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Why Android Is the New Windows
An anonymous reader writes "Windows' dominance of the PC market has been good in many ways: reduced hardware costs, increased IT literacy and a standard development platform to name a few. Perhaps Android will bring similar benefits. But unless Google are very careful, it is likely to bring some of the same problems, too."
Window's dominance of the PC market has been good in many ways ... increased IT literacy
What?! That's like saying McDonald's did anything for fine cuisine. Gimme a break!
Like McD has given us something with which to compare fine cuisine, Windows has given us a way to differentiate between those who are and aren't IT literate.
Fundamentally I agree with your premise, but Archos is not a good example, because it can never be certified for Android as it lacks key components, like that pesky phone part.
However, speaking as someone who once upon a time managed a platform matrix validation lab for Windows software, I agree completely that the platform matrix for Android is unwieldy. People who say that it should be easy to support all Android *certified* devices (much less all Android devices) are simply not doing the math. Constructing and maintaining a test environment where you can check your software against all screen resolutions, API's, and peripheral selections is a huge problem with combinatorial complexity. And actually running and debugging all those test cases is hugely time consuming and expensive.
Of course, I expect to be modded down. It seems that every time I reply with *actual* *real* *world* *experience* on a topic where I know enough to have managed many people and had a six figure hardware budget, I get modded down because my actual data conflicts with peoples' religious beliefs.
But, in the end, Android will probably win despite the technical complexity of testing software. It will win because of openness, and customers will whine about how buggy the aps are because they are essentially untestable. It *is* the new Windows in that respect. I believe that strongly enough that two days ago I removed the iPhone SDK from my Macbook and installed the Android SDK.... but with eyes wide open about how nasty and alligator filled the swamp ahead actually is.