AndroidGuys

There’s a piece here on AndroidGuys that’s getting an awful lot of attention right now called “Why The iPhone Is Poised to Crush Android” by my colleague, Jamie Hunter. While I know his intentions behind the piece, most people are walking away scratching their heads and wondering if he’s gone mad. I wanted to put a “follow up” piece online within hours of his article, but decided to wait. I wanted to see whether or not readers would pick up on his main points. It’s becoming more apparent that people are not.

Let me back up and say this first: Yes, I think that headline was a little too provocative for its own good. Coming from an Android fansite, it looks like one of our writers has turned heel. The second thing I would like to point out is that the piece is an op-ed and nothing more. If it makes you guys feel better, I enrolled Jamie in a class called “Creating the Right Title for Your Blog Post“. He’s also not allowed to refer to Apple or the iPhone for at least 3 op-ed articles.

The basis behind the piece is the concern over whether or not Android will be affected by not having specific regulations or certification procedures. I think it’s fair to say that a common concern with open source platforms is that they are too risky to gamble with for some people. Having more and more information at your fingertips can be scary for a lot of people, especially when there are fears over whether or not data is safe. Will my phone be hacked? Will it stop working because I installed this calendar program?

Jamie wrote that article from the perspective of a person who stands in front of customers on a daily basis. As most of you know, people by and large, are stupid. They don’t know half of what their phone can do for them. His stance was that people who end up with Android phones might be too afraid to install anything over fear that they’ll end up bricking their device, because they download malware or other software that doesn’t play nice with others. And if they don’t brick the phone, they’re too scared to do anything with it that might cause it to happen.

I’ve said it here before – The iPhone will be known for what it looks like whereas Android phones will be known for what they can do. The beauty of open source is that the community polices itself. Finding vulnerabilities and holes is not the same on Linux as it is with Windows. How long does it take for service packs and updates? The Linux crowd is considerably more proficient than your mom and dad are, and have been quietly enjoying a more feature-rich lifestyle for some time now. There’s nothing you can’t fix by doing the old “format and reload” common with computers. Ok… almost nothing.

Android phones will offer more out of the box in version 1.0 than Apple’s iPhone did. Of course there will be enhancements and upgrades to the iPhone 2.0 and beyond, but Google and Apple will be keeping each other honest by forcing themselves to adapt. The stuff I’ve seen from the Developers Challenge has blown me away and I’ve only seen a small percentage of them. I cannot wait to see what’s in store for those taking the “wait and see” approach. The mashups and programs coming in are way beyond the scope of what current handsets are capable of, even the iPhone.

One of my previous op-ed pieces was about how Google could learn a little bit from Apple’s App Store model, offering a centralized location where users can find new content. Having something that is officially approved by Google or the OHA would put people at ease that otherwise might be afraid to install games on their phones. Apple is one of the best companies in the world at marketing things to people and you can bet your butt that they’ll have no problem getting people to buy into the App store model. Even with everyone knowing that they’re taking 30% off the top for themselves, developers are on board with the idea.

Google is at somewhat of a disadvantage because they are coming out a little over a year after Apple dropped the iPhone on the world. Having a head start of 5 million devices is no easy feat to overcome. However, it’s not insurmountable.

It would not surprise me to see each carrier having a collection of programs that they endorse or recommend their users buy in order to get the “full experience” that the provider offers. It would also not surprise me to see places like SlideME get adopted as the unofficial place to start for productivity tools and games. By letting people govern themselves, word will get out quickly as to what works, what stinks, and what is not worth the price of downloading.

I’ve been installing 3rd party applications on my Windows Mobile device for the last 2 years and there’s nothing I’ve run into that I can’t fix. I’m not a novice by any stretch, but I’m no world class hacker either. Jamie runs into the novice far more than he does the hacker.

I liken the apprehension of open source to the fear that many had back in the mid 90’s over buying items online. Until it became mainstream, you’d hear people questioning whether or not it was secure to give a credit card over the internet. Even today, you still have those people afraid to do anything online besides look at dancing hamsters. Apple is going to sell people on the idea that iPhones are more secure and stable even if they don’t directly do so. I personally have a friend who has an iPhone who keeps talking about quality assurance and whether or not Android will be secure. The more involved I get in Android and open source platforms for mobile phones, the more reassured I feel.

Personally, I feel comfortable using my credit card online with pretty much any site. However, there are those people who do not feel secure unless that see that VeriSign logo somewhere on the site. The same can be said for apps on a handset. I’ll be buying an Android phone and installing software the day it comes out, however Joe Schmo might hold off loading 3rd party apps if they aren’t signed or certified.