5 ms·

Wanting choice and keeping companies from customizing their product to differentiate them seem to be goals that are at odds with each other. However, I've used

Wanting choice and keeping companies from customizing their product to differentiate them seem to be goals that are at odds with each other. However, I've used a number of android based phones and I still find the Nexus One's interface to be the best and cleanest.

pkulak 16y ago
Yeah, I'm not mad at Google, I'm disappointed with HTC, Motorola and Samsung.
- thwarted 16y ago
  You're disappointed because HTC, Motorola and Samsung provide choice, or because the choices they provide suck? I'd like to see some stronger innovation, but that some subset of the choices suck just provides a solid reason to pick the better option. Even a bad example is an example, in that we all learn what doesn't work, and we can cherry pick the best things from a number of different sources. The wider ecosystem in carrier-customized Android interfaces means finding out faster which featuers ones are not strong.
  - pyre 16y ago
    The best case scenario is a number of interfaces that are so good that people have a hard time choosing, and the competition between then keeps them all on their toes trying to out-do the other. This may not be the best thing for the businesses (re. profit margins), but it is the best thing for the consumer.
  - masklinn 16y ago
    > You're disappointed because HTC, Motorola and Samsung provide choice, or because the choices they provide suck? I'm guessing #2, and they don't merge their (hypothetical) improvements upstream to improve the whole platform.
    - dagw 16y ago
      Why would they merge their improvements upstream. That would only lead to them losing their (hypothetical) competitive advantage. Handset manufacturers don't care about the android platform they care about their own implementation of the android platform. The battle isn't iPhone vs. Android, it's Apple vs HTC vs Motorola vs Samsung vs SE vs LG vs Nokia vs... Samsung is just as (un)likely to help HTC or LG as they are to help Apple.
      - masklinn 16y ago
        Absolutely. And that, in essence, is probably the biggest issue I see with Android in its fight against the iPhone. It's even worse than Mac vs PC as at least Windows (at a given revision) looked and behaved pretty much the same on every machine. The theming was light (especially early on, when there was no support for it) and manufacturers added crap, but didn't replace whole subsystems just because. I also find that to be an incredibly stupid strategy (but in prisoner's dilemma terms considering all the player are bastards...): the first worry of the players in the mobile phone space should be to drive Apple out of it as fast and as soon as possible, avoid their repeat of the iPod and their conquest of a majority marketshare. Therefore the long term strategy should be to collaborate and make the common platform as good as possible as soon as possible (on all aspects) in order to push Apple out of the market, using hardware to differentiate themselves, and when Apple is stuck into a small minority box (or entirely driven out) they can go back to bickering among themselves and releasing custom shells and stuff.
        theBobMcCormick 16y ago
        Actually, if you look back at the early days of Windows 3.0 and 3.1, it was very common for OEM's like Compaq, HP, Packard Bell, etc. to include their own proprietary "skin" on Windows (usually as shallow as just a replacement for Program Manager). On a separate note, I don't know why everyone always casts this as an Android vs iPhone fight. Android doesn't need to "beat" the iPhone, the iPhone isn't (by a loooong shot) the largest player in the smartphone market anyway. (http://gigaom.com/2010/03/18/the-mobile-os-market/ http://gigaom.com/2010/03/18/the-mobile-os-market/) There's plenty of marketshare for both iPhone and Android to take away from RIM and Symbian, not to mention that smartphone market is growing very rapidly as a whole. As long as the sales of Android phones keep growing anywhere near as rapidly as they have been, Android will be HUGE even if they never take any marketshare away from the iPhone. (http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2010/05/27/deciphering-androids-smartphone-sales-figures.aspx http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2010/05/27/deciphe...)

pkulak 16y ago

Yeah, I'm not mad at Google, I'm disappointed with HTC, Motorola and Samsung.

thwarted 16y ago
You're disappointed because HTC, Motorola and Samsung provide choice, or because the choices they provide suck? I'd like to see some stronger innovation, but that some subset of the choices suck just provides a solid reason to pick the better option. Even a bad example is an example, in that we all learn what doesn't work, and we can cherry pick the best things from a number of different sources. The wider ecosystem in carrier-customized Android interfaces means finding out faster which featuers ones are not strong.
- pyre 16y ago
  The best case scenario is a number of interfaces that are so good that people have a hard time choosing, and the competition between then keeps them all on their toes trying to out-do the other. This may not be the best thing for the businesses (re. profit margins), but it is the best thing for the consumer.
- masklinn 16y ago
  > You're disappointed because HTC, Motorola and Samsung provide choice, or because the choices they provide suck? I'm guessing #2, and they don't merge their (hypothetical) improvements upstream to improve the whole platform.
  - dagw 16y ago
    Why would they merge their improvements upstream. That would only lead to them losing their (hypothetical) competitive advantage. Handset manufacturers don't care about the android platform they care about their own implementation of the android platform. The battle isn't iPhone vs. Android, it's Apple vs HTC vs Motorola vs Samsung vs SE vs LG vs Nokia vs... Samsung is just as (un)likely to help HTC or LG as they are to help Apple.
    - masklinn 16y ago
      Absolutely. And that, in essence, is probably the biggest issue I see with Android in its fight against the iPhone. It's even worse than Mac vs PC as at least Windows (at a given revision) looked and behaved pretty much the same on every machine. The theming was light (especially early on, when there was no support for it) and manufacturers added crap, but didn't replace whole subsystems just because. I also find that to be an incredibly stupid strategy (but in prisoner's dilemma terms considering all the player are bastards...): the first worry of the players in the mobile phone space should be to drive Apple out of it as fast and as soon as possible, avoid their repeat of the iPod and their conquest of a majority marketshare. Therefore the long term strategy should be to collaborate and make the common platform as good as possible as soon as possible (on all aspects) in order to push Apple out of the market, using hardware to differentiate themselves, and when Apple is stuck into a small minority box (or entirely driven out) they can go back to bickering among themselves and releasing custom shells and stuff.
      - theBobMcCormick 16y ago
        Actually, if you look back at the early days of Windows 3.0 and 3.1, it was very common for OEM's like Compaq, HP, Packard Bell, etc. to include their own proprietary "skin" on Windows (usually as shallow as just a replacement for Program Manager). On a separate note, I don't know why everyone always casts this as an Android vs iPhone fight. Android doesn't need to "beat" the iPhone, the iPhone isn't (by a loooong shot) the largest player in the smartphone market anyway. (http://gigaom.com/2010/03/18/the-mobile-os-market/ http://gigaom.com/2010/03/18/the-mobile-os-market/) There's plenty of marketshare for both iPhone and Android to take away from RIM and Symbian, not to mention that smartphone market is growing very rapidly as a whole. As long as the sales of Android phones keep growing anywhere near as rapidly as they have been, Android will be HUGE even if they never take any marketshare away from the iPhone. (http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2010/05/27/deciphering-androids-smartphone-sales-figures.aspx http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2010/05/27/deciphe...)