A world without Android...

[albertfallickwa]

What would happen if Android had never existed? I think that iOS would have been without any competition. And Windows Phone 8.1 would have never become fruitful.

I would always wonder if Android had never existed that the world would have been worse off for it.

 

[maflynn]

The issue wtht that line of thought is the fact that android existed before the iPhone (google backed the project in 2003).

WP8.1 has roots in MS' WinCE platform.

To be fair, because of Apple both Android and WP have changed greatly, but by the same token, so hasn't iOS. We'd not see multitasking if android didn't have it first. Likewise the notification center.


All three platforms have benefited from the increased comeptition

 

[Lloydbm41]

The issue wtht that line of thought is the fact that android existed before the iPhone (google backed the project in 2003).

WP8.1 has roots in MS' WinCE platform.

To be fair, because of Apple both Android and WP have changed greatly, but by the same token, so hasn't iOS. We'd not see multitasking if android didn't have it first. Likewise the notification center.


All three platforms have benefited from the increased comeptition

This. Very well said sir.

 

[chagla]

i think would be IOS dominating phone market, with windows and blackberry having sizable share. I'd be in ios camp, and a secondary windows phone if there was no android.

 

[Fernandez21]

I think palm would be in a better place right now, like actually exist. And also windows phone would have a lot more penetration as the OEM's would've needed some OS to put on their hardware.

Also, there would still be a lot of integration between Google and the iPhone. And maybe even Google integration on windows phone.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

There would be another OS in its place. The glacial drift of progress is inevitable, regardless of what name happens to be upon it.

 

[nfl46]

Tons of people would still be carrying around Blackberry devices.

 

[Technarchy]

Tons of people would still be carrying around Blackberry devices.

And Palm. And Windows Phone.

Palm especially would be pretty big. WebOS was incredibly impressive out the gate, while android didn't really get it together till 2012.

 

[TantalizedMind]

Tons of people would still be carrying around Blackberry devices.

Yup. And the RAZR 7 would be a huge hit right now. It would be as thin as a piece of paper.

 

[Savor]

Apple monopoly

But Android wouldn't exist without Apple either. Originally a BlackBerry look-alike.

Personally, Android is the next evolution of Symbian and Windows Mobile. Both were highly customizable platforms. Flexibility and variety is what we need to keep the market healthy. Not a monopoly and stagnant.

Without Android, iOS wouldn't get better either. Competition is a driving force for innovation. Google, Apple, and Samsung all need each other to get better.

 

[Technarchy]

Apple monopoly

But Android wouldn't exist without Apple either. Originally a BlackBerry look-alike.

Personally, Android is the next evolution of Symbian and Windows Mobile. Both were highly customizable platforms. Flexibility and variety is what we need to keep the market healthy. Not a monopoly and stagnant.

Without Android, iOS wouldn't get better either. Competition is a driving force for innovation. Google, Apple, and Samsung all need each other to get better.

I don't think you realize how advanced webos was when it was released.

It made android look really bad at the time, and influences ios and android to this day.

It was a bit ahead of its time. Not much, but true.

 

[boast]

every company would have their own OS.

 

[JoeG4]

I don't think you realize how advanced webos was when it was released.

It made android look really bad at the time, and influences ios and android to this day.

It was a bit ahead of its time. Not much, but true.

I agree. WebOS had a lot of problems, and even WebOS 3 was a little janky at times, but oh man was it great. Man, imagine if Palm still existed and WebOS was getting developed with some real momentum behind it. It'd be incredible!

The thing that really did it for Android was availability! While Apple and Nokia phones were AT&T exclusive, you could get Android phones on any carrier - in the US you could get them on T-Mobile when everyone else was ignoring T-Mobile and thought it was a little freak carrier doomed to failure. Even MetroPCS got an Android phone, and Virgin, and a lot of cheap phones started coming out. Suddenly everyone could afford an Android phone and you could get them on throwaway plans even.

Let me remind you that T-Mobile didn't even have a compatible iPhone until last year. I wonder if Android saved them lol.

Really though, it was a bitch to get cool phones if you weren't on AT&T or VZW for a while. I don't think Nokia realized the carrier exclusives were killing them until it was too late.

 

[Lloydbm41]

I don't think you realize how advanced webos was when it was released.

It made android look really bad at the time, and influences ios and android and Windows Phone 8 to this day.

It was a bit ahead of its time. Not much, but true.

Fixed it for ya.

I had the HP Touchpad and they way I close apps after getting to the multitasking tray on my Lumia 1520 is damn near identical to WebOS.

Palm and WebOS had wireless charging, multitasking and a solid mobile ecosystem. Shame that it all got pissed away.

 

[Armand2REP]

What would happen if Android had never existed? I think that iOS would have been without any competition. And Windows Phone 8.1 would have never become fruitful.



I would always wonder if Android had never existed that the world would have been worse off for it.

Palm OS would have survived and been the competition.

 

[Vegastouch]

With no Android the OS on phones wouldnt be what they are today. Apple is forced to make bigger screens now and their OS still doesnt have the things Android does though they have adopted some of them so we would sorta be in a stagnant time as far as phones go.

 

[Fireblade]

With no Android the OS on phones wouldnt be what they are today. Apple is forced to make bigger screens now and their OS still doesnt have the things Android does though they have adopted some of them so we would sorta be in a stagnant time as far as phones go.

A world without android would be an iWorld on an IOS 3 level, gadget wise.
Ergo: a sad world

 

[kdarling]

But Android wouldn't exist without Apple either. Originally a BlackBerry look-alike.

So say some naive articles, but no one in their right mind back then would've even thought about competing with the enterprise adoption, security and patented push mail system that Blackberry owned.

Originally Android was meant as a Windows Mobile competitor, because Google was worried about Microsoft search.

That's why they used a known Windows Mobile phone for non-touch development, and why Android was designed to support both non-touch and touch devices, just like WM.

Personally, Android is the next evolution of Symbian and Windows Mobile. Both were highly customizable platforms.

This.

And Palm. And Windows Phone.

Even though we can all admire the clean slate they took with Windows Phone, I think Microsoft screwed up big time by dumping Windows Mobile so quickly.

There were lots of WM fans all around the world, and many held on for years. It was easy to write for in C#, easy to customize in all sorts of ways, and had some great hardware available.

Lesson: don't burn your old bridges until your new ones are in heavy use

Palm especially would be pretty big. WebOS was incredibly impressive out the gate, while android didn't really get it together till 2012.

WebOS was a joy to use, and the Pre with its Touchstone charger and pulsating notification light was a great phone (so was the Pixi).

Palm screwed up with the Sprint exclusive. They also wasted their TV ads. And IMO they should've come out with a large screen model.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

And Palm. And Windows Phone.

Palm especially would be pretty big. WebOS was incredibly impressive out the gate, while android didn't really get it together till 2012.

As I remember, Palm OS was already dying out. That's why most of the last breed of Palm phones had WM on it.

 

[Technarchy]

As I remember, Palm OS was already dying out. That's why most of the last breed of Palm phones had WM on it.

What phones were those?

Palm's last devices when it went to HP featured WebOS.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

What phones were those?

Palm's last devices when it went to HP featured WebOS.

Most of the Treo line was going towards WM. I had a Treo 750(WM) myself. WM was the momentum mobile OS up to the iPhone 3G released. Palm basically gave up on updating it's OS.

 

[Technarchy]

Most of the Treo line was going towards WM. I had a Treo 750(WM) myself. WM was the momentum mobile OS up to the iPhone 3G released. Palm basically gave up on updating it's OS.

Negative, ghost rider.

The last Treo was released in 2008, and the Treo line was replaced completely in 2009 by the Palm Pre. Same for Palm OS.

WebOS, Palms last OS, saw it's last update in January 2012, long after the Treo and Palm OS were dead and buried.

WebOS and Palm OS are very different.

WebOS

Palm OS

The very last Windows Treo device made in 2008-2009

 

[Ubuntu]

What would happen if Android had never existed? I think that iOS would have been without any competition. And Windows Phone 8.1 would have never become fruitful.

I would always wonder if Android had never existed that the world would have been worse off for it.

I think it would be worse off without Android. A lot of innovation has come from that platform, and it's a great choice for many, many people. Even for iOS users, without good competition like Android and Windows I think iOS's evolution would have happened at a significantly slower rate.

 

[Oohara]

There would be another OS in its place. The glacial drift of progress is inevitable, regardless of what name happens to be upon it.

/thread

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Negative, ghost rider.

The last Treo was released in 2008, and the Treo line was replaced completely in 2009 by the Palm Pre. Same for Palm OS.

WebOS, Palms last OS, saw it's last update in January 2012, long after the Treo and Palm OS were dead and buried.

WebOS and Palm OS are very different.

WebOS
Image

Image

Palm OS
Image

The very last Windows Treo device made in 2008-2009
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Technically your right. But Palm was already on life support when web OS came out. That was just a minor blip on the radar. I remember the iPhone and Android G1 was already the go to phones.