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In my mind, Andy Rubin is likely be one of the most unfortunate tech personality I'm aware of. So here is a guy who grows up dreaming about robots. But instead

In my mind, Andy Rubin is likely be one of the most unfortunate tech personality I'm aware of. So here is a guy who grows up dreaming about robots. But instead of doing that he ends up doing startup to make money so he can eventually do robots. He spends best years of his life building phone OS by walking a fine line to clone a work of a genius. And a pretty shitty clone at that. But the guy is so in to robots that he ends up calling this thing "Android" even though its not android. Thing takes off despite being shitty clone because Microsoft had become incompetent to his enormous luck. He becomes rich, powerful and eventually able to demand to get off the shitty clone train to actually do robotics. He goes to GoogleX with essentially carte blank to make his dreams finally come true. The guy goes out and buys up every cool robotics startup out there, spends billions and surrounds himself with some of the best talent on planet. And then he leaves it all to rott. But still... he is ultra rich, can do whatever he wants and he still has some of his productive years left. What does he do? Another phone startup! And again just a clone with minor tweaks at that.

Jyaif 8y ago
The dude ended up with hundreds of million with -as you say- a shitty clone. How is he unfortunate?
- alex_hitchins 8y ago
  You can still be stinking rich yet unfulfilled in life. Money isn't everything.
  - watty 8y ago
    Is Andy unfulfilled? He's wildly successful enough to do anything in the world. I'm kind of shocked how little credit he's getting here.
    - alex_hitchins 8y ago
      My comment wasn't necessarily about Andy, more that it's possible to be incredibly wealthy yet not have any feeling of satisfaction or achievement. Getting rich is nice (I'd assume) but I don't think many people feel many life goals are reached by having a big bank balance.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    Compared to whom who achieved more, non-money related, goals?
    - alex_hitchins 8y ago
      Sorry I don't follow your comment. I see the misunderstanding I left myself open to, I wasn't trying to suggest Andy hasn't achieved anything. Far from it.
throwaway6497 8y ago
No one really knows why he left Google. Was he forced to leave silently with support for good optics around his departure by Google or he just left abruptly dropping everything he built till then on his own volition. Execs like him just don't drop everything and leave at once without a good transition plan and thinking things through. No one knows the real story. He had to step down from Essential for a valid reason which they can never disclose in all honesty. All we know is that, it has something to do with the reasons why he left Google. The real reasons for his departure is shrouded in secrecy and probably protected or kept a secret with a lot of legalease... Edit: A quick google search says he left Google because of misconduct. Inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate.
- humanrebar 8y ago
  You really need to post a source when repeating workplace misconduct allegations.
  - asah 8y ago
    instead of complaining... http://bfy.tw/IInc http://bfy.tw/IInc
    - mosselman 8y ago
      Some of us have better things to do than research rumors from every comment on the internet. It is not too much to ask for sources when making certain statements.
      - Fricken 8y ago
        I'm not sure what the word 'research' means. Can you look it up for me? I have better things to do.
  - goseeastarwar 8y ago
    https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/technology/andy-rubin-android-google-misconduct.html https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/technology/andy-rubin-...
deanCommie 8y ago
Meh. Looking at his Resume (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin#Career_timeline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin#Career_timeline), he started working on Mobile OS's as far back as 1992. Then he hopped from company to company (founding 2) until the Google Acquisition in 2005, and he didn't get into Robots until 2013. You don't spend 21 years working in a domain you don't like. And you don't quit managing Google's robotics division after LESS THAN A YEAR to immediately go back to mobile if robots are your lifelong dream. OK, sure, maybe he didn't like Google's robotics strategy or vision, but he was in a prime position to change it from the inside, and that takes longer than a year. It sounds much more that Robots is a hobby. But his life goal and passion is Mobile. Also, discounting his successes as just cloning the work of a genius is silly. Firstly, he has a credible role in the historical progression, as the Danger SideKick was a legitimate leader in the field for a few years. Secondly, Android to iPhone in the 2010's is Windows to Mac in the 1990's. They democratized the platform to give people the freedom of choice.
- hbosch 8y ago
  There are absolutely people who work on something for 21 years (++) even though they don’t like it. It’s harder to say no to the incredible amounts of cash and promises of future fulfillment. Although I’d hate to insinuate this is what Rubin did.
- ourcat 8y ago
  Surely a robot needs a 'mobile' OS?
  - exikyut 8y ago
    Generally something a cut above the current stereotype of s̥̙̭͘͠m̡̻̤̭͡a҉̵̯̪̼̘̥̠̞r̢̦͎͉̺̤t͈̯̥̳̮̝̼͢phone quality, I would hope.
icc97 8y ago
> So here is a guy who grows up dreaming about robots. > He goes to GoogleX with essentially carte blank to make his dreams finally come true. The guy goes out and buys up every cool robotics startup out there, spends billions and surrounds himself with some of the best talent on planet. Sounds pretty fortunate to me. He got his dream to work with robots. Just because he's more famous for a mobile OS that is on more that 50% of all computing devices [0] doesn't stop the fact that he's still had more opportunity than all the rest of us to work on robotics. [0]: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/570a5ddfc2ea5138c555fc60/t/575b177e7da24f0a4fa34aa8/1465587612251/?format=750w https://static1.squarespace.com/static/570a5ddfc2ea5138c555f...
projectramo 8y ago
I won't comment on anything else -- I really don't know much about it -- but I will take exception to the "clone" comment. It is very hard to make a decent copy of a great product. This goes for everything, not just phones. There were many others trying to copy the many great ideas packed into the iphone. Even now, its not obvious. Consider that even for an android as it currently stands -- a phone where you get the OS from Google, and the parts from various known manufacturers -- there is an enormous difference in quality between the different products. Samsung has dominated other phone makers and in theory they should produce comparable product. (Some do, I am sure.) The same is true of, say, Windows laptops. Some are amazing and some are unusable. But why? They all us the same OS and the parts come from the same handful of manufacturers? I'll let more knowledgeable people opine as to what the challenges are, but its not easy.
thelastidiot 8y ago
Unfortunate? I know is Porsche/Audi car dealer in Palo Alto. Not enough time to buy the latest model apparently one after the other. Is that what you call unfortunate?
nsxwolf 8y ago
You're excluding his co-founding of Danger and the development of the Sidekick, which was way ahead of its time and did a lot more than the original iPhone could do - just without a touchscreen. To describe his contributions to mobile as a pale shadow of what Steve Jobs was doing is unfair.
- jrnichols 8y ago
  > did a lot more than the original iPhone could do Like what? I had a Sidekick, and I don't remember it doing a "lot more than the original iPhone" at all.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
bdcravens 8y ago
> He spends best years of his life building phone OS by walking a fine line to clone a work of a genius. You do realize Android was founded as a company in 2003 and acquired by Google in 2005, and the iPhone was unveiled in 2007? Google of course altered the design direction based on the iPhone, but the first prototypes looked more like Blackberries.

Jyaif 8y ago

The dude ended up with hundreds of million with -as you say- a shitty clone. How is he unfortunate?

alex_hitchins 8y ago
You can still be stinking rich yet unfulfilled in life. Money isn't everything.
- watty 8y ago
  Is Andy unfulfilled? He's wildly successful enough to do anything in the world. I'm kind of shocked how little credit he's getting here.
  - alex_hitchins 8y ago
    My comment wasn't necessarily about Andy, more that it's possible to be incredibly wealthy yet not have any feeling of satisfaction or achievement. Getting rich is nice (I'd assume) but I don't think many people feel many life goals are reached by having a big bank balance.
- coldtea 8y ago
  Compared to whom who achieved more, non-money related, goals?
  - alex_hitchins 8y ago
    Sorry I don't follow your comment. I see the misunderstanding I left myself open to, I wasn't trying to suggest Andy hasn't achieved anything. Far from it.

throwaway6497 8y ago

No one really knows why he left Google. Was he forced to leave silently with support for good optics around his departure by Google or he just left abruptly dropping everything he built till then on his own volition. Execs like him just don't drop everything and leave at once without a good transition plan and thinking things through. No one knows the real story. He had to step down from Essential for a valid reason which they can never disclose in all honesty. All we know is that, it has something to do with the reasons why he left Google. The real reasons for his departure is shrouded in secrecy and probably protected or kept a secret with a lot of legalease... Edit: A quick google search says he left Google because of misconduct. Inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate.

humanrebar 8y ago
You really need to post a source when repeating workplace misconduct allegations.
- asah 8y ago
  instead of complaining... http://bfy.tw/IInc http://bfy.tw/IInc
  - mosselman 8y ago
    Some of us have better things to do than research rumors from every comment on the internet. It is not too much to ask for sources when making certain statements.
    - Fricken 8y ago
      I'm not sure what the word 'research' means. Can you look it up for me? I have better things to do.
- goseeastarwar 8y ago
  https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/technology/andy-rubin-android-google-misconduct.html https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/technology/andy-rubin-...

deanCommie 8y ago

Meh. Looking at his Resume (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin#Career_timeline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin#Career_timeline), he started working on Mobile OS's as far back as 1992. Then he hopped from company to company (founding 2) until the Google Acquisition in 2005, and he didn't get into Robots until 2013. You don't spend 21 years working in a domain you don't like. And you don't quit managing Google's robotics division after LESS THAN A YEAR to immediately go back to mobile if robots are your lifelong dream. OK, sure, maybe he didn't like Google's robotics strategy or vision, but he was in a prime position to change it from the inside, and that takes longer than a year. It sounds much more that Robots is a hobby. But his life goal and passion is Mobile. Also, discounting his successes as just cloning the work of a genius is silly. Firstly, he has a credible role in the historical progression, as the Danger SideKick was a legitimate leader in the field for a few years. Secondly, Android to iPhone in the 2010's is Windows to Mac in the 1990's. They democratized the platform to give people the freedom of choice.

hbosch 8y ago
There are absolutely people who work on something for 21 years (++) even though they don’t like it. It’s harder to say no to the incredible amounts of cash and promises of future fulfillment. Although I’d hate to insinuate this is what Rubin did.
ourcat 8y ago
Surely a robot needs a 'mobile' OS?
- exikyut 8y ago
  Generally something a cut above the current stereotype of s̥̙̭͘͠m̡̻̤̭͡a҉̵̯̪̼̘̥̠̞r̢̦͎͉̺̤t͈̯̥̳̮̝̼͢phone quality, I would hope.

icc97 8y ago

> So here is a guy who grows up dreaming about robots. > He goes to GoogleX with essentially carte blank to make his dreams finally come true. The guy goes out and buys up every cool robotics startup out there, spends billions and surrounds himself with some of the best talent on planet. Sounds pretty fortunate to me. He got his dream to work with robots. Just because he's more famous for a mobile OS that is on more that 50% of all computing devices [0] doesn't stop the fact that he's still had more opportunity than all the rest of us to work on robotics. [0]: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/570a5ddfc2ea5138c555fc60/t/575b177e7da24f0a4fa34aa8/1465587612251/?format=750w https://static1.squarespace.com/static/570a5ddfc2ea5138c555f...

projectramo 8y ago

I won't comment on anything else -- I really don't know much about it -- but I will take exception to the "clone" comment. It is very hard to make a decent copy of a great product. This goes for everything, not just phones. There were many others trying to copy the many great ideas packed into the iphone. Even now, its not obvious. Consider that even for an android as it currently stands -- a phone where you get the OS from Google, and the parts from various known manufacturers -- there is an enormous difference in quality between the different products. Samsung has dominated other phone makers and in theory they should produce comparable product. (Some do, I am sure.) The same is true of, say, Windows laptops. Some are amazing and some are unusable. But why? They all us the same OS and the parts come from the same handful of manufacturers? I'll let more knowledgeable people opine as to what the challenges are, but its not easy.

thelastidiot 8y ago

Unfortunate? I know is Porsche/Audi car dealer in Palo Alto. Not enough time to buy the latest model apparently one after the other. Is that what you call unfortunate?

nsxwolf 8y ago

You're excluding his co-founding of Danger and the development of the Sidekick, which was way ahead of its time and did a lot more than the original iPhone could do - just without a touchscreen. To describe his contributions to mobile as a pale shadow of what Steve Jobs was doing is unfair.

jrnichols 8y ago
> did a lot more than the original iPhone could do Like what? I had a Sidekick, and I don't remember it doing a "lot more than the original iPhone" at all.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

bdcravens 8y ago

> He spends best years of his life building phone OS by walking a fine line to clone a work of a genius. You do realize Android was founded as a company in 2003 and acquired by Google in 2005, and the iPhone was unveiled in 2007? Google of course altered the design direction based on the iPhone, but the first prototypes looked more like Blackberries.