Android is open, shmopen
Yeah, finally someone credible (outside of Apple) is saying it loud and clear. Yes, of course, the fandroids will wail and moan — how would that be different than yesterday? — but the truth is out there, baby! OK, that was over the top, but the point has been made and we should be over this already.
Ars Technica in the reasoned and perhaps a little piqued voice of Ryan Paul offers this about Google and its “got no basis in reality” claims of openness:
The vast majority of Android smartphones are encumbered by lockdown mechanisms that block installation of third-party firmware. Some mobile carriers even block installation of external software entirely, in stark contradiction of Google’s early promises. The availability of Android source code after each release was really the last remnant of openness in Android — and now it’s gone. The whimsical notion that Android is an open platform is a tattered fabrication that has been stretched beyond the average open source software enthusiast’s capacity to suspend disbelief.
Yeah, so there! No news here except that Ars is saying it rather than Apple or some fanbois (guilty). No, the iPhone isn’t perfect and mold does grow in the walled garden.
Yes, that fungus among us is used to create Apple’s über tasty Kool-Aid, but we shouldn’t let that carry us away from the facts — we’re talking about phones and not anything really serious like which gawd makes us want to go to war, wear funny clothes after dark or cross the road to eat chicken.
And, I have used an Android phone and liked it!
There. I said it (Android sucks)…
What’s your take?
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