. It ended Apple’s sudden chokehold on the “consumer smartphone” and allowed OEMs to offer their own “good enough” smartphone experience, while simultaneously letting carriers enforce their own requirements in ways Apple wouldn’t allow. \u00a0Proprietary skins, un-deletable apps, a Verizon logo on every flat surface – all possible with Android. \u00a0More importantly, however, the need to clear both the manufacturer and the carrier created the biggest obstacle to using Android for me and countless others: one has to buy an Android phone knowing full well that it may be the newest version of Android that phone will ever be able to run.<\/p>\n
By contrast, all the non-hardware-specific features of iOS 7 are available on the iPhone 4 I’m using as a tackling dummy. \u00a0Obviously I want most of the exotic location services turned off to spare a three-year-old battery any further trauma, and I certainly wouldn’t want to use it as a daily driver, but it still works. \u00a0By contrast, try loading up a Nexus One – it caps out at the Gingerbread version of Android, which is currently two major releases behind with a third in the works. \u00a0It would be the equivalent of this iPhone 4 being left behind with iOS 5 – which actually wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, but anyway.<\/p>\n
But through fits and starts, it’s gotten past “good enough” – and with a dedicated in-house manufacturer in Motorola, we’re finally starting to see some serious potential from integration of hardware, software and services. \u00a0Scary, sure, but also the existence proof that such an integrated package is possible. \u00a0Next up: figuring how to do it without giving everything you are to the Beast of Mountain View.<\/p>\n
But hey, you don’t get innovation without somebody to push you. \u00a0So from Donut on through Kit Kat – happy birthday to the whole dessert cart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today in 2008, the first Android phone launched – the G1, built by HTC and sold via T-Mobile. \u00a0It was, in many ways, the first legitimate challenger to the iPhone. \u00a0It was interesting, at a time when the dominant smartphone platform was still Blackberry and when Google’s “don’t be evil” could still be taken sort … <\/p>\n