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Siegler writes, “In theory, I’m right there with you. The thought of a truly open mobile operating system is very appealing.”
MacDailyNews Take: Yeah, to botnet herders.
Siegler writes, “The problem is that in practice, that’s just simply not the reality of the situation. Maybe if Google had their way, the system would be truly open. But they don’t. Sadly, they have to deal with a very big roadblock: the carriers.”
MacDailyNews Take: More crap. Let’s get real, shall we? If Google had their way, everyone on earth would fully disclose every pertinent fact about themselves and voluntarily chip themselves for GPS tracking so that Google could serve them ads during every waking minute while creepy Schmidt and Co. figure out a way to serve ads during sleep. Google abuses “open” in order to sell fake iPhones to non-iPhone carrier customers, because every real iPhone that Apple sells has the potential of eliminating Internet users’ morbidly ingrained dependence on Google, thereby sidestepping Google’s ads.
Siegler writes, “The result of this unfortunate situation is that the so-called open system is quickly revealing itself to be anything but. Further, we’re starting to see that in some cases the carriers may actually be able to exploit this ‘openness’ to create a closed system that may leave you crying for Apple’s closed system — at least their’s looks good and behaves as expected.”
“Case in point: the last couple of Android phones I’ve gotten as demo units from Google: the EVO 4G and the Droid 2, have been loaded up with crapware installed by the carriers (Sprint and Verizon, respectively). Apple would never let this fly on the iPhone, but the openness of Android means Google has basically no say in the matter. Consumers will get the crapware and they’ll like it. Not only that, plenty of this junk can’t even be uninstalled,” Siegler writes. “How’s that for ‘open?'”
Siegler writes, “And this is just the tip of the iceberg… One of the great features of Android is that you can install apps without going through an app store, right? Well, not if you have an a Motorola Backflip or a HTC Aria running on AT&T — they’ve locked this feature down. How? Thanks to the open Android OS. Oh, and how about tethering? It’s one of the truly great features of Android 2.2, right? Well, not if you have a carrier that doesn’t want to support it.”
More examples in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: People who buy Android phones because they’re “open” are ignorant, stupid, delusional, and/or liars. Most people who buy Android phones, really wanted an iPhone, but it wasn’t available on the specific carrier that they’ve convinced themselves they need. The main reason to settle for an Android phone will evaporate sooner than later.
“Case in point: the last couple of Android phones I’ve gotten as demo units from Google: the EVO 4G and the Droid 2, have been loaded up with crapware installed by the carriers”
Yeah, my iPhone has no crap on it whatsoever. Except for Voice Memos & Stocks, which I can easily remove–oops! No I can’t!
Kettle, meet pot,
You don’t know what the term ‘crapware’ actually means, do you, Peter?
Dude couldn’t agree more. 😀 I love MDN
@ Peter,
If you had a decent job maybe you’d own a few stocks and you would feel like tracking them.
Perhaps after you grow up.
Remember, without the iPhone there wouldn’t be any Android phones. Pre iPhone, Androids phones were just cloned Blackberries until the mole inside Apple got the blueprints to clone an iPhone.
Has no one noticed that many of these Android based phones are sold using a buy one, get one free scheme. So, these numbers should be divided by two to get a real count for Android.
iPhone 4 can be purchased from multiple carriers in the UK, yet Android is showing huge sales and growth figures so please MDN you analogue is somewhat wrong, many ppl do want their androids instead of the iPhone …one reason is a cheaper price.
If the iPhone were to be offered on Sprint at some point, yeah, I would consider it. However, even if I changed to the iPhone, which wouldn’t be a major attitude adjustment anyway since I already have an iPod Touch, iPad, and Macbook Pro, I would be quite careful not to display the pompous and egotistical attitude that MDN does at times. It just tends to give Apple users a bad name.
What Android does for me:
-If I want to tether I can do that, yes even with Verizon I can do it for free with an app in the Marketplace
-If I want wifi tether I can do that
-If I want to be on Verizon, Tmobile, Sprint,… I can do that
-If I want a large screen I can get that
-If I want to use my phone as an external storage device I can do that
-If I want a hardware keyboard I can get that
-If I want apps that Jobs would not approve of I can get them (ex: Flash, Google voice)
-If I want a removable battery or SD card I can get that
-If I want to install apps that are not on the market I can do that
-If I want HDMI and/or USB I can get that
-If I want more buttons on the phone I can get that
-If I really object to something in a certain Android phone or manufacturer I can buy a different one.
-Outside of the open argument android has some great apps…
Google navigation, goggles, voice, voice control and many more.
-allows for greater customization and control
There are arguments for both android and Iphone (ios) but to one who says that any Android is inferior is simply ignorant of the ability of the Android phones.
(note: no rooting or jailbreaking that becomes a whole different argument)