8 ms·

Whats the worst thing that could happen? All the manufactures drop Android? Good, then we will get an official, not messed with, Android phone directly from Goo

by DonnyV 14y ago

Whats the worst thing that could happen? All the manufactures drop Android? Good, then we will get an official, not messed with, Android phone directly from Google. I see only good in this.

dagw 14y ago
If that happens then Androids market share will quickly drop below that of WP7, most developers will react accordingly, WP7 will be the new Android and Android will be the new Meego. You might see that as a good thing, but I think many will disagree.
- freehunter 14y ago
  This is an extreme worst-case scenario. I think the next purest "worst case" would be that suddenly the world explodes, exterminating all life in an instant. A more likely worst-case is that we get more companies supporting alternative OSes, marketshare evens out a bit from second place on down, and generally the world keeps on turning. If people like Android now, people won't stop liking it because Google is now making it themselves. Even in a worse-case scenario.
- nextparadigms 14y ago
  You're grossly underestimating how many "Android" fans are out there, how many blogs promoting Android, and so on. The Android ecosystem is quite large. About as large as Apple's. They wouldn't just "leave Android". If anything people will treat Google even more like a cult, as Apple users treat Apple and their products. If the Google Glasses are successful, that sort of loyalty to Google will only increase, like it did for Apple with the iPhone, then with the iPad, and so on.
  - dagw 14y ago
    See I'm honestly not that sure that there are than many true Android fans out there. While Android phones probably outnumber iPhones among my circle of friends by a good 3:1, I don't know if many of them are really fans. Certainly not in the way people are fans of their iPhones. Most of them (including me) bought Android because you got a pretty good smart phone with a good ecosystem for a lot less than an iPhone, or because they preferred the hardware (larger screen, smaller screen, keyboard etc.), or often some combination of the two. "Android" is just an incidental detail that enables the above.
    - AndrewDucker 14y ago
      I'm an Android fan. I prefer the UI to iPhone, and I love the fact that I'm not locked into a single app store. If Windows Phone wasn't locked down I might give it a try, but until there's an alternative phone that's at least as open as Android I'm not moving.
      - megablast 14y ago
        Congratulations. Most people buying Android are not, they just want to be able to do what their mates with iPhones can do, but cheaper. And they can.
        myko 14y ago
        This is purely speculation. If they wanted a cheap iPhone they could get an iPhone 4 or 3GS, why do people still choose Android?
        __float 14y ago
        Because people are still getting "a new phone," not a new phone that happens to be last year's model.
        myko 14y ago
        I don't think that really follows well from the claim above. If they wanted an iPhone they could get an iPhone 4. Getting a Bionic or Razr instead is user choice.
        greyboy 14y ago
        Of course, the iPhone 3GS was only available on AT&T, which leaves out all Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile customers. The iPhone 4 is still $100 for an "old" phone, where they can get a new one for the same $100, or less. Among my less technical friends, Android and iPhone devices are more or less equal.
    - enko 14y ago
idspispopd 14y ago
If you recall that's actually how Google started in the phone business. It didn't work so open sourcing happened instead. Closing the business to Motorola would simply make it trivial for Apple to walk all over them.
- hencq 14y ago
  That's not at all what happened. Android was released by the Open Handset Alliance as open source before any phones were released. The HTC G1 was the first one and the first phone released by Google (the Nexus One) was much later.
  - idspispopd 14y ago
    Thanks for the correction, however I do stand by the original point. Google don't need Motorola as a premium handset producer, and they did try getting into the selling-phones business but it flopped quickly.
    - mkr-hn 14y ago
      I doubt Google stopped studying the smartphone market when their first attempt failed. Producing Android and working with hardware manufacturers and application developers has given them a lot of knowledge they didn't have before.
josefonseca 14y ago
> All the manufactures drop Android? [ ... ] > I see only good in this. This makes zero logical sense.
- stuartmemo 14y ago
  It only makes zero logical sense if you delete someone's reasons, which you've just done.
- DonnyV 14y ago
  The comment " I see only good in this." is towards them acquiring Motorola Mobility.
nextparadigms 14y ago
If all manufacturers dropped Android tomorrow, to make their own OS's or whatever, I'd still continue to buy Android phones made by Google and Motorola (if they can keep them competitive hardware wise, of course). It's almost impossible that would happen, but I'm just saying I wouldn't miss them if they left Android. If they think they can just replace Android with Tizen or whatever, and people will follow them, they are very wrong. Google would just get most of the business then with Motorola, and it would get a lot closer to Apple's profits.

by DonnyV 14y ago

Whats the worst thing that could happen? All the manufactures drop Android? Good, then we will get an official, not messed with, Android phone directly from Google. I see only good in this.

dagw 14y ago

If that happens then Androids market share will quickly drop below that of WP7, most developers will react accordingly, WP7 will be the new Android and Android will be the new Meego. You might see that as a good thing, but I think many will disagree.

freehunter 14y ago
This is an extreme worst-case scenario. I think the next purest "worst case" would be that suddenly the world explodes, exterminating all life in an instant. A more likely worst-case is that we get more companies supporting alternative OSes, marketshare evens out a bit from second place on down, and generally the world keeps on turning. If people like Android now, people won't stop liking it because Google is now making it themselves. Even in a worse-case scenario.
nextparadigms 14y ago
You're grossly underestimating how many "Android" fans are out there, how many blogs promoting Android, and so on. The Android ecosystem is quite large. About as large as Apple's. They wouldn't just "leave Android". If anything people will treat Google even more like a cult, as Apple users treat Apple and their products. If the Google Glasses are successful, that sort of loyalty to Google will only increase, like it did for Apple with the iPhone, then with the iPad, and so on.
- dagw 14y ago
  See I'm honestly not that sure that there are than many true Android fans out there. While Android phones probably outnumber iPhones among my circle of friends by a good 3:1, I don't know if many of them are really fans. Certainly not in the way people are fans of their iPhones. Most of them (including me) bought Android because you got a pretty good smart phone with a good ecosystem for a lot less than an iPhone, or because they preferred the hardware (larger screen, smaller screen, keyboard etc.), or often some combination of the two. "Android" is just an incidental detail that enables the above.
  - AndrewDucker 14y ago
    I'm an Android fan. I prefer the UI to iPhone, and I love the fact that I'm not locked into a single app store. If Windows Phone wasn't locked down I might give it a try, but until there's an alternative phone that's at least as open as Android I'm not moving.
    - megablast 14y ago
      Congratulations. Most people buying Android are not, they just want to be able to do what their mates with iPhones can do, but cheaper. And they can.
      - myko 14y ago
        This is purely speculation. If they wanted a cheap iPhone they could get an iPhone 4 or 3GS, why do people still choose Android?
        __float 14y ago
        Because people are still getting "a new phone," not a new phone that happens to be last year's model.
        myko 14y ago
        I don't think that really follows well from the claim above. If they wanted an iPhone they could get an iPhone 4. Getting a Bionic or Razr instead is user choice.
        greyboy 14y ago
        Of course, the iPhone 3GS was only available on AT&T, which leaves out all Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile customers. The iPhone 4 is still $100 for an "old" phone, where they can get a new one for the same $100, or less. Among my less technical friends, Android and iPhone devices are more or less equal.
  - enko 14y ago

idspispopd 14y ago

If you recall that's actually how Google started in the phone business. It didn't work so open sourcing happened instead. Closing the business to Motorola would simply make it trivial for Apple to walk all over them.

hencq 14y ago
That's not at all what happened. Android was released by the Open Handset Alliance as open source before any phones were released. The HTC G1 was the first one and the first phone released by Google (the Nexus One) was much later.
- idspispopd 14y ago
  Thanks for the correction, however I do stand by the original point. Google don't need Motorola as a premium handset producer, and they did try getting into the selling-phones business but it flopped quickly.
  - mkr-hn 14y ago
    I doubt Google stopped studying the smartphone market when their first attempt failed. Producing Android and working with hardware manufacturers and application developers has given them a lot of knowledge they didn't have before.

josefonseca 14y ago

> All the manufactures drop Android? [ ... ] > I see only good in this. This makes zero logical sense.

stuartmemo 14y ago
It only makes zero logical sense if you delete someone's reasons, which you've just done.
DonnyV 14y ago
The comment " I see only good in this." is towards them acquiring Motorola Mobility.

nextparadigms 14y ago

If all manufacturers dropped Android tomorrow, to make their own OS's or whatever, I'd still continue to buy Android phones made by Google and Motorola (if they can keep them competitive hardware wise, of course). It's almost impossible that would happen, but I'm just saying I wouldn't miss them if they left Android. If they think they can just replace Android with Tizen or whatever, and people will follow them, they are very wrong. Google would just get most of the business then with Motorola, and it would get a lot closer to Apple's profits.