3 ms·

I agree, this is what Google do. They change the game to suit and then play the new game well. In this case they wanted the mobile world to adopt an open, UNI

• simonh 14y ago
  Agreed. If you look at the pre-iPhone world the dominant way to access web content was WAP - a closed protocol for accessing strictly controlled services managed by the carriers. Blackberry was working closely with carriers to develop closed, branded services with them and Windows Mobile couldn't run a proper browser and had low market share. I think Google's strategy was to provide no-name handset manufacturers, without the clout to develop these proprietary services or make such deals, with a cheap platform that could browse the web and access Google services. It was a desperate attempt to avoid a world where all mobile services were carrier controlled. In hindsight they actually needn't have bothered. Apple had sufficient leverage with the iPhone to avoid having to make carrier on-line service lock-in deals. Still, Google couldn't afford to risk that changing, or Apple locking in users to services of it's own.
  • puivert 14y ago
    This is pretty revisionist. There were lots of years and internet enabled phones between wap and iPhone (eg Nokia symbian devices).