Open code is irrelevant to Android's success

Put differently, open code or not Android is going to succeed. iPad uses iOS and it is entirely proprietary and has very large community of developers are developing apps for the platform, Similarly, though Google said Android will be open source, the strategy seems to develop versions of the OS and then make the source available to big partners not to all comers though. The way Android has gone past iOS in number of phone that use it, this free source or not issue is not really going to matter. developers will work with the Android for the phone or the tablet avatar.

IT departments beware though, these devices are going to come into the enterprise and your network. Read about issues in the referred article.

Why open code is irrelevant to Android's success 

Motorola Xoom versus the iPad 2

According to this blog item in Computerworld, the Motorola Xoom is better than iPad. Originally the writer compared the Xoom with the original iPad on eight counts. Even when iPad came out he finds that the Xoom is still better! While jury is still out on which is really better, quite often the arguments border on religious fervor, we'll have to wait and see what wins in the market.


The original eight counts of better features were the OS, better hardware, better screen resolution,  front and rear cameras, better browser, it is able to play Flash, no Apple big brother to decide what you should see or not and apps are better on it.

Honeycomb or the Android 3.0is meant for tablets and improved quite a from the earlier versions. As easy to use as the iPad OS it can be customized and is rich in features. Notifications are handled better and multitasking and switching between apps is easier. NVidia Tegra 2, 2 core processor gives you better graphic capabilities. That includes 3D games. iPad processor is a single core one.Xoom wins over iPad with a 10 inch, wide aspect, 1280x 800 pixels vs. 9.7 inch with 1024x 768 pixels.

Tow cameras lets video chat to be done easily while making photo/video taking quite easy.Chrome on the Xoom with tabbed browsing is better than the Safari on the iPad. Motorola has not barred Adobe flash, so you can get to see all the flash content and download them as you like. Xoom does not have Apple breathing down you neck and decide what is good for you! Google's built-in apps, including Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Calendar, is better than IPad comes with.  Xoom's Tegra 2 chip, lets you use vector graphics and 3D rendering in Google Maps.

That was in early March. Then came the iPad2 announcement and the author Preston Gralla still finds the Xoom to be the better one. iPad2 moved to 2 core processor and 2 camera configuration. So that was a bit of catch up. He is still not happy with whatever tweaks have been done to iOS 4.3 but Honeycomb remains better still. Xoom advantages of the apps, no whims of Apple affecting you and ability to still enjoy flash remains advantages according to the author. I, too, think he is probably right. But, as I have said it still may get decided on entirely different reasons. These advantages will remain, however.

Motorola Xoom versus the iPad 2 --- the Xoom is a clear winner - Computerworld Blogs

iPad Would Not Kill Kindle

Like most such competing trends, iPad book readers and the original eBook reader the Kindle will continue to be in existence for a while. What happens for the longterm is something to watch for. The referenced report from Forrester has some data and predictions on both. 


Tablets are set to grow 130% to 24 million units in 2011 compared to 10. 3 million in 2010. 8.5 million of the tablets last year should be just one brand the iPad! This year though a lot many others are going to take a share of the 24 million pie. The CES show at the beginning of the year showcased more than 75 of these models.


What is to be noted is that Kindle or the other ereaders did not wilt. they are too set for a significant growth. These are predicted to grow to 15.5 million units during the year, showing a growth of 50% over last year's numbers.


These predictions seem to be supported by another source. A J P Morgan report of a survey indicates brand awareness of Kindle and iPad were 76% vs. 84% for iPad. More interestingly, apparently people want both devices. 28% of those who took the survey indicated that they ether already have a Kindle or want to buy one during the year. 40% of iPad owners also own a Kindle. Another 23 percent want to acquire a  Kindle during the current year!
iPad Not Death Sentence for Kindle

Books as we Know it

Will the printed books be around 10 years hence! 25 years or 50 years! Music became disembodied digital stream of bits a while back. Kindle started a revolution, turned books digital yet mimicked the format of a printed book.  So though the content has started becoming digital the whole experience was of reading a book. Along came iPad. Besides lot of other things it can do,  it  reads books in full color and with animated content. So who needs the books in the format we have been used to since the time of Gutenberg!

Electronic books, in full color, which you annotate too and that can talk to you, show video in full HD seems like an ideal medium for knowledge transmission. Kids growing up in digital environment will latch into these kind of things absolutely naturally. Like most things though the printed book also will run parallel though  at much less volumes than today. But then you never know. How quickly those records, cassettes vanished. very soon audio CDs also will go the same way. The only CDs available will have MP3 recordings on them. So, let's see how it goes.

Reading on Paper is Faster than Reading on iPad or Kindle.

Though done with a small sample, this study seems to say reading on paper is faster than on Kindle 2 or on iPad with iBook application. PC World has an article about it here. the 24 people rated the reading experience about the same and the comprehension was similar through any of  the medium. The PC monitor was uniformly hated. probably because, as was pointed out by some, it reminded of the workspace.

It will be really interesting to find out why reading on paper is faster. of course, you would need a bigger study to establish that this is really so. the speed difference recorded was quite significant at 10% or thereabouts. There was a speed difference between reading Kindle 2 and the iPad. Kindle 2 came out to be slower even though the reading experience on it is closest to reading on paper.

Can the whole thing be due to the fact that reading a printed book is associated with relaxation, absence of stress, that makes the difference! This experiment was about reading short stories of Hemingway. Would reading text book, self development books and other such serious books give us a different result because of that association! Reading any of these books, may not be as relaxing an experience even on paper.

iPad vs. Netbooks

I have talked about how iPad seems to be a product that might make netbooks a redundant category. I came across a post that is completely effusive about why a iPad scores over a netbook. The author talks about not 7, not 10 but 15 reasons where iPad scores over a netbook. The authors lists hardware quality, functionality without hassles,

ready to go, high battery life, terrific user experience with the multi-touch screen, eReader, comics, excellent screen, lots od apps that are already available, speed, gaming, photo frame, portability, the fact that it is not a glorified iPod touch-bigger, and pure pleasure at using it. He quotes extensively from other reviewers. The device does seem to have caught fancy of users everywhere. Will it become the next wave in personal computing is something to be seen!

Read the eulogy to iPad here.