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Android must become more than a warmed-over iPhone

Android must become more than a warmed-over iPhone

The early reviews on the T-Mobile G1 “Android” are in and they are OK.

Larry Magid is “generally pleased” with the device. Crave “sliced and diced” it to make an Apple iPhone comparison.

Our official ZDNet review noted how it plays well with WiFi and you might even be able to take it out of the country as more than a doorstop.

Unfortunately you can take the iPhone comparisons only so far, as Google itself is doing by installing a “kill switch” on Android applications.

In theory this is not objectionable, even in such an open system. Wouldn’t it be great to destroy malware automatically from a central server?

But this immediately leads to comparisons with Apple’s “shoot first and answer questions later” use of the same technology.

The bad economy has some predicting bad things for the Android, but if Google is open to innovation I’m not too worried about that.

Let’s just not restrict our view of this so Android is seen as just an iPhone competitor. A lot of companies are going to deliver devices in the next year. Some will be iPhone-like, others will not be. We should stay focused on that.

Just one example. What if someone built, say, a flash drive with the Android software that turned your PC into an Android device? Or turned your Linux-based Netbook into one? Riding whatever WiFi network you happen to find, or even a wired connection? After all, we’re already seeing flash VOIP devices on TV.

These kinds of innovations are possible with an open system. It’s important to see the Android technology as the start of something, not its end.

[Thanks: http://blogs.zdnet.com]

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