When I first heard of Android I didn’t get it. Coming on the heels of iPod success it seemed like so many other Google attempts outside of search where entrenched competitors reign…not so successful. But in reading about Locale the light bulb went off. Locale is one of the winners of the $275k application contest Google had for Android applications. What they created was to ability for the phone to react programatically to one’s location. The simple case is your phone goes into vibrate mode if you’re in your favorite movie theater. But think about what Google is putting on the table – open programming environment, open location services, and an accelerometer. Now take Locale to its logical conclusion. What if you could wave your phone and your lights turned on. When you got near your girlfriends house it pinged her to let her know to get ready. Automatically pull up your Amazon wishlist when you walk into a bookstore. The mind boggles at the possibilities. I can see a whole hardware/software industry popping up around Android phones much like the games and physical accessories that popped up around the Wii. This could still turn out to be an also-ran attempt doomed to live in the iPhone’s shadow. But, what if this shakes up mobility and real-world interaction the way the Wii shook up game play.
Hmmmm, I think a better analogy would be “Android is like the PS4″ since the iPhone already does a lot of this (and has 30% smartphone market share plus 75% of US mobile web traffic).
The App Store is the biggest revolution of the iPhone. Basically ATT has given control of the “deck” to Apple and in turn Apple has made it dramatically easier to get applications on the phone. There are still some rules (e.g. no porn, nothing illegal, etc.). The iPhone API allows access to almost all the features of the phone. Think about this, it used to take several years to get on the deck and even then only the top 5-ish positions mattered. Now anyone can get on for $5K and folks like KPCB are investing in these things. 99% of these app developers aren’t businesses in the traditional sense, but they are a great way to “hire” developers.
If Android were released 2 years ago it would be eye-popping and jaw-dropping. As is, it’s a “me too” iPhone (maybe).