I recently switched from a Windows Mobile telephone to an Android-based mobile phone. When I was making the switch, I had to decide whether I was going with the iPhone, which my wife uses. or to run with Blackberry or Android, a Google-centric operating system (Symbian, which runs Nokia phones, and the Palm-based OS look like losers and I don’t want to get caught with limited app choice or upgradeability).
I liked the iPhone but the lack of keyboard made Blackberry look inviting. In the end, what sealed the deal for me was the apparently anti-competitive behavior of Apple and AT&T in declining to accept Google Voice as an App for the iPhone.
- Apple Is Growing Rotten To The Core: Official Google Voice App Blocked From App Store
- FCC Takes On Apple And AT&T Over Google Voice Rejection
- Why The FCC Wants To Smash Open The iPhone
- Andy Kessler: WSJ: Why AT&T Killed Google Voice
- Apple Isn’t Even Bothering To Lie Anymore
Why should I reward companies which are engaging in this type of behavior with my business? Apple is already acting anti-competitively by tying iTunes to the iPhone and iPod. So I went elsewhere.
Android is an open-source software system, which means that the code is available for everyone to see, which gives developers maximum flexibility. It also means that Google can’t win the OS war by making your life more difficult and tying you into their system like Microsoft and Apple do. Instead, they must compete to be the best at what they do.
And they are doing that well. The video below from Bloomberg features Nicholas Thompson of Wired Magazine telling us why Android is gaining ground on Apple.
Related articles
Google enables Push Gmail for iPhone & Windows Mobile – Download Squad
AT&T Risks Losing Voice To Skype – Wall Street Journal