Is 'open' killing the Android?

[El Presidente]

BBC News - Is open killing the Android?

Interesting(ish) article by the BBC. I do agree with some points, but can also see the other side.

Whilst the argument that it is harder to make money via the Android Market is valid, I'm of the opinion that if your app is good, it will get noticed, become popular and you'll make money on it anyway.

Thoughts on the article in general?

 

[ardchoille]

.. Whilst the argument that it is harder to make money via the Android Market is valid, I'm of the opinion that if your app is good, it will get noticed, become popular and you'll make money on it anyway.

I couldn't agree more. Just look at apps like LauncherPro, ADW EX, ROM Manager and Titanium Backup. These apps are extremely popular (view download numbers) and I'm sure the developers are making a ton of money. If open was bad I don't think Android would have become as popular as it is in its short lifetime.

 

[takeshi]

Seems like a lot of the same repeatedly rehashed arguments on both sides to me. Are market sales figures based only on app sales? I doubt Android makes up the difference in ads but it has been pointed out countless times that Andoid users seem to tend to expect free apps and seem to be willing to put up with ads.

 

[PSkeptic]

Sure, open is always a bad thing. I mean, we see what has happened to Windows, being so open, and letting developers make any application they want for it.

And, look at Linux! Being open has killed it so bad, that it's running 86% of the internet right now.

And, look at Android: Being open has caused it to have a 300% year over year growth in activations...

 

[spottyelephant]

Irrespective of the free vs paid argument, I think we can all agree that the market is absolutely sh1t.

If an app doesn't appear on the first 4 window scrolls for me, I'm not going down any further. I don't even browse anymore, just wait until I hear or read about something and then search it directly - that's seriously bad design.

And it's quite ironic that Google and android are all about openness and transparency, yet they say absolutely nothing about what's going on in development, what changes for the market are planned, what issues are a priority etc etc.

 

[El Presidente]

Irrespective of the free vs paid argument, I think we can all agree that the market is absolutely sh1t.

Lol, I wouldn't say it's sh*t, but yeah, it could be better. It is an easier experience if you look online however. I've never used the iPhone app store so I can't compare.

If an app doesn't appear on the first 4 window scrolls for me, I'm not going down any further. I don't even browse anymore, just wait until I hear or read about something and then search it directly - that's seriously bad design.

Agreed, hardly any of the apps have installed I've found by accident, all of which have been recommendations.

And it's quite ironic that Google and android are all about openness and transparency, yet they say absolutely nothing about what's going on in development, what changes for the market are planned, what issues are a priority etc etc.

I kinda agree here, but it doesn't make sense for any company to say "we have XXX in development" only for a rival to nick it and say they made it first. It would be nice to be kept abreast of what improvements they are making to specific apps though (the market being the main one).

 

[EarlyMon]

BBC News - Is open killing the Android?

Interesting(ish) article by the BBC. I do agree with some points, but can also see the other side.

Whilst the argument that it is harder to make money via the Android Market is valid, I'm of the opinion that if your app is good, it will get noticed, become popular and you'll make money on it anyway.

Thoughts on the article in general?

Best yellow journalism ever, imo.

Apple cleared over a billion pounds while the Market had lower revenue than even BB or Nokia with only 60 million pounds?

So - there was this way popular game on the iPhone, for pay, called Angry Birds. It came out for free - that is, advertising supported - on the Android, and after two months, the authors of it were claiming that at over a million US dollars per month, it was cleaning up compared to the Apple offering.

Here - let me explain what giving birth feels like.

Wait - I'm not qualified to write about that, so I either have to learn if possible or get someone with experience to help me write the article.

Once upon a time, the latter thinking applied to journalists, now it's the former.

 

[dylo22]

Doesn't apple allow ads in their apps as well? Developers for the iphone/ipad can make money through ads or traditional paid apps just like google. Sounds like a win win model.

As much as I like android, google do need to step up their game.

P.S I'm not an Apple Fanboy. Just saying it like it is.

 

[Roze]

Doesn't apple allow ads in their apps as well? Developers for the iphone/ipad can make money through ads or traditional paid apps just like google. Sounds like a win win model.

As much as I like android, google do need to step up their game.

P.S I'm not an Apple Fanboy. Just saying it like it is.

Actually, yes but ads a relatively new concept for Apple. iAd was incorporated in iOS4 that was released last year. So before than, ads weren't part of the OS system.

Ads from the iAd Network can only run on iOS apps built with iOS SDK 4 and target iOS 4 as the minimum OS.

Support - iAd Network - Apple Developer

Also, not a lot of apps that I've download from the Appstore (sis' iPad) has ads for the free version.

 

[EarlyMon]

As much as I like android, google do need to step up their game.

Respectfully, step up their game to what?

Every Android user is a guaranteed Gmail user, and user of oh-so-many things from the Market.

Google is making money hand over fist and is growing.

I agree there's plenty they can and should do to continue improving - but the article is biased to make it sound like Google is totally failing here.

 

[RiverOfIce]

Google never created the os to make money, no one really seems to understand that. Apple created the os to make apple money. In fact the only reason the iphone was ever made was to make money off the apple os.

If apple stops selling the apple os, apple will stop making money. If google stops the android os, they will still keep making money.

The only thing google has to lose in android is time, they already made the os work. Since android is open source it is not likely to go anywhere from this point on.

The articles points only hold water if your only source of income is your os. Apple has everything to lose if they are open. Google has nothing.

 

[EarlyMon]

Google never created the os to make money, no one really seems to understand that.

I certainly don't. I submit that Google makes money on advertising and they've made more thru that with Android's existence - and I submit they planned that.

They're not a charity and didn't do this from the goodness of their hearts.

Apple created the os to make apple money. In fact the only reason the iphone was ever made was to make money off the apple os.

Apple sells hardware and some software. Their OSes are there to support the sales of those two things. Remember, software is computer software, music, movies, tv shows, magazines, books, etc.

If apple stops selling the apple os, apple will stop making money.

If they stop producing the OSes then their entire money-making ecology falls down.

If google stops the android os, they will still keep making money.

Yes, just less of it.

The only thing google has to lose in android is time, they already made the os work. Since android is open source it is not likely to go anywhere from this point on.

The articles points only hold water if your only source of income is your os. Apple has everything to lose if they are open. Google has nothing.

Remember the Darwin project?

 

[El Presidente]

I agree there's plenty they can and should do to continue improving - but the article is biased to make it sound like Google is totally failing here.

Agreed, there is an element of doom and gloom surrounding the article, it's almost as if it was written by an apple fanboy

 

[dylo22]

Respectfully, step up their game to what?

In providing a better environment for developers to make money. If the money is there, we'll benefit from it by getting better apps. Look at the apps that are created now, majority of them are created for iphone first then an android port (usually not as good) later. This should be the other way around.

Every Android user is a guaranteed Gmail user, and user of oh-so-many things from the Market.

Google is making money hand over fist and is growing.

I agree there's plenty they can and should do to continue improving - but the article is biased to make it sound like Google is totally failing here.

I agree the article is biased. I don't think google is totally failing, but I do think it is an issue that google needs to address. Apps are the driving force for these phones. If developers aren't making (or as much) money, then we're always going to be playing second fiddle to Apple.

 

[Shocky]

Ahhh yes the BBC, I remember when the iPad was launched you could see people using them on news programs and were shown off on chat shows a number of times, it was pathetic.

It's funny product placement wasnt allowed but that wasnt a problem.

 

[nosehat]

Originally Posted by spottyelephant:
Irrespective of the free vs paid argument, I think we can all agree that the market is absolutely sh1t.


Lol, I wouldn't say it's sh*t, but yeah, it could be better. It is an easier experience if you look online however. I've never used the iPhone app store so I can't compare.

As a relative newcomer to the Android and the Android Marketplace, the best news I'm taking from this BBC article is the existence of these 3rd party app stores. If I can find a reasonably stocked app store that lets me do an advanced search, where I can filter the results by the permissions requested by the apps, I will happily abandon the Android Marketplace.

BTW, as a life-long Linux user and open-source advocate, I'd have to say that "open" is in no way killing the Android. A poorly designed Google app store is perhaps inconveniencing some users now. But "open" is the solution here, not the problem, in the form of 3rd party app stores that are enabled and encouraged by Android's "open" approach.

--Nosehat

 

[spottyelephant]

As a relative newcomer to the Android and the Android Marketplace, the best news I'm taking from this BBC article is the existence of these 3rd party app stores. If I can find a reasonably stocked app store that lets me do an advanced search, where I can filter the results by the permissions requested by the apps, I will happily abandon the Android Marketplace.

BTW, as a life-long Linux user and open-source advocate, I'd have to say that "open" is in no way killing the Android. A poorly designed Google app store is perhaps inconveniencing some users now. But "open" is the solution here, not the problem, in the form of 3rd party app stores that are enabled and encouraged by Android's "open" approach.

--Nosehat

You should try using Appbrain, it's pretty good. But really we shouldn't have to resort to a 3rd party providing our recommendations to us!

 

[jerofld]

If the number of Android users continues to climb at the rate that it is, and Apple only realistically can expect any jump in numbers twice per year (when the next gen iPhone/iPad comes out), developers will be forced to develop for Android, sooner or later.

Honestly, though, I think Android's growth has less to do with the actual OS. I think it has more to do with the fact that there are many more handsets that support it than iOS. There are new handsets coming out at a much faster rate and are on all carriers. Where iPhones were originally only on AT&T, and now are there and VZW. Android just had more room to grow. And it took Apple 9 months to change the color of the plastic

 

[EarlyMon]

Honestly, though, I think Android's growth has less to do with the actual OS. I think it has more to do with the fact that there are many more handsets that support it than iOS.

To my thinking, what you say is kinda one of those deals where you're simultaneously 100% right - and 100% wrong.

On its face, yes it's 100% right - people are going to buy that range of phones, so that's going to grow Android, just by range of ubiquitous products alone. So - Android OS has little or nothing to do with it.

On the other hand - why is everyone happy selecting those various models and not similarly priced models using something else? Because they have functions users want, and work in a way that users can relate to. And why is that? The Android OS.

I could be wrong - that's just my opinion.