1) Android, which was originally based on Linux, has become fragmented as many companies use different versions of Android. This fragmentation poses problems for developers. 2) Amazon modified Android for its Kindle Fire in ways that prevent it from supporting regular Android apps and allow Amazon to control users' web browsing and advertising experiences. 3) By making Android so open that it loses its brand identity and competitive advantages, Google has allowed others like Amazon to modify Android in ways that undermine Google's business model of using Android to generate advertising revenue.

1. 10/3/11 Android is the new Linux — and that s not a good thing
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Google s mobile operating system Android is the new Linux: open, free
(aside from patent issues), and just a utility. It s completely worthless as a
brand in which to build upon. Unfortunately for Google, Android means
different things to different companies. For HTC and Samsung it s
beginning to be a patent mess. And for Amazon, it s just a customizable
layer that doesn t even deserve branding, acknowledgment, or universal
support. And ultimately this will be Android s downfall into irrelevance.
Android, based originally on a kernel
28 16 8 of Linux, and backed by 84 hardware
and software partners, as part of the
Open Handset Alliance, was first
envisioned to be the next open
mobile standard. Google presumed,
Print
with good reason, that if they were Tech Blogs
able to get industry consensus there
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recent purchase of Motorola Mobility
TODAY IN TECH
Buy a link here (MMI) by Google has led many
analysts to believe that Google is Today in Tech: Why Facebook's automatic sharing is the
future
More from saying to the world two critical things:
(1) We re all in on Android; and (2)
gigaom.com
Securing more patents will help
buttress Android from patent suits. Tech Jobs
But it also showed a significant
weakness. “The MMI purchase is the job title or company location
result of Google s miscalculations
Graphic Designer jobs Project Management Engineering jobs
about the way value is captured in jobs Technical Writer jobs
mobile computing. These strategic
missteps placed Google in a position Software jobs Product Management
jobs
of weakness and forced it into a
costly and desperate move,” said
…cnn.com/…/mobile_android_is_the_new_linux__e2_80_94_and_thats_not_a… 1/7

2. 10/3/11 Android is the new Linux — and that s not a good thing
Horace Dediu, noted mobile SEE ALL JOBS
A database to help the
military share its airwaves industry analyst.
955 Dreams tackles music It s fitting that Android was birthed Galleries
discovery with Band of the from Linux. Long thought to be the
Day crown jewel of the “open software Sprint's 4G winner
approach,” Linux is an operating Sprint's bestselling smartphone -- a
10 ways to deal with system that is completely free and big overseas hit -- is now available in
cybersecurity in a smart the source code may be modified at the United States. BGR's Todd
grid world Haselton put the Samsung Galaxy S
will and given away or sold. It was
II through its paces. More
Subscribe to gigaom.com going to herald in a new era of
desktop computing and conquer
Microsoft in the 80s, claimed
Stop apps from sharing
fanboys. Of course, no such thing happened. In case you hadn t heard
Microsoft went on to have a little bit of success, and Linux pretty much Facebook's new "social" apps are
became destined for servers, where it mostly resides today. In fact, the designed to broadcast what you read,
competitive advantages that Linux held over other operating systems — watch and listen to. Getting them to
quit it requires diving deep into
free to use, easy and legal to modify, and can work on nearly any device —
Facebook's privacy settings. More
led to its being relegated to being just a utility to be manipulated by any
manufacturer s fancy, and an even smaller brand identity among
mainstream consumers. Turned out people didn t really care if their
Wall Street protest
operating system was open or not; they just wanted it to work well.
A social-media fueled plan to #OccupyWallStreet brought hundreds of
Android is heading in the same direction. Fragmentation is a big issue (One protesters to Manhattan's financial center, where they have remained for 12
days. More
that Google has acknowledged). Because so many partners are using
different versions of Android, updating them when they see fit (as opposed
to on a unified schedule), and naturally have different hardware limitations,
the Android that developers are expecting isn t necessarily the Android that
their apps can play well with. A recent poll of 250 Android developers Cool vending machines
found that 86% were concerned about fragmentation, and 56% said it was
a meaningful or “huge” problem, an increase over the previous 3 months. Pop in some change and catch a
soda can. That's so yesterday. Now
innovation has produced vending
If that weren t bad enough, Amazon s new tablet, the Kindle Fire, which is machines that spin cotton candy,
built on Android — though you d be hard-pressed to know — won t officially "gift" a soda to a friend miles away
support Android apps outside of Amazon App Store. It s the equivalent of and make Ramen Noodles in three
buying a Windows PC at Best Buy and not being able to use Excel on it minutes. More
unless, of course — you guessed it — Excel was also purchased at Best
Buy. I don t fault Amazon for this. It s actually a stroke of genius How to survive a zombie
guaranteeing that Kindle Fire users will only be buying their matches from apocalypse
Amazon. Users, or detractors, can put the blame squarely where it Halloween is just around the corner:
deserves to be — on Google. By making Android so open as to become a Prime time for an outbreak. Are you
brand-less utility free to be consumed, modified, reimagined, and devoid of ready? Here's what you'll need to
the competitive advantage it was born of — namely, openness — Google assemble your apocalyptic go-
has allowed Pandora s box to be opened. bag. More
SEE ALL GALLERIES
And what s awaiting inside? Amazon, in a bid to make it “easier” to surf the
web on the Fire, has decided to pre-cache user web browsing, meaning
use their servers to communicate user information to the site destination.
The implications? “Amazon will capture and control every Web transaction CNNMoney Sponsors
performed by Fire users. Every page they see, every link they follow, every
click they make, every ad they see is going to be intermediated by one of
the largest server farms on the planet, said Apple engineer Chris
Espinosa. How s that for open?
And it gets better. Not only is Amazon changing the purpose of Android –—
to proliferate an open mobile operating system — they re also changing the
profit model on which it was created. Espinosa goes on to say:
“[Amazon doesn't] use Google s web browser; they can intermediate user
click through on Google search results so Google doesn t see the actual
user behavior. Google s whole play of promoting Android in order to
aggregate user behavior patterns to sell to advertisers is completely
subverted by Amazon s intermediation.”
Google gave Android away for free because the more services they could
bake into Android, the more advertising revenue they could generate. In
the first quarter of this year ad revenue accounted for 97% of Google s
…cnn.com/…/mobile_android_is_the_new_linux__e2_80_94_and_thats_not_a… 2/7

3. 10/3/11 Android is the new Linux — and that s not a good thing
the first quarter of this year ad revenue accounted for 97% of Google s
profit (a typical percentage). So Google can t afford for Amazon s Kindle
Fire to be successful. Not only would that kill the notion that open is the
future of the mobile space as much as Linux was the future of the desktop,
it would also set a precedent: while Google may need Android, Android
definitely doesn t need Google.
John S. Wilson is a health polic anal st and editor of Polic Diar , a
weekl health polic blog. He can be reached at john@polic diar .com or
on Twitter: @johnswilson1
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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Tablets wars: Apple is from Venus, Amazon is from Mars
Disruptapalooza 2011: how Amazon s Kindle is changing the portable media game
Mobile Q1: All Eyes on Tablets, T-Mobile and AT&T
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LiadsOlderBrother, 4 hours ago
I enjoy your crack-smoking. Please don't stop pretending Linux is
some lying-down beast only servers use. It's been eroding
Microsoft's Desktop share for half a decade. Android is fragmented,
and the many pieces are also eroding Microsoft's share and Nokia's
share. In short, nothing in this article is accurate except for the
cute numbers ending with a % sign.
4 people liked this.
Nathan Scandella, 3 hours ago in reply
to LiadsOlderBrother
…cnn.com/…/mobile_android_is_the_new_linux__e2_80_94_and_thats_not_a… 3/7