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You seem to have forgotten that the PC evolved to run one particular closed-source operating system. That is the major reason why PCs ended up all looking alike
by mechanical_fish 16y ago
You seem to have forgotten that the PC evolved to run one particular closed-source operating system. That is the major reason why PCs ended up all looking alike and working alike.
Microsoft enforces a lot of that conformity by creating official hardware standards and certifications:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHQL_Testing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHQL_Testing
... but even in the absence of that, the requirement to run Windows in a seamless fashion constitutes a de facto standard embodied in code that the vendor cannot change.
Android, by contrast, is open source. Vendors can and do take Android, make fundamental changes in how (e.g.) the interface works, and release quirky versions of Android on their own quirky hardware. So there are far fewer constraints on how divergent the boxes can be and still carry the "Android" label.
- grammaton 16y agoIn point of fact, Google has something almost identical in the form of the Compatibility Definition Document, which gives fairly strict and detailed specifications for what an Android device is. There's also a set of tens of thousands of automated tests that an Android implementation has to be able to pass to be considered "Android." And to date, no one has really made "fundamental" changes in how the interface works - the only major mover out there is sense UI, and it still uses the same widgets and framework.
- ZeroGravitas 16y agoAlthough Android is open source and could just be hacked around with most of the modifications seem to be modular components i.e. here is a new HTC keyboard, if you don't like it you can switch it to the standard Android keyboard or buy a 3rd party keyboard like Swype.