Androids

Holman W. Jenkins Jr. sees history repeating itself in Apple’s gamble against Google (Wall Street Journal, 5/26/10). The history he sees repeating is the old battle between Apple and Microsoft over computer operating systems — which he says Apple lost, only to be granted a reprieve with the advent of the web and the rise of handheld devices. But Holman thinks Apple is making the same mistake again, this time against Google, by "keeping software and hardware under tight control" in the handset business.

Similar to the Microsoft tussle, he believes Google, with its open and free Android platform, "will benefit from competition among multiple handset makers, producing lower prices and faster innovation, including a flurry of soon-to-arrive tablets and a variety of new devices aimed at niches (say, with a focus on navigation or texting)." Because Steve Jobs "insists on vetting all applications that run on his phones via the iTunes App store, you’ll need an Android phone to capture the full benefit of openness to the web," says Holman.

He also thinks Google’s ad-supported business model is easier than Apple’s, which depends on "money from hardware sales … telecom subscriber fees and infotainment purchases." He notes that Apple will have to come up with strategies for TV and search, too. Holman does concede that Google could suffer from its openness, which could result in "a crummy, fragmented, even disastrous user experience, with security leaks, viruses" and shoddy customer service. But all in all, he thinks Google has less at risk than Apple because "as long as it keeps its search box at the center of our digital lives, the ad gusher will continue to flow."