Time for a new assignment for our advisory board! Today I want to hear what you have to say about Android. Let me start by laying out the pros and cons as I see them.
PROS
- It’s Google. Google = Success in the technology market right now which bodes well for the device.
- It’s a pretty nice OS from a user perspective. Nice UI. Decent look.
- It might be the “other phone” along with the iPhone.
CONS
- Every OEM can tweak the UI meaning an potentially nightmarish (and expensive) development environment.
- They aren’t as big of a market as the media makes them out to be. (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10366193-94.html)
- Questionable support of applications: (http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/08/31/android.app.sales.low/) which may stem from the fact that Google is a app developer making everyone else a competitor.
- It isn’t clear that Android Users are Application Purchasers (http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/08/27/admob.july.2009/ ) (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/31/top-developer-reveals-android-markets-meager-sales/)
So – can you support or contradict the pros and cons? Do you have other pros and cons you’d want to add? How about personal experience with folks who have switched to or abandoned Android? As I’ve said, this is a platform we have not ruled out but I’d love to hear your opinion!
And as a extra motivation, if you post a response with your opinions TODAY you’ll be entered into a drawing for a special prize!
Since a lot of questions about platforms and release plans have come up in the other blog posts, I thought I’d take a second to write a quick update. I hope this helps to answer some of your questions! Keep in mind that in many cases I won’t be able to give specifics, but I will do my best to tell you what I can.
Ellen wrote last week about how Apple changed the mobile world with the iTunes App Store. I’m looking forward to seeing the impact of the Microsoft mobile software store, Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which is scheduled for release on October 6.
I recently found some notes and tasks from March 2008 – 18 months ago – and it really brought home to me how Apple has changed the mobile software world.
I was excited to see that NewsBreak Lite is now 
It’s Friday, Apple still hasn’t approved the new version of eWallet, and I want to post something new on the blog, so I’m going to drag out the soapbox and talk about privacy issues. As I said in my