That’s needlessly reductive. It’s also wrong. While Android absolutely started that way it’s definitely doing its own thing now. The problem is that Apple has

That’s needlessly reductive. It’s also wrong. While Android absolutely started that way it’s definitely doing its own thing now. The problem is that Apple has never really cared about being first with something. That’s a plus, and they’d love to be so, but it’s more important for them to get it right (as they see it). Android—and its major handset makers too—has a tendency to throw features at users and hope something sticks. It isn’t thoughtful in any way, or targeted, and leads to lots of firsts… that are not very well implemented. Apple tends to move with a more thoughtful “what is this & why does it exist? What is the user trying to achieve with it?” approach. This is slower, and they occasionally get it wrong, but it does tend to lead to a higher quality product. Now that isn’t to say it’s “an answer to the iPhone” because RIM wad the only competitor that actually had the software platform AND hardware integration already set up. Samsung never quite got there with Symbian & no-one else had a competitive OS with any hardware chops. Android isn’t aiming to being the iPhone, it’s aiming to be a substitute for iOS on platforms that aren’t Apple. Very different goals.