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Not dealing with reality

Folks, there's been one Google phone. One. If you don't have a Nexus One, you don't have a Google phone. You have a <CARRIERNAME> <HARDWAREMANUFACTURER> <MODEL> running <modifiedversionofAndroidrelease>. The only thing Google has to do with those devices is that last part. They put out a version release and associated reference materials for each Android release. But you're not running that, are you? Not unless you've jailbroken/rooted your device you aren't. You're running a modified version that <CARRIERNAME> told <HARDWAREMANUFACTURER> to put on the <MODEL> you bought.

Google's not making the hardware. For the overly pedantic, Google's not even paying Foxconn who is actually making pretty much everything. Google's not doing the mods for every carrier and every hardware manufacturer. As long as the carriers and hardware people and anyone else in the chain complies with what has to be a really loose contract, Google doesn't give a fuck about you or your phone other than useful statistics for propaganda purposes. When Google says "we" had so many activations? No. Google had fuck all nothing. Verizon, T-Mobile, O2, and AT&T had n activations, not Google.

Verizon wants to not allow you to install Google search on your Android? Fuck, Google doesn't care, they got what they wanted out of it. Some hardware manufacturer wants to install firmware that auto-de-roots your phone and restores the crap it came with? Google don't care. They got their money and eyeballs. Google doesn't give a rat's ass how badly the carriers and hardware people fuck you over. They do not care about you. Stop pretending they do. I imagine if a carrier tried to dick with the Nexus One, they might care, because that is actually a Google phone. But if you think Google is going to do shit to Samsung if they make it so you can only install applications on the Tab or some other device from the Samsung store, or the Verizon store or the O2 store, you are fucking delusional.

Other than Android reference releases, Google has fuck all to do with your phone. So when you compare your "Google" Android with an iOS device, unless it's a Nexus One do be a dear and tell us the carrier, hardware maker and model? That way we know what you're actually running, as opposed to the mythical Google Phone you want to think you're running. It's important, because otherwise, we're comparing a real thing to a mythical thing, and the mythical thing always wins.

Categories: Other

Posted by John C. Welch at 13:00 | Permalink

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I don't think anyone is going to be able to have a truly sane discussion about Android vs. iOS until one critical, reality-distorting myth is put to death: The myth that Android phones are Google phones.\n\nFolks, there's been one Google phone. One. If you don't have a Nexus One, you don't have a Google phone. You have a <CARRIERNAME> <HARDWAREMANUFACTURER> <MODEL> running <modifiedversionofAndroidrelease>. The only thing Google has to do with those devices is that last part. They put out a version release and associated reference materials for each Android release. But you're not running that, are you? Not unless you've jailbroken/rooted your device you aren't. You're running a modified version that <CARRIERNAME> told <HARDWAREMANUFACTURER> to put on the <MODEL> you bought. \n\nGoogle's not making the hardware. For the overly pedantic, Google's not even paying Foxconn who is actually making pretty much everything. Google's not doing the mods for every carrier and every hardware manufacturer. As long as the carriers and hardware people and anyone else in the chain complies with what has to be a really loose contract, Google doesn't give a fuck about you or your phone other than useful statistics for propaganda purposes. When Google says \"we\" had so many activations? No. Google had fuck all nothing. Verizon, T-Mobile, O2, and AT&T had n activations, not Google.\n\nVerizon wants to not allow you to install Google search on your Android? Fuck, Google doesn't care, they got what they wanted out of it. Some hardware manufacturer wants to install firmware that auto-de-roots your phone and restores the crap it came with? Google don't care. They got their money and eyeballs. Google doesn't give a rat's ass how badly the carriers and hardware people fuck you over. They do not care about you. Stop pretending they do. I imagine if a carrier tried to dick with the Nexus One, they might care, because that is actually a Google phone. But if you think Google is going to do shit to Samsung if they make it so you can only install applications on the Tab or some other device from the Samsung store, or the Verizon store or the O2 store, you are fucking delusional. \n\nOther than Android reference releases, Google has fuck all to do with your phone. So when you compare your \"Google\" Android with an iOS device, unless it's a Nexus One do be a dear and tell us the carrier, hardware maker and model? That way we know what you're actually running, as opposed to the mythical Google Phone you want to think you're running. It's important, because otherwise, we're comparing a real thing to a mythical thing, and the mythical thing always wins.