{"id":2960,"date":"2011-08-17T15:01:23","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T19:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adam-jackson.net\/blog\/?p=2960"},"modified":"2011-08-17T15:01:23","modified_gmt":"2011-08-17T19:01:23","slug":"googles-motorola-mobility-acquisition-will-make-it-more-like-apple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/08\/17\/googles-motorola-mobility-acquisition-will-make-it-more-like-apple\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2605 “Google’s Motorola Mobility acquisition will make it more like Apple.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Slate<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In other words\u2014and I never thought I’d say this\u2014Steve Ballmer was right. Android\u00a0isn’t<\/em>\u00a0free. In fact, it’s not even cheap. As Daring Fireball’s John Gruber points out, the $12.5 billion that Google is spending for Motorola amounts to almost two years’ worth of the search company’s profits. No company\u2014not even Google\u2014can throw around that kind of cash without envisioning a direct return on its investment.<\/p>\n

That’s why I’m betting that this deal will represent a turning point in how Google operates Android. Today, the platform is “open” but chaotic\u2014because phone-makers get the software for free and can do whatever they want with it, Android is available on some good phones as well as lots and lots of cheap, bad ones. In the aftermath of this deal, Google will seek to exert greater influence over hardware companies. Eventually, the deal will help reduce the number of new Android devices that are released every year, and the few that are released will be of generally higher quality\u2014and sell for higher prices\u2014than what we see in the Android device market today.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I continue to feel that this was an absolutely idiotic purchase. Google Spent more on Motorola than it makes in its profits every 2 years? Whoa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Slate: In other words\u2014and I never thought I’d say this\u2014Steve Ballmer was right. Android\u00a0isn’t\u00a0free. In fact, it’s not…\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-linked","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-LK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2655,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/06\/23\/hulu-comes-to-some-android-phones\/","url_meta":{"origin":2960,"position":0},"title":"\u2605 Hulu Comes to “some” Android Phones","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"June 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Hulu Blog: With the first phase of the Android rollout, Hulu Plus is available on six phones, including the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix. We expect to add to the number of Android smartphones and will be making\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Linked"","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1961,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/03\/20\/the-year-in-android-phones-so-far\/","url_meta":{"origin":2960,"position":1},"title":"\u2605 The Year in Android Phones \u2014 So Far","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"March 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Wired.com: This collection represents the best Android phones we've received to test here at Wired over the past few months. So, if you're in the market for an Android phone, start with this short list of our recommended picks. They list 10 of the best Android phones in 2011. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Linked"","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4731,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2015\/06\/30\/linked-how-android-is-becoming-the-new-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":2960,"position":2},"title":"Linked: “How Android Is Becoming the New Windows”","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"June 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"via Gizmodo: And even though Android is a powerful OS, the goal for Google has always been to rule the cloud. So we\u2019re moving from a Windows world of smart devices in a relatively dumb internet, to dumb devices in a smart cloud. Because of course your Android device is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Linked"","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1938,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/03\/18\/hey-motorola-your-xoom-commercials-suck\/","url_meta":{"origin":2960,"position":3},"title":"\u2605 Hey Motorola: Your Xoom commercials suck!","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"March 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"People don't want to experience the future. They want to know what they can do with it. I'll shape my own future and I severely doubt my future looks anything like what Motorola is is conveying in their ads. Just copy Apple's commercial and you'd save some money for R&D.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Linked"","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2459,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/06\/07\/a-post-where-i-explain-how-there-isnt-a-single-pc-company-that-can-compete-with-apple-at-least-not-in-the-near-future-or-the-next-5-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":2960,"position":4},"title":"\u2605 A post where I explain how there isn’t a single PC company that can compete with Apple at least not in the near future or the next 5 years.","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"June 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Apple has spent 15 years optimizing the company and it'll take competitors 15 more years to catch up. That's how bad things are for everyone but Apple right now. There are folks like Google who are playing a different game entirely but anyone that wants to sell PCs, Phones, MP3\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My new Office Setup","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4047\/4402823735_16975b3a06_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3033,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/09\/02\/another-news-worth-technology-hire-quits-after-6-months\/","url_meta":{"origin":2960,"position":5},"title":"\u2605 Another “News Worth Technology Hire” quits after 6 months.","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"September 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"CNET: James Gosling, the notable programmer who founded Java at Sun Microsystems, has joined Google, a company locked in a lawsuit over how the technology is used in\u00a0Android.\u00a0Gosling announced his new Google employment\u00a0today on his blog. \"I don't know what I'll be working on. 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