Google and TweetDeck Executives Respond to Jobs' Anti-Android Comments

[rosalindavenue]

This is a little off topic, I guess, but I use Tweetdeck for Android and it is a top-notch app. And I am running it on a very outdated Droid Eris, rooted with Froyo. It works like a charm, as have all the beta builds before the current 1.0. Whoever those two Android developers are, they are doing a great job.

 

[macsmurf]

Android runs a VM... Great for compatibility and runs well. I'd like to be able to squeeze more out of my device though.

In theory, VMs can actually run code faster than native code due to VMs being able to optimze on run time. JavaScript interpreters in browsers have moved to VMs for the most part and are faster than ever.

 

[EvilEvil]

I wish I could update my 1st gen ipod touch to iOS4

 

[franswa za]

I liked him a lot better when he just made Macs and OS X.

i hope you will and i will be satisfied late wednesday afternoon!

 

[Dr McKay]

Amen. I can't believe people are really buying into Google's propaganda. Google. A for-profit corporation. That wants your data so it can push advertising at you. "Open?" Hilarious.

The biggest tech snow job I can recall since Microsoft's "The Freedom To Innovate" astroturfing campaign. "A future we do not want???" Here's a future I don't want: a future where Google is the exclusive gatekeeper of the world's information.

Choose the best device for your needs. But spare us the "Android is open and Google loves me" baloney.

I think the 'openness' is the ability to customize your phone with whatever you feel. Which, while is a good idea for Techheads who know what they're doing, is not a good option for Average Joes on their phones.

When I jailbroke my old 3G, I downloaded a tonne of customizations, and slowly but surely, the Phone ran into several issues and problems, I unjailbroke it and restored it, the issues went away.

I'll just wait in future, all the really popular jailbroken features end up being brought out by Apple, or they allow App developers to make official apps for them anyways.

Video recording on the 3G and 1st iPhone, letting you change your wallpaper, Multi-tasking.

 

[chugg]

Yeah, because I can always get my information from...AltaVista?

Google is becoming the only game in town when it comes to Web information. If that isn't extremely worrisome to you then I don't know what to say.

And tell me, how is that Google's fault?

They provided an amazing service and people came to it. That's all there is to it.

 

[macsmurf]

Wait, I'm missing something. I don't know about you, but my apps aren't tied to my carrier... I have an iPod Touch and an iPhone 4 and I can run the same apps on both... only had to buy them once. They're tied to my Apple account. And being able to port apps from carrier to carrier... can you do that with ALL the apps on the Android? How about carrier exclusive apps?

Carrier exclusive apps are not open. Get it?

 

[reticulate]

Google has opened the doors for all carriers and cell phone manufacturers to become completely dependent on Google.

If you ask me its a smart play by Google at the right time. Think back.... it's 2009, you've got every US carrier besides AT&T in need of a serious iPhone contender. You have mobile phone giants like Motorola who once dominated, losing money on their mobile phones. Even Palm's "last best shot" failed to make a dent despite providing so many of the whiz-bang iPhone-like features and a portfolio of patents to defend themselves against Apple for eternity. Now you release a "free" platform for the manufacturers to use. You make it easy for users to switch carriers or phone manufacturers and so long as they stay with Google Android which means you remove brand loyalty to the manufacturer or carrier. It gives Google insight into user's usage patterns and their purchasing patterns and the ability to drive advertising. Essentially the customers of all these manufacturers and carriers now belong to Google. What carrier or manufacturer would sign-up for such a deal UNLESS it was their only hope against Apple and iPhone?

Apple created Google. I am reminded of the first Batman movie with Keaton and Nicholson..... "You made me".... "You made me first."

Best comment in the thread.

What's interesting is that Android isn't doing as well internationally. The iPhone tends to rule marketshare next to Symbian. In Australia the last I saw was iPhone at something like 40% of marketshare in smartphones. The phone is available on all the major carriers and also unlocked direct from the Apple Store. I think the prevalence of CDMA in the States has made this issue look bigger than it is - people now want decent touchscreen smartphones, but coverage dictates they get an Android handset. I'd be interested to know how many would buy an iPhone instead given the opportunity.

 

[DougB541]

That's not how they see it, they're both Android phones. It's like HP made this computer but Dell made this one...but they both run Windows.

HTC makes this phone but Motorola makes this phone...but they both run Android.

I'm just saying what these two non-geeks were concerned with. It was confusing to them and quite frankly it's confusing to a lot of people.

Tell him to download Beautiful Widgets:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/beautiful-widgets/com.levelup.beautifulwidgets

 

[WeegieMac]

Time to shut up Mr. Jobs.

Yeah, because Android devices in three years time will support the latest OS's new features ...

Technology moves on.

What a piss poor example. Bravo.

 

[macsmurf]

Best comment in the thread.

What's interesting is that Android isn't doing as well internationally. The iPhone tends to rule marketshare next to Symbian. In Australia the last I saw was iPhone at something like 40% of marketshare in smartphones. The phone is available on all the major carriers and also unlocked direct from the Apple Store. I think the prevalence of CDMA in the States has made this issue look bigger than it is - people now want decent touchscreen smartphones, but coverage dictates they get an Android handset. I'd be interested to know how many would buy an iPhone instead given the opportunity.

Again, you seem to be arguing that Apple would destroy Android in the US if they opened up more.

 

[samcraig]

You are amazing. Truly. Complete fabrication based on what - your fantasy of how it went down?

Google isn't open. Android isn't open. Get used to it.

I don't need to get over anything. I couldn't care less about the platform or company behind it. In that respect I am neutral. If Google or TweetDeck had made the some comment easily debunked by Apple - you'd be crying foul.

That's besides the point. In this case - Jobs made a comment and the comment has been addressed. That's all. Business as usual

I based it on what Steve said. He got that information from someone, and I know how corporate communication works where you say one thing privately and the opposite publicly. So while I don't know that's the case here, it does fit the facts nicely.

No - you're clearly viewing it completely through your own rose colored glasses. But you're right. You don't know that's the case. So everything is PURE speculation. And you can speculate as many conspiracy theories as you like.

Yesterday was 2/18/10. Two companies - the makers of TweetDeck and Google. 18 - the number of fragmented versions of TweetDeck required for Android. 10 - the number of letters in "Apple Rules" - and notice all numbers from yesterday's date are EVEN. As in Job is getting EVEN with Google.

It all fits! :-/

 

[weespeed]

It is not the same thing. What you are talking about has nothing to do with fragmentation. v3.1 v4.0 vXYZ or any iOS release for that matter comes from one single vendor: Apple.

How is it not the same thing.
Apps work on iPhone4. Works with 3GS with v.4.1,3.13 but not 3.12,3.1,3.0 . Works with 3G v4.0(buggy), v3.1.3, and thats it.

Androis apps work on 2.2,2.1, mayby 1.7, not 1.6

Same fragmentation, No?
Difference is Apple does it to themselves.

 

[Cvstos]

I have a love/hate relationship with Google right now. I love GMail, the Chrome browser (Safari was nice but the memory leaks are a killer - I once had it eating a GIGABYTE of RAM even after closing all the windows!), and a few other products of theirs.

I hate their deal with the devil on net neutrality with Verizon, and a few other products and practices of theirs.

As for Android, I like it. It's the only mobile platform I've seen so far that competes with Apple's. (WP7, once it gets stuff like multi-tasking, could be decent too.) But, as a developer, it's a freaking nightmare.

My "team" consists of me, my artist girlfriend, and a friend who has offered to do music when I get closer to being done. I'm the only programmer, this is a side project, not a job I was hired to do professionally, although I'd love it if this could sustain me.

As you might imagine from the tasks above, I'm trying to make a game. And I'm sorry, but there is no way in hell that I can afford to test and fix my project on so many different versions of Android. An Android Army co-worker of mine at my day job suggested I just get one, make money from that, buy a new phone, and move on. And I do that how long? Over all 200+ handsets? They release new ones faster than I could test!

And even if that was plausible, I have to contend with FOUR app stores for one platform now, never missing one because the phone makers and carrier choose which what phone will support, and each has their own rules and policies? That's... absurd.

If one was making a simple Java app, I could see making it multi-platform for Android, iOS, and others. That's the beauty of Java, after all. But a game? Just... no.

If I'm going to do this, I'm going to go with Apple, because with them I can easily make one version that works with every iOS device and put it on one store and get access to, what, something like 60M+ iOS devices (?). That's the far superior option for me. And that's what Steve was talking about. I can focus on making my game, it's features and content, rather than having to focus on testing it for a few hundred different handsets.

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

You should learn stuff about programing, and class libaries.

Even for games it really is a non issue.
Screen resolution not an issue. OS handles its.
Make sure they all have the equipment and the OS handles the rest. For games you are not going to see many that are not all touch screen and at most you might seem add an option to allow a hardware keyboard be used as additional controls but never required.

Apparently you have never tried to use something like Unity3D to program a game for the iPhone. You couldn't be more incorrect.

 

[dtich]

I liked Steve a lot better when he was sitting back and quietly kicking ass instead of calling people out every other day.

+1

 

[Dbrown]

End users and non-geeks don't post on tech forums. Your mum or dad; That is an end user.

Well according to this forum, only geeks are interested in android, so android end users are.... geeks.

 

[DougB541]

My final statements.

Is android fragmented?

Sure.

Is it blown way out of proportion?

Yes

 

[rosalindavenue]

Now THIS is the best comment in the thread:

I think the prevalence of CDMA in the States has made this issue look bigger than it is - people now want decent touchscreen smartphones, but coverage dictates they get an Android handset. I'd be interested to know how many would buy an iPhone instead given the opportunity.

Bingo. Coverage dictates that I can't go with anyone but Verizon (and I guess Sprint since they roam on Verizon). I wanted a decent touchscreen smartphone and could not get an iphone if I wanted to have coverage-- so I got a droid. Google saw the need and plugged it-- PLUS they spec'd it to the failed windows mobile hardware that everyone could already build.

 

[WeegieMac]

I wish I could update my 1st gen ipod touch to iOS4

You don't honestly think Apple are "lying" to you and that they're trying to force an upgrade onto you?

Please, tell me you're not one of "them"?

The 1st Generation iPod touch, 1st Generation iPhone, and the iPhone 3G CANNOT handle the latest OS. The people who think big, bad, Apple are secretly coding poor performance into the ipsw file for earlier models are nothing but paranoid.

iOS4 should not even be available for the iPhone 3G. I jailbroke mine when I owned a 3G and enabled multi-tasking and home screen wallpaper, and had to remove the drop shadows behind the app icons and text to get the respring even bearable in terms of frame rate.

Even now, after the 4.1 "fix", the iPhone 3G is horrendous. It's old hardware, and first generation owners need to get a grip and stop whining that they can't get the latest firmware, like they're owed it or something. Apple have given you more incremental updates than almost any other company when it comes to a first generation device.

 

[Amadeo]

LOL, I just knew the tech guys would miss the point, and I never dreamed they would so publicly admit (inadvertently) it so quickly. Oh, they think they were being clever by these responses, but they merely confirm Steve's point.

Yes, sure, if you are a geek, the definition of open expressed in code makes a good point. But Steve wasn't addressing geeks (something that drives MacRumors posters crazy), for whom every device is open (including the iPhone) by their definition of open (as in, can I crack this?)

But the 90% of the smartphone users who are not geeks, in other words the hundreds of millions who wouldn't know code if it kicked them in the butt, these geek responses are meaningless. Geeks all over the Net are laughing at Steve today, but everyone else (90%) understands just what Steve said.

Android might be geek open, but to everyone else it's fragmented by what the cell providers are doing to Android. It's de facto locked down by Verizon, so that the end user is stuck with whatever version Verizon wants them to have, along with all the cruft that Verizon foists upon them. This is not open. Steve's point remains, and the geeks can laugh all they want, but the hundreds of millions of non-geek users are getting tired of "open" that is closed to them by stupid cell providers.

This is exactly the point I make to people. At the end of the day, the vast majority of people will simply shrug their shoulders at an "open" system and say: "Who gives a ****. I just want my phone to work."

 

[LagunaSol]

And tell me, how is that Google's fault?

They provided an amazing service and people came to it. That's all there is to it.

Who said I was faulting Google for this? Google is in the business of making money. There's nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is the hardcore Android fans' inability to see that Google is in the business of making money.

Google's spiel about "choice" is, as Jobs said, a smokescreen. Google doesn't care about choice. They really don't. They care that you choose an Android phone. Microsoft loves to talk about "choice" as well, when the only choice they really want you to go with is Microsoft. At least Apple is honest about their motivations. They want to build the best products so people will buy them. Google just wants you to believe they're doing you a favor. And it appears some people are buying into that propaganda. Do you really think the Google board of directors sits down and says "We really care about consumer choice here. What can we do to enhance that?" Give me a break. Yet without fail every Fandroid by default uses the word "choice" in his/her pro-Android arguments.

The brainwashing is complete.

 

[weespeed]

I saw the link on Gizmodo on the chart from TweetDeck on the different Android platforms they had to test. Wow!

It might not be a problem for TweetDeck, but maybe it could be for others. Maybe some companies wouldn't want to develop for Android if it is that fragmentent.



Yeah, but you chose not to update your firmware. The issue with Android fragamentation is some can't update their firmware.

And same goes for Apple. I didn't have a choice. I had to upgrade to run apps. Then When stuff didn't work right, Apple wouldn't let me revert back to my old firmware.
I kept my 3GS after I got the iPhone and when 4.0 came out for it, It was a pile of dodoo. But Apple said no, you can't go back to 3.13 and deal with the bugs.

 

[scriptx]

See the post you quoted high lights the stupidity of the masses who have no clue about developing software or even programing.

First you get it working on your computer (or test phone) and once it is working there you load it up on a 2-3 others to do quick check to make sure it is working.

It pass those chances are it will work on most if not all. Put it in beta to flush out the final bugs since mass number of testers will find problems. Same on iOS there. Put it out in the app store and bugs will be found and reported back since you have a mass number of testers easier to find problems.

....

You are correct and what you do for class, doesn't change much in the real world except when you have large development and QA teams. Of course, I am sure I'll have a dozen people stating otherwise and how my 10 years of experience of managing multiple simultaneous products is somehow invalid and how it is a nightmare for Tweetdeck even though they said it wasn't. It is a shame that people with closed minds don't also come with closed mouths...

 

[1reflectsathome]

Sounds like someone wants their next update rejected..

The link you gave provided a correction at the bottom of the article which states:

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that 20% of Android customers say they'll buy another Android phone. The survey actually revealed that 20% of all smartphone customers say they'll buy an Android phone.