Who is any of this good for?
I’ve been patiently waiting for Android 4.0 to be released for my Nexus S before I wrote anything else here, but a few things have happened recently that have forced me to comment on a serious problem I see with Android.
Who is it good for that one flagship device is announced the same day as a second flagship device that makes the first one inconsequential? And that they’re on the same carrier in the US? So that carrier refuses to announce a release for the second device in an attempt to sell more of the obsolete first?
Who is good for that the current flagship device, billed as a “pure Google experience”, has a major feature gimped by the carrier it’s on because they’re working on a future competing technology?
Who is it good for that the upgrade path to the newest version of Android is completely uncertain for consumers, even those who just bought devices or will be getting them this holiday? (And don’t even get me started on the upgrade path for the dozen or so Android tablets sold.)
Who is it good for that OEMs recreate and differentiate the Android experience to the point that an HTC LASERGUNSHOOTER™ is a completely different device than a Samsung Galaxy S II TURBOLASERGUN HD 4G?
I think it’s safe to say none of this is good for anyone.
This isn’t about Google’s way vs. Apple’s way. This is about Google having no real control over its platform, to the point where “Android” just becomes another marketing bullet point for dozens of bullshit phones in the market.
If this is your definition of an “open platform”, then I’m glad I have no real investment in it, because it seems like a bag of hurt.
It didn’t take long after starting this dumb blog to come to a realization: comparing Android to iOS in any meaningful way is nearly impossible. You can contrast the two, but comparisons are difficult to make. What you see is what you get with iOS. With Android, the device-to-device experience is so varied it’s staggering.
There’s a simple solution for this, and it comes from an unlikely place: Microsoft. If Matias Duarte wants to keep Android simple and beautiful, Google should lock down the newest versions of Android as they’re released.
“But-but-but OPENNESS!” the fanboys screamed. Hold on a moment, neckbeard.
As the latest and greatest versions of Android are released, Google should offer them up to OEMs only as pristine, unskinned, pure Google experiences. Let carriers and OEMs preload some junky apps on there that the user can uninstall, but that’s it. The OEMs should focus on building beautiful, flagship hardware. This isn’t wholly unlike what Microsoft does with Windows Phone 7, minus the beautiful hardware. (With the Lumia 800 being a lone exception.)
Then, three or four months down the road, completely open source the newest version. Let the OEMs skin the shit out of it for their bargain bin phones they flood the market with. Android finally has a cohesive identity, and the low-end of the market becomes Android-powered feature phones, which they basically already are.
How can any hardcore Android fan think that a selection of the best hardware possible, with the newest and cleanest version of Android, isn’t a great idea?
