September 9, 2010
A great post today on TechCrunch by MG Siegler.
It’s been the craze over the last few days to post stories about how Android is overtaking the iPhone, how open Android is. The inference is that this is a referendum on Apple’s closed system.
Messur Siegler puts a nice shiner on at least part of that argument; he’s very fair in his assessment, but he basically puts out a convincing (and highly probable) argument that mixing an open system with “closed” carriers is like mixing ice cream and dirt. The ice cream just doesn’t taste the same anymore.
From his post – “My point is not to bash Google — what they’ve created is an excellent mobile operating system. My point is that the same “openness” that Android users are touting as a key selling point of the OS could very well end up being its weak point. If you don’t think Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint are going to try to commandeer the OS in an attempt to return to their glory days where we were all slaves to their towers, you’re being naive.”
I read the article this morning with much disappointment; however, not surprised. I was among the 1000 people or so that spoke to the openness of the Android system in the comments. I have only read about the Android OS pre-carrier and was looking forward to experimenting with the OS. It doesn’t sound as open as I expected. My frustration with carriers is only increasing. It seems that the desire for a truly open device will not be fulfilled for sometime yet.