Hiner writes, “Here’s the dirty little secret about Android: After all the work Apple did to get AT&T to relinquish device control for the iPhone and all the great efforts Google made to get the FCC and the U.S. telecoms to agree to open access rules as part of the 700 MHz auction, Android is taking all of those gains and handing the power back to the telecoms.”
“When Apple convinced AT&T not to plaster its logo on the iPhone or preload it with a bunch of AT&T bloatware, it was an important first step for smartphones to emerge as independent computers that were no longer crippled by the limitations put on them by the selfish interests of the telecom carriers, who typically wanted to upsell and nickle-dime customers for every extra app and feature on the phone.,” Hiner writes. “By some reports, the Open Handset Alliance is in now shambles. Members such as HTC have gone off and added lots of their own software and customizations to their Android devices without contributing any code back to the Alliance. Motorola and Samsung have begun taking the same approach. The collaborative spirit is gone — if it ever existed at all. And, Google is proving to be a poor shepherd for the wolves-in-sheep’s-clothing that make up the telecoms and the handset makers in the Alliance.”
Hiner writes, “As a result, we now have a situation where the U.S. telecoms are reconsolidating their power and putting customers at a disadvantage. And, their empowering factor is Android. The carriers and handset makers can do anything they want with it. Unfortunately, that now includes loading lots of their own crapware onto these Android devices, using marketing schemes that confuse buyers (see the Samsung Galaxy S), and nickle-and-diming customers with added fees to run certain apps such as tethering, GPS navigation, and mobile video.”
There’s much more in the full article – very highly recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: That’s right, the platform whose biggest selling point (besides, “Verizon doesn’t have the iPhone”) is being “open,” is actually the platform that’s closing off the hard won freedom Apple is trying to hand to mobile users.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Dangerfrog” and “Anthony M.” for the heads up.]
I have been saying this all along. What took them so long to figure this out.
Eric Schmidt is starting to look more and more like John Sculley.
Open handset alliance my arse. The iPhone could never have been made by committee and certainly couldn’t be bested by a bunch of folks only there to protect their own interests. They’re the best thing that could have happened to Apple.
They don’t call it the Open Handjob Alliance for nothing.
This sadly sounds like something out of Star Wars: The Open Alliance and Trade Federation are being crushed by the Empire. Furthering this thought, at the same time, Google is gettin’ jiggy wit Verizon about making you grab your ankles on the issue of bandwidth. So quietly, the status quo is being reasserted and the hegemony of the telcos is again becoming the norm.
Meanwhile, the pundits are falling all over themselves and creaming in their jeans about Android. I guess the talk about the Dark Side being so great because they offer cookies is apparently working. Frigtards.
Remember kiddies, Google is your friend. Just ask them. Oh, and I am sure you won’t mind Google and Facebook harvesting all your private information, so just keep blithly giving it away to play stupid Farmville.
By the way, why is it that I have to put up with seeing Windows 7 and netbook ads on this page? Last I checked, I am pretty sure this is a Mac fanboy site. Talk about wasted advertising impressions…
This telco obsession with control was what lost Verizon the 1st crack @ iPhone. They tried their arrogance on Apple and Apple told them where to put it… Steve jobs has a very long memory and like they say, you can’t change a leopard’s spots… Verizon won’t change it’s arrogant ways and Jobs won’t compromise his products or company principles, which makes T Mobile and Sprint bigger likelihoods than Verizon, when the time comes to expand.
It’s hard to believe that having broken the long standing manipulative strangling models of the telco industry with the iPhone, Apple will feed the biggest monster (Verizon) without guarantees of the sort that I just don’t see Verizon ever giving.
@Google is your friend – not
I like the cut of your jibe. Do you have blog I could check out.
Sorry. No blogs. I restrict the venting of my spleen to these pages. No sense being a pundit when it’s more fun taking pot shots at them. It’s so very…therapeutic.
Oh, and the “I like the cut of your jibe” quip – great pick-up line!
Umm, duh.
Open source means anyone’s free to take and modify it. Who didn’t see this coming? What’s going to happen… Google’s going to lose interest, eventually leaving the handset makers and carriers with an out-dated mobile OS. Microsoft will then swoop in and save the day for these morons.
About what I would expect from a company has a CEO that wears a pink cowboy shirt and hat.
Testing the deletion and redownloaded MDN APP. Can I post here?
Test 2. Feel free to delete.
@Google is your friend – not
Why not let Windows 7 advertising pay for some of the costs of running a pro-Mac website?! It won’t do the advertisers any good, though…
@Google Is Your Friend – not,
Yes, and it’s all going “according to plan”. Google enables the OHA like Palpatine manipulated the Trade Federation to rise to power, and when the OHA/Trade Federation starts to look like the bully and the bad guy, Google/Emperor will swoop in with the Storm Trooper clone army (Chrome OS) lying in wait and says to the (Re)public: If you don’t want to be forced to comply with Trade Federtation/OHA, then just switch to All Google All the Time default page/desktop/app. And people will fall in line since what they really want is conformity (let’s Face[book] it).
Out of curiosity, what freedom is Apple and AT&T handing back to consumers, MDN? Just asking a question.
I presumed that Apple is taking away control from AT&T and giving it to…Apple. Consumers in the mobile market are like eastern europeans from 1939 to 1945: Nazis roll in, Soviets roll out. Reverse and repeat.
The freedom from telcos controlling and holding back the software potential, which is directly responsible for the iPhone user experience, which sets the new standard for mobile smart phones.
This would never have happened with Rob Cordry’s “Lougle” Android OS.
@clyde2801
There where no Soviets in eastern Europe until (after) 1945.
Please repeat your history classes and try to pass the exam.
It was 1939: Nazi’s roll into eastern Europe (and the Soviets had no trouble with that because of the non-aggression pact between the two)
Then 1945: Nazi’s out, Soviets in.
Then some time after that, Soviets stayed (using the establishment of the NATO with setting up the Warschau Pact as a reason) to further build up their control over these states.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a good thing for Apple? It will make the iPhone look even more wonderful in comparison to the rest of the “smartphones”
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Google is the “do-no-evil” snake oil charlatans foisting Android as the freetad on the public ignorance.
1939: Germany rolls into western Poland. Who invaded Eastern Poland?
What country invaded Finland?
Baltic States in 1940?
Who went into Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Yugoslavia in 43-44
and Czechoslovakia in 44-45 after the Germans?
Or are you saying the Sovs had transporters and beamed into Berlin in April 1945?
I’ve got a BA in History. Get your facts straight before you smack talk.
Clyde, I apologize for the last sentence in my previous post, that was indeed smack-talk and not necessary.
You have a BA in History, I’ve got mine in Geography. During my study, (’87-’92) there was a lot of emphasis on history as an explanation to the current situation) I’ve visited many places including Eastern Germany and Berlin before and after ‘the wall’ came down.
The original point you made in your post was that the Soviets where in Eastern Europe and when the Nazi’s rolled in, they rolled out.
That is not correct.
The Nazi’s rolled into Poland 1 week after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed. The Soviets followed 3 weeks later from the east. They co-existed for some time until the Nazi’s turned against them starting with Operation Barbarossa.
Baltic States and Finland are not part of Eastern Europe. Although there are many definitions to work with, cultural and geographical they belong to Northern Europe which also includes Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and all of the UK/Ireland.
Finland was an interesting part of WOII history anyway because they defended (successfully) their independence. They where invaded yes (the Winter War), but halted the invasion of the Soviets by themselves. Then with they 2nd campaign of the Soviets, (the Continuation War) they got help from the Nazi’s, but kicked out the Nazi’s eventually in the 3rd campaign, (the Lapland War). They lost part of their country, but 90% remained independent.
I was a bit simplistic to imply that the Soviets rolled in after ’45, this was of course an ongoing campaign of several years that started, should have been more precise and your point is taken.
I agree that the telcos are adding bloatware and branding, like carrier specific apps etc. to Android phones. And that sucks.
But they have never offered services like tethering, carrier provided NAV or carrier TV for free to any phone, iPhone or otherwise, and probably never will (apart from Sprint). I hear that Verizon even charges $2.99 extra per month for visual voicemail.
Schweet! Accurate history lessons on MDN. Who knew?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
won’t change the fact that iOS will shrink below 5% over time