Is Steve Jobs Scared of Android? And a Bigger Question

Steve Jobs may just be afraid of Android.   Why else would he make a statement like “Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone.“  That’s a pretty crazy thing to say.  He might be throwing rocks at Google again, but I think he’s keenly aware that Android is gaining serious ground.  According to this article Android has grabbed 27% of the market – a 7% surge in only one month – while Apple has stayed flat at 55%.  That would get my attention.  So he makes a sideswipe at Android by painting it as a device for porn.  Nice.  The crazy thing is that there’s still a lot of soft porn available on the iPhone – including Playboy and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.  So if he’s all that concerned about morality, let’s see him take action on those.

The bigger question is hidden below the surface of this issue.  Who says that a single company can control what you read on your phone or tablet computer?  Is it really OK that Steve Jobs and his employees get to decide what you have access to?  That flies in the face of everything that America was founded on.   Where is the line?  Will they get to the point where they mandate that you can only install applications that get news from a certain partner company?  What if Apple suddenly decides that the BBC is an enemy of theirs?   Will they retroactively deny applications that can connect to the BBC for a news feed?  What’s to stop them?

Android is becoming a bigger question, a bigger solution, a bigger issue.  It’s becoming about the freedom to control your computing platform.  It’s about the right to install whatever the hell software you want on the device that rapidly is becoming the most used computer in your life.  I for one don’t plan on giving that control to Apple – no matter how slick and nice their software is.

Really folks:  are you willing to trade away your freedom for a bright shiny toy?  Really?

Be Sociable, Share!

•