Android: Open. Open. Open. Open. Open. Open. Open. Closed.

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I feel with MG Siegler. It's hard to hear all this talk of that Android is open. Read the whole story!

A post from TechCrunch by MG Siegler has the whole story. Here is a part:

 

I’ve never liked Google’s use of the word “open” to describe the Android operating system. On one hand, the “openness” has led to situations where carriers can more easily screw consumers. On the other hand, their system is really only “open” when it’s convenient to be. Wanna include Google’s services on your Android device? Sure, sign this partnership agreement. Wanna check in code for Android? Do you work at Google? No. Well then you’ll have to wait. Open. 

But still, every chance they get, we hear from Google how open Android is, as if it’s the perfect answer to every question. How are you going to compete with Apple? Open. How are you going to keep the carriers in check? Open. How are you going to make money from Android? Open. Why is the Android experience sub-par? Open. 

And then there’s the news that broke this week. Google, of “open” fame, is delaying the release of the source code for the latest version of Android, Honeycomb, Bloomberg BusinessWeek first reported. Why? So they can work on it and refine it. Behind closed doors. Open. 

First of all, the fact that code has to be released at all says just about all you need to know about Google’s “open” claim. Facebook developer Joe Hewitt (formerly of Mozilla — an actual proponent of open) ripped Google a new one for this and other bastardizations of the word “open” last year.
His point wasn’t that Google’s model for Android is bad — it’s simply that the use of the term “open” is BS. And this latest development further emphasizes that. The real value of “open” to Google is as a marketing term. 

Is Android more “open” than iOS is? Yes. But the way Google has been throwing around the word is in absolute terms. It has been ”open” (them) versus “closed” (Apple). That’s simply not true. And in that context, being “more” open is like being “kind of ” pregnant.

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