Episode 20: Android

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Ben & David examine Google’s 2005 purchase of Android for a rumored $50M, undeniably one of the best technology acquisitions of all time. But will it top the list of these tough graders? Tune in to find out.

 

Topics covered include:

Welcome new listeners! We quickly review the show format for newbies.  Community spotlight: Patagonia on a Budget from community member Matt Morgante (@mattm on Slack) Andy Rubin’s career trajectory and what made him “born to start Android" The undeniable “cool factor” of the Danger Sidekick in the early/mid-2000’s, including fans such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin and… Turtle from Entourage  Android’s original ambition to build an operating system for… digital cameras WebTV founder Steve Perlman is pretty much the best friend ever  Google’s own perspective on Android as their “best deal ever" The Android team’s reaction to Steve Jobs unveiling the iPhone in January 2007, and redesigning the initial launch hardware  Announcing Android and—equally importantly—the Open Handset Alliance (“OHA”) The much-talked-about "mobile holy wars", between Android’s “open” platform and Apple’s “closed” platform  The less-talked-about US carrier wars with the iPhone + AT&T in one camp, and everyone else in the Google / OHA camp (including “Droid Does”) A quirk of history: HTC at one point acquires a majority share in Beats, resulting a short-lived period of Beats-branded Android phones (still available on Amazon!) The real battleground for Google in the mobile platform wars: the economics of “default search” (briefly known thanks to the Oracle/Java lawsuit against Google)  Google’s detour into smartphone hardware with the acquisition (and subsequent divestiture) of Motorola  The “fork-ability” of Android via the Android Open Source Project (versus “Google Android”), and the rise of Xiaomi, Cyanogen, Kindle Fire and other platforms The ecosystem economics of the Android business for Google  “Defensive” versus “offensive” acquisitions, and protecting Google’s core search business  Could (or would) Google have built an Android-like platform without acquiring Android the company (or having Andy Rubin)? Framing the technology world’s shift to mobile within (surprise) Ben Thompson’s Aggregation Theory The current “moving up the stack” of the competitive playing field as the mobile landscape matures  Grading: Android versus Instagram?

 

Followups:

Waze launches Carpool in the Bay Area. Much consternation ensues on the Uber board.

 

Hot Takes:

The iPhone 7 (and AirPods) announcement 

 

The Carve Out:

Ben: Business Adventures by John Brooks, Bill Gates’ favorite business book David: Ezra Edelman's fantastic 5-part ESPN documentary on O.J. Simpson, O.J.: Made in America