Apple, Android, and Other Smartphones

I didn’t intend to make a follow up post to my previous phone post right in a row, but as I started writing this, I realized what I was writing was a post very similar to another I had just written. I’m talking about cell phones again. Or am I? Maybe I’m talking less about cell phones and more about PDA’s. That’s really what smartphones are. It’s no big surprise really. Computers started the size of a Uhaul truck, and have just gotten smaller and smaller. Suddenly computers the size of the mac mini, the mac air, and netbook computers. Thought these computers are amongst the smallest computers on the market, are smartphones really so far off from them? I can do almost all the same stuff on my smartphone that I can do on a computer. Why, just last night I logged into my server at work and modified a playlist, starting a new program playing to over 50,000 cable subscribers right out of my pocket.

So while I was out with some friends last night I looked up at the TV screen and saw the new commercial for Verizon’s flagship Android phone: The Droid – hitting the market on November 6th. This seemed to start a friendly argument across the bar between 2 phone geeks like myself. One touting the iPhone and another with T Mobile’s new myTouch. I had to quickly run over and represent the Windows Mobile camp (even though I’m not it’s biggest fan.) Lately I’ve been more of an Android fan. Android is open source and that really is where I think the future of all computing is. Having proprietary anything is a hindrance to getting things done. No one wants to rely on Microsoft or Apple to support a particular type of document or software, and nor do people want to have to search for a specific style of plug just to charge their phone. But open source is so much more then just standardization of hardware, it’s also allowing open development of software creating nearly limitless potential for what can be done from the device. In this discussion, both users (Android, and iPhone) were comparing apps. This was pointless, and I finally just walked away. The fact is any application can be ported over for use on another operating system. The key (and the entire reason that Android is great) is that while an iPhone application would have to be created by someone at Apple or another developer who will later sell their application online or at the app store (without sharing the code, allowing for others to improve it,) Android applications can be created, edited, & shared by ANYONE. While the iPhone was on the market first and hooked a lot of people, the future looks very bright for android devices.