The upcoming launch of the first Android-based handset will garner its own hype undoubtedly, but will it match the frenzy that surrounding not only the first generation iPhone, but the 3G version as well?  Most likely, it won’t, but it’s because of some fundamental differences in the two and doesn’t mean that one is better than the other.

The fact remains that Apple with its iPhone and Google with its Android platform represent two totally different ideals.  This, coupled with the fact that each one tries to accomplish something totally different in the long run means the two shouldn’t really be compared equally in the first place.  The iPhone was developed to deploy not only a breakthrough mobile operating system, but a breakthrough mobile device as well.  In contrast, Android is solely an operating system with no associated device that’s designed to evoke a "wow" factor like the iPhone did.

The reason, I believe, that HTC’s G1 Android-based device won’t get the attention the iPhone did, is the fact that the G1 device itself is really nothing special.  It’s more or less a device we’ve seen before, sporting a brand new Google operating system.  Yes, the iPhone OS is nothing short of spectacular on many fronts, but what really makes the iPhone shine, is the sleek Apple designed device the OS runs on.  If Android was being introduced on a device similar to the iPhone form-factor, the frenzy would equal, if not surpass that of the iPhone launch.  Apple simply beat Google to the punch.  "I’m not sure the consumer experience is significantly better than that of the iPhone," said Rajeev Chand, a wireless analyst at the investment bank Rutberg, who has tried out an early version of Android. "When the iPhone came out, the experience was several orders of magnitude better than anything that was out there."

Google’s main idea is to get it’s OS on as many devices as possible, and on as many carriers as possible.  While the iPhone is a revolutionary device, there will always only be one, compared to an infinite amount of Android-powered devices that will flourish in the near future.  Personally, this approach seems much more viable in the long run than that of Apple’s. 

Yinka Adegoke of the International Herald Tribune points out another reason Android won’t shine in the spotlight like the iPhone did; "…another problem for Android is how to explain what it is to consumers. Unlike the iPhone, which came on the back of Apple’s hugely successful iPod music player, Android is an unknown brand, even though the Google name has plenty of cachet…"  The sleek form-factor of the iPod was hugely successful for years before the iPhone was introduced, and therefore users somewhat knew what to expect. 

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 2:26 pm under Opinion, iPhone.  Print This Post

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