Android is the new linux

10/3/11 Android is the new Linux — and that’s not a good thing

1/7…cnn.com/…/mobile_android_is_the_new_linux__e2_80_94_and_thats_not_a…

Apple 2.0 Big Tech Tech Tumblr Innovation Nation Startups Brainstorm Tech Video Tablet View

Android is the newLinux — and that’s not a goodthingBy John S. Wilson, Policy Diary October 02, 2011: 03:00 PM ET

(gigaom.com) --

Google’s mobile operating system Android is the new Linux: open, free

(aside from patent issues), and just a utility. It’s completely worthless as a

brand in which to build upon. Unfortunately for Google, Android means

different things to different companies. For HTC and Samsung it’s

beginning to be a patent mess. And for Amazon, it’s just a customizable

layer that doesn’t even deserve branding, acknowledgment, or universal

support. And ultimately this will be Android’s downfall into irrelevance.

Android, based originally on a kernel

of Linux, and backed by 84 hardware

and software partners, as part of the

Open Handset Alliance, was first

envisioned to be the next open

mobile standard. Google presumed,

with good reason, that if they were

able to get industry consensus there

would be less compatibility issues,

more sales, and a much higher

chance of long-term success. Well,

one out of three ain’t bad.

Sales we can’t argue with. According

to Nielsen in their latest report,

Android accounts for a 43% share of

the smartphone market. And the

recent purchase of Motorola Mobility

(MMI) by Google has led many

analysts to believe that Google is

saying to the world two critical things:

(1) We’re all in on Android; and (2)

Securing more patents will help

buttress Android from patent suits.

But it also showed a significant

weakness. “The MMI purchase is the

result of Google’s miscalculations

about the way value is captured in

mobile computing. These strategic

missteps placed Google in a position

of weakness and forced it into a

costly and desperate move,” said

job title or company location

Graphic Designer jobs Project Managementjobs

Engineering jobs

Technical Writer jobs

Software jobs Product Managementjobs

Most Popular

Stocks tumble into the fourth-quarter 210

Is Morgan Stanley the next Lehman? 41

Minimum wage to rise in eight states 90

25 highest-paid women 26

American Air stock loses 32% on bankruptcy fear 19

Tech Blogs

APPLE 2.0

Ticonderoga on the new iPhone: Prepare for media blitz,long lines, unprecedented demand

TECH TUMBLR

Farewell, ancient gadgets

BIG TECH

Is Netflix losing its soul?

TODAY IN TECH

Today in Tech: Why Facebook's automatic sharing is thefuture

Tech Jobs

Recommend 58 people recommend this. Be the first of your friends.

28 16 8

Print

More fromgigaom.com

Sponsored Links

2550% Penny Stock Gains?Our last pick jumped 2550% - Join our

newsletter for Free Stock Picks!

Computers on eBay®Find great deals on Computers. eBay -

It's where you go to save!

Buy a link here

Register Log In CNN

Subscribe to Money

Enter symbol or keyw ord

Home Video Business News Markets Term Sheet Economy Tech Personal Finance Small Business Leadership 47KLike



Horace Dediu, noted mobile

industry analyst.

It’s fitting that Android was birthed

from Linux. Long thought to be the

crown jewel of the “open software

approach,” Linux is an operating

system that is completely free and

the source code may be modified at

will and given away or sold. It was

going to herald in a new era of

desktop computing and conquer

Microsoft in the 80s, claimed

fanboys. Of course, no such thing happened. In case you hadn’t heard

Microsoft went on to have a little bit of success, and Linux pretty much

became destined for servers, where it mostly resides today. In fact, the

competitive advantages that Linux held over other operating systems —

free to use, easy and legal to modify, and can work on nearly any device —

led to its being relegated to being just a utility to be manipulated by any

manufacturer’s fancy, and an even smaller brand identity among

mainstream consumers. Turned out people didn’t really care if their

operating system was open or not; they just wanted it to work well.

Android is heading in the same direction. Fragmentation is a big issue (One

that Google has acknowledged). Because so many partners are using

different versions of Android, updating them when they see fit (as opposed

to on a unified schedule), and naturally have different hardware limitations,

the Android that developers are expecting isn’t necessarily the Android that

their apps can play well with. A recent poll of 250 Android developers

found that 86% were concerned about fragmentation, and 56% said it was

a meaningful or “huge” problem, an increase over the previous 3 months.

If that weren’t bad enough, Amazon’s new tablet, the Kindle Fire, which is

built on Android — though you’d be hard-pressed to know — won’t officially

support Android apps outside of Amazon App Store. It’s the equivalent of

buying a Windows PC at Best Buy and not being able to use Excel on it

unless, of course — you guessed it — Excel was also purchased at Best

Buy. I don’t fault Amazon for this. It’s actually a stroke of genius

guaranteeing that Kindle Fire users will only be buying their matches from

Amazon. Users, or detractors, can put the blame squarely where it

deserves to be — on Google. By making Android so open as to become a

brand-less utility free to be consumed, modified, reimagined, and devoid of

the competitive advantage it was born of — namely, openness — Google

has allowed Pandora’s box to be opened.

And what’s awaiting inside? Amazon, in a bid to make it “easier” to surf the

web on the Fire, has decided to pre-cache user web browsing, meaning

use their servers to communicate user information to the site destination.

The implications? “Amazon will capture and control every Web transaction

performed by Fire users. Every page they see, every link they follow, every

click they make, every ad they see is going to be intermediated by one of

the largest server farms on the planet, said Apple engineer Chris

Espinosa. How’s that for open?

And it gets better. Not only is Amazon changing the purpose of Android –—

to proliferate an open mobile operating system — they’re also changing the

profit model on which it was created. Espinosa goes on to say:

“[Amazon doesn't] use Google’s web browser; they can intermediate user

click through on Google search results so Google doesn’t see the actual

user behavior. Google’s whole play of promoting Android in order to

aggregate user behavior patterns to sell to advertisers is completely

subverted by Amazon’s intermediation.”

Google gave Android away for free because the more services they could

bake into Android, the more advertising revenue they could generate. In

the first quarter of this year ad revenue accounted for 97% of Google’s

SEE ALL JOBS

Galleries

Sprint's bestselling smartphone -- a

big overseas hit -- is now available in

the United States. BGR's Todd

Haselton put the Samsung Galaxy S

II through its paces. More

Facebook's new "social" apps are

designed to broadcast what you read,

watch and listen to. Getting them to

quit it requires diving deep into

Facebook's privacy settings. More

A social-media fueled plan to #OccupyWallStreet brought hundreds of

protesters to Manhattan's financial center, where they have remained for 12

days. More

Pop in some change and catch a

soda can. That's so yesterday. Now

innovation has produced vending

machines that spin cotton candy,

"gift" a soda to a friend miles away

and make Ramen Noodles in three

minutes. More

Halloween is just around the corner:

Prime time for an outbreak. Are you

ready? Here's what you'll need to

assemble your apocalyptic go-

bag. More

SEE ALL GALLERIES

CNNMoney Sponsors

A database to help themilitary share its airwaves

955 Dreams tackles musicdiscovery with Band of theDay

10 ways to deal withcybersecurity in a smartgrid world

Subscribe to gigaom.com

Sprint's 4G winner

Stop apps from sharing

Wall Street protest

Cool vending machines

How to survive a zombie

apocalypse



Print

4 people liked this.

Join the Conversation (21 of 21 comments)

the first quarter of this year ad revenue accounted for 97% of Google’s

profit (a typical percentage). So Google can’t afford for Amazon’s Kindle

Fire to be successful. Not only would that kill the notion that ‘open’ is the

future of the mobile space as much as Linux was the future of the desktop,

it would also set a precedent: while Google may need Android, Android

definitely doesn’t need Google.

John S. Wilson is a health policy analyst and editor of Policy Diary, a

weekly health policy blog. He can be reached at [email protected] or

on Twitter: @johnswilson1

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:

Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Tablets wars: Apple is from Venus, Amazon is from Mars

Disruptapalooza 2011: how Amazon’s Kindle is changing the portable media game

Mobile Q1: All Eyes on Tablets, T-Mobile and AT&T

John S. WilsonLog out

CNNMoney w elcomes a lively and courteous discussion as long as you follow the Rules of Conductset forth in our Terms of Service. Comments are not pre-screened before they post. You agree thatanything you post may be used, along w ith your name and profile picture, in accordance w ith ourPrivacy Policy and the license you have granted pursuant to our Terms of Service.

I enjoy your crack-smoking. Please don't stop pretending Linux is

some lying-down beast only servers use. It's been eroding

Microsoft's Desktop share for half a decade. Android is fragmented,

and the many pieces are also eroding Microsoft's share and Nokia's

share. In short, nothing in this article is accurate except for the

cute numbers ending with a % sign.

Sponsored Links

2550% Penny Stock Gains?Our last pick jumped 2550% - Join our newsletter for Free Stock Picks!w w w .PennyStocksExpert.com

Computers on eBay®Find great deals on Computers. eBay - It's where you go to save!w w w .ebay.com

Invest in Gold TodayDiversify your investment portfolio with Gold and Silver. Get a Free Investor Kit.GoldSavingsofAmerica.com

Mortgage Rate at 2.63%$200,000 loan for $803/month. See New Payment - No SSN Rqd. Save Now!Refinance.LeadSteps.com

Buy a link here

LiadsOlderBrother, 4 hours ago

Nathan Scandella, 3 hours ago in reply

to LiadsOlderBrother

Share Email

Sort by Oldest first Subscribe by RSS

Documents

Android is the new linux