I'm not a user of Android -- but answer me this: what about it is about search?
Well, since they're giving the OS away for
free, it's obviously a vehicle for their
search business and not a business itself.
Here's where I think Android and Chrome came from: Microsoft's foray into the search business. Microsoft, as always, wants its fingers in every pie. They saw Google making big money in search, they wanted in on that action. So they started a search engine. Sure, it didn't go anywhere, but it was a clear shot across Google's bow.
Google had to realize the precarious situation it was in. Microsoft and Apple (and RIM for mobile) are the gateways to which people get information through Google. Hence, Google's business is completely dependent on Microsoft, Apple and RIM. If Microsoft and Apple and RIM decide (as Microsoft did) that they want into the search biz, they could start their own services, integrate them into their OSes and devices, and effectively strangle Google to death (if slowly).
Google's solution? Its own mobile and desktop OSes (and in the Nexus One's case, devices).
No one wants to be at the other guy's mercy. Just ask Netscape, Novell, WordPerfect, etc.
(This fear of dependence on the other guy also manifests itself in the Apple vs. Adobe Flash war.)
On the flip side, Google's jump into the OS and device business show Microsoft and Apple and RIM that they can't be dependent on Google for search. Are Apple and RIM search engines inevitable? How about a Microsoft-branded phone? It seems vertical integration is the new business model. Now everyone is fighting to be the One and Only.
What a mess. Thanks Microsoft.
More likely - they're done. Their webos solution was too similar to iPhone without any real differentiating features. The marketplace has no room for them - what room there was for a secondary closed finger-oriented solution will be taken up by WP7.
Palm was done a long time ago. WebOS is just a prolonged death rattle. Which is a real shame - WebOS is a beautiful platform, with a more polished and "Apple-esque" UI than iPhone OS. They were simply too late to the game. Resting on their laurels with Palm OS for so many years killed them. iPhone changed everything, caught Palm, RIM and Microsoft off guard, and inevitably someone isn't going to survive the transition. Palm will be the first casualty.