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The latter, because the freedom to develop would completely cement their position in the market. What they've done now is send several developers over to their

by tensor 17y ago

The latter, because the freedom to develop would completely cement their position in the market. What they've done now is send several developers over to their competitor, Adobe being the obvious example. Their gamble is that they will outsell their competitors despite this. Time will tell if they succeed. I suppose if they really start suffering they can always open their platform at a later date.

m_eiman 17y ago
They risk next to nothing by keeping tight control while there is little or no competition. If it turns out that people prefer e.g. Android because of this, they can easily change their policy and turn it into a positive PR event. If people don't buy other stuff, they probably need to spend a bit less on support for users who have installed something bad on their devices than they would with a more open system. Win-win.
- tensor 17y ago
  Yes, and this is why I am looking at a Nexus One and perhaps one of the Android tablets. On a related note, why is it that the position of "I don't like the closed environment and will thus invest in Android" causes such fevered responses by so many people? Is it really necessary for the author of the original article to insult people such as myself by calling us "snivelling" and to tell us to "put up or shut up"? I find this article a little embarrassing for gizmodo. The situation is simple. If an open software platform really does produce better software, then likely Android will win in the long run. Some of us are buying into the model we think is better. We will likely recommend the same products to friends and family.
  - m_eiman 17y ago
    The reason for the "stop whining" thing is possibly that many proponents of Android are saying, more or less, that "normal people" should choose a device based on what they think are the important criteria instead of what the "normal people" themselves think is important. It's pretty elitist, and also missing the rather important point that a device's popularity is only partly based on its technical and ideological properties. Either way it'll be interesting to see what we end up with in a few years. Hopefully Android and whatever Microsoft comes up with will prove to be serious contenders so that we don't stagnate a la IE.
Lazlo_Nibble 17y ago
Again, there were more iPhones and iPod Touches sold in 2009 than there were netbooks. It looks to me like their position in the market has been pretty well cemented without opening the platform up for "ruinination".

by tensor 17y ago

m_eiman 17y ago

They risk next to nothing by keeping tight control while there is little or no competition. If it turns out that people prefer e.g. Android because of this, they can easily change their policy and turn it into a positive PR event. If people don't buy other stuff, they probably need to spend a bit less on support for users who have installed something bad on their devices than they would with a more open system. Win-win.

tensor 17y ago
Yes, and this is why I am looking at a Nexus One and perhaps one of the Android tablets. On a related note, why is it that the position of "I don't like the closed environment and will thus invest in Android" causes such fevered responses by so many people? Is it really necessary for the author of the original article to insult people such as myself by calling us "snivelling" and to tell us to "put up or shut up"? I find this article a little embarrassing for gizmodo. The situation is simple. If an open software platform really does produce better software, then likely Android will win in the long run. Some of us are buying into the model we think is better. We will likely recommend the same products to friends and family.
- m_eiman 17y ago
  The reason for the "stop whining" thing is possibly that many proponents of Android are saying, more or less, that "normal people" should choose a device based on what they think are the important criteria instead of what the "normal people" themselves think is important. It's pretty elitist, and also missing the rather important point that a device's popularity is only partly based on its technical and ideological properties. Either way it'll be interesting to see what we end up with in a few years. Hopefully Android and whatever Microsoft comes up with will prove to be serious contenders so that we don't stagnate a la IE.

Lazlo_Nibble 17y ago

Again, there were more iPhones and iPod Touches sold in 2009 than there were netbooks. It looks to me like their position in the market has been pretty well cemented without opening the platform up for "ruinination".