Comparing Droid to iPhone, two interesting strategies
“Second podcast of the day, comparing Apple’s and Google’s strategies.”
Dave discusses his experience with the new Android device, the Motorola Droid, and how it compares to the iPhone. He notes that the Droid provides a more seamless integration with the web experience, extending features like Google Maps and Gmail in ways the iPhone had not. Dave observes that this reflects the broader competition and convergence between the technology ecosystems of Google and Apple, which could have progressed further had the companies collaborated. Overall, Dave is excited about the Droid and the potential for new technological advancements, despite some initial challenges in adapting to the device.
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Transcript
This transcript was automatically generated.
Hey, it’s Dave Winer again,
another podcast coming to you
from the droid.
It’s, boy, what a day. I dropped everything. I had all these things I was supposed to do, and I didn’t do any of them.
And the reason why is I got this exclusive new toy.
You know, NetNet, it’s a little bit hard to control. It’s definitely got some quirks.
I’m going to be writing about those pretty soon. But I have an observation I want to share with you.
What’s very interesting about this is that it is an extension of your web experience.
It’s a handheld device that is perfectly integrated, or is going to be perfectly integrated.
Let’s put it that way. It points the way towards perfect integration with the web.
And only in ways that the iPhone just began to hint at it , and almost all of the ways that the iPhone began to hint at this were through the Google Apps that were part of the iPhone.
That would be the Maps and YouTube. I guess those would be the two main ones.
This one, it’s like so much more than that. Basically, where Apple has an email application, they have Gmail. The Maps go much further. They become basically a GPS router for you and your mobile life.
But it’s just Google Maps. It’s just Google Maps with a bunch of features that bring it right in there.
So then the question comes back . Remember when Apple became clear with – Apple was buying up pretty much like massive data center? That ’s going to be the new – so Apple, of course, gets this.
Couldn’t not get it that the handheld device and the integration with the web experience is absolutely essential.
So what you’re going to see is the back end of the iPhone is going to show up in a big way on the web the same way that the droid shows you how the Google Web experience is moving out to the handheld device and to, of course, the desktop as well because they’re doing the Google OS, the Chrome OS.
So what you have is these two huge piles of technology, Goog les and Apples, sort of meeting – not meeting , but crossing paths with each other where one is really strong and the other is still developing. The other is strong and you see how it works.
If these two companies were to have worked together, we all would be further along.
But, of course, that working together thing is elusive and they’re going to end up working together better by competing than they ever would have had they decided to join forces and work together.
It’s good, really good to see such a bold, big, new thing here with the droid.
I know for a lot of people it’s not new. For me, it is brand new.
And for a lot of people I think this is the moment when they’re going to look at droids, the Android and see it as being something realistic that they could actually use.
And it is absolutely competitive for the iPhone.
There’s no question about it.
It’s not in every way as good as the iPhone. The desktop is a mess.
Where the iPhone desktop is absolutely a joy. I’m playing 20 questions with it all the time trying to figure out why it’s beeping at me. There are missing controls, so I can’t have it beep when I’m getting an SMS and not have it beep when I’m getting a Gmail, which is ridiculous.
I get so much more email than I do SMSs. It’s just hard.
It’s going to take a while for me to fit this into my lifestyle, but it’s going to be well worth it.
And it’s something I’m looking forward to. I’m just going to have to find some balance here.
Actually, people get some work done with my own applications, which believe it or not, are starting to blossom in some really interesting ways.
We’re about to enter a period in which if the economy can hold itself together just a little bit longer, we’re going to see some huge explosive new combinations in technology.
I don’t doubt for a second that Apple’s integration of their desktop and the network is going to be every bit as interesting as what Google has done here.
It’s just going to be interesting for different reasons.
That’s my observation for the end of early evening Friday.
Who knows? There may be another one of these coming up real soon. It’s been real, real interesting. Anyway, that’s it for me today.
Why not sing it out? Sing it out. I better not have to sing.
Signing out is what I meant to say, but I could sing something. I’m not going to. Anyway, thanks.
Bye.
It’s, boy, what a day. I dropped everything. I had all these things I was supposed to do, and I didn’t do any of them.
And the reason why is I got this exclusive new toy.
You know, NetNet, it’s a little bit hard to control. It’s definitely got some quirks.
I’m going to be writing about those pretty soon. But I have an observation I want to share with you.
What’s very interesting about this is that it is an extension of your web experience.
It’s a handheld device that is perfectly integrated, or is going to be perfectly integrated.
Let’s put it that way. It points the way towards perfect integration with the web.
And only in ways that the iPhone just began to hint at it , and almost all of the ways that the iPhone began to hint at this were through the Google Apps that were part of the iPhone.
That would be the Maps and YouTube. I guess those would be the two main ones.
This one, it’s like so much more than that. Basically, where Apple has an email application, they have Gmail. The Maps go much further. They become basically a GPS router for you and your mobile life.
But it’s just Google Maps. It’s just Google Maps with a bunch of features that bring it right in there.
So then the question comes back . Remember when Apple became clear with – Apple was buying up pretty much like massive data center? That ’s going to be the new – so Apple, of course, gets this.
Couldn’t not get it that the handheld device and the integration with the web experience is absolutely essential.
So what you’re going to see is the back end of the iPhone is going to show up in a big way on the web the same way that the droid shows you how the Google Web experience is moving out to the handheld device and to, of course, the desktop as well because they’re doing the Google OS, the Chrome OS.
So what you have is these two huge piles of technology, Goog les and Apples, sort of meeting – not meeting , but crossing paths with each other where one is really strong and the other is still developing. The other is strong and you see how it works.
If these two companies were to have worked together, we all would be further along.
But, of course, that working together thing is elusive and they’re going to end up working together better by competing than they ever would have had they decided to join forces and work together.
It’s good, really good to see such a bold, big, new thing here with the droid.
I know for a lot of people it’s not new. For me, it is brand new.
And for a lot of people I think this is the moment when they’re going to look at droids, the Android and see it as being something realistic that they could actually use.
And it is absolutely competitive for the iPhone.
There’s no question about it.
It’s not in every way as good as the iPhone. The desktop is a mess.
Where the iPhone desktop is absolutely a joy. I’m playing 20 questions with it all the time trying to figure out why it’s beeping at me. There are missing controls, so I can’t have it beep when I’m getting an SMS and not have it beep when I’m getting a Gmail, which is ridiculous.
I get so much more email than I do SMSs. It’s just hard.
It’s going to take a while for me to fit this into my lifestyle, but it’s going to be well worth it.
And it’s something I’m looking forward to. I’m just going to have to find some balance here.
Actually, people get some work done with my own applications, which believe it or not, are starting to blossom in some really interesting ways.
We’re about to enter a period in which if the economy can hold itself together just a little bit longer, we’re going to see some huge explosive new combinations in technology.
I don’t doubt for a second that Apple’s integration of their desktop and the network is going to be every bit as interesting as what Google has done here.
It’s just going to be interesting for different reasons.
That’s my observation for the end of early evening Friday.
Who knows? There may be another one of these coming up real soon. It’s been real, real interesting. Anyway, that’s it for me today.
Why not sing it out? Sing it out. I better not have to sing.
Signing out is what I meant to say, but I could sing something. I’m not going to. Anyway, thanks.
Bye.