Comments on: Underestimating Google can be disastrous

Don Reisinger thinks companies in the cell phone industry are underestimating Google. And based on its history, that could be disastrous for Google's competitors.

[kksing]

On the G1:
HTC has much more capable (& better looking) platforms available (look at their Touch line), running WM. If Android was that great & easy to implement, why didn't they simply do a port of Andriod to the Touch Diamond, for eg.

My feel is that HTC itself is not certain itself about the long term viability of Android (& maybe even Google's commitment to it) and is using the G1 to gauge interest. It is also making great money out of their top of the line WM devices that they do not want to jeopardise nor muddy the market with an Android clone.

On Android:
I seriously doubt that it is being underestimated by anyone, including Microsoft. You need to be able to seperate the 'game face' from what is really happening at the corp level.

However, unlike the PC industry, one big hurdle that Google needs to cross is that the cell phone industry is a completely different kettle of fish. This industry is controlled by the cell phone manufacturers like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and RIM. Google is offering Android as an alternative to WM, so it's fighting Microsoft firmly to get the mindshare of HTC, SE, Samsung & LG (among others). You better believe that G1 will be indicative to the future success of Andriod. If G1 does not gain any market traction, there will be little reason for executives in the other handset companies to look at devoting resources to develop or adapt their handsets to Andriod.

[helensh1]

Hello,

Yes i am sure that Android will become the best system for phone !

Helen

Asian Dating. Zongdo.com

[peterretief]

Hopefully people will open their eyes and see that exchange is just one of many distributed mail servers, openLDAP would be one but I suspect Google will provide this service itself

I love Google like everyone else, but they aren't perfect. Whatever happened to Google Checkout ?
or DodgeBall or Google Base or Google Answers?

but I agree that this is a good step to be in the alliance of handset manufacturers... Android will be a player

[posershadow]

I don't think the G1 really brings many hardware advantages over any other phone such as the iPhone, Tilt, or Blackberrys. I think the key that Google has going for them right now is that Android is pretty much completely open source and developers can immediately go to work on it creating interesting stuff. With Apple, it took them forever just to get the SDK out and now they are playing the dictatorship role in the Apps Store and really screwing with a lot of developers. Plus with Amazon DRM-free music on the G1, it puts the iTunes integration in the iPhone to shame. RIM doesn't have much going for them in apps, they are mostly in the business email side of things. And soon Android will smash RIM in that since it's open source and developers will create innovative apps for syncing with your Exchange and email servers. Windows Mobile will probably bet smashed by Android since there seems to be so little effort into it by Microsoft. For instance, HTC has to create Touchflo3d just to hide the ugly Windows Mobile. If the manufacturers are having to hide the ugliness of the phone's OS, that's not a good sign. Windows Mobile does have good Exchange support, but Android will soon be right up along with it and plus Android is tied into the Amazon music store whereas Windows Mobile has no ties. But there are plenty of apps for Windows Mobile, and Microsoft isn't playing communist dictator and trying to control them, so that is an upside for Windows Mobile. Looks like Google has finally struck gold with a Linux based OS, something that companies that make Ubuntu, openSUSE, Redhat etc... have yet to do yet. Who would have thought the phone market is where Linux would first come to popularity.

[SidedPanic]

This article is complete garbage from someone who realllly likes google - 'it's still struggling with YouTube, we can't forget that Google was the only company that had both the money and vision to acquire that site'. Hmm so has MS not got the money, or just about every multi billion dollar corporation? Or is it the vision part that these companies are lacking in not aquiring a site and then 'struggling' with it. I don't know what this author expects these companys to say about android anyway, yeh we're really worried and anyone who has invested in us should just run a mile they will dominate. Sillyness.

[sbmeirow]

Hey fools, the iPhone doesn't have GPS, but the iPhone 3G does have GPS.
http://techalites.com/2008/06/15/iphone-vs-3g-iphone/

[MagnoliaSouth]

Why does everyone want to compare it to the iPhone? Why is no one comparing cellular companies instead of phones? To be completely honest here, my choice of a phone lies strictly with who is distributing it. There is not enough money in the world to make me go back to AT&T, who is definitely not customer service friendly. I'd say the majority of everyday average Americans are more concerned with package prices and customer service than any actual phone. Once that decision is made, then the best phone is secondary.

For those who are talking about how it looks.... who freaking cares how it looks?! If it's functionally sound, I could care less what it looks like. It's not a part of my wardrobe, so that doesn't even matter to me in the slightest.

Debating over Yahoo vs. Hotmail vs. Gmail is a silly side issue. Gmail is definitely the king when it comes to better email organization and email search which is really the key for Google. Everything for them centers around searching for information and THAT will be what draws the geek crowd, not looks and not bells and whistles. If users can find things that they need while they're out and about in this world then Google will consider themselves a success.

Will it beat out the iPhone? Probably not. Firefox hasn't beaten IE (yet) but it sure has Microsoft running scared. My prediction is that Google's phone will do the same thing for phones that Firefox has done for browsers and this is a good thing. Microsoft finally began listening to its users and perhaps Apple might do the same, though it's doubtful AT&T will listen.

[dbroham77]

i'm a google fan and all...but this is a horribly written article. sorry cnet

[williamblanchard]

The G1 reminds me of an old Palm handheld I used to use. I think the person who dropped the ball was HTC. I can't believe this was designed by the same company that puts out the HTC Diamond Touch.

[DarkHawke]

Whatever Android's virtues, it will rise or fall depending on the hardware. The iPhone's OS isn't the eighth degree of perfection, but melded with the brilliant touch screen interface, it's 100% geekalicious. Android on the G1? Bleh! Looks like a Windows desktop, and don't we already have that choice on smartphones? The looks of the G1 aren't anything to write home about, unless the folks are big fans of the original Palm Pilot. Granted we haven't seen the touchscreen in real-world use, but the preview video here made it look clumsy and antiquated compared to the iPhone. I don't know what the development process is for either the Blackberries or the Windows Mobile phones are, but it seems like they've had open and active third-party app support for years, yet between the two, which is the runaway success? "Crackberries" FTW with a superior interface and proprietary e-mail support that even the iPhone's having a tough time matching.

That said, I wish Android well if for no other reason than if it's eventually perceived to be enough of a thorn in Apple's side, they may loosen the reigns on iPhone development. Their playground, their rules and all, but to paraphrase Princess Leia: "The more you tighten your grip, the more sales will slip through your fingers!"

[williamblanchard]

If Google is serious about an open platform, then I would be very interested to see when the first PORN application shows up on the Google Marketplace for the Android Phone. That should make a lot of money for the developer. After all, half of the internet traffice is PORN. Thus it would be very interesting to see PORN on Android.

Of course, this is banned on the iPhone.

[Kitchner]

ALL:

I think it is quite fashionable these days to be a Google fan, yet I am not an apostle of this new technology Messiah, having seen the same zealoty with IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, etc. No one company hold the keys to the IT kingdom. As soon as a company becomes big and bloated like Google, it developes a lethargy and bureaucratic structure that eventually unddermines it. Let the Google executives remember the outcome that became of 'Starbucks'- everywhere, everything, all the time! Expansion can kill as well as grow a company. Google primarily gets its revenues from opo-up ad's, these to which I have never subscribed, much like those annoying 'fall-out' subscriptions that are in many of today's popular mazazines. There is only so much 'milk left in this cow' of pop-up advertisements and the future money or application adoption may be for those services that have 'zero' pop-up ad's on them! The relevance and necessity of Google in my life is at best marginal and fleeting, I use Yahho as often and I see few improvements in Google's application, besides Google is one search equation away from being 'yesterday's news' and with marginal barriers to entry for Internet software, no firm's future is secure from an enterprising software programmer in India, China or elsewhere.

Kitchner

[aporue]

"And what about Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and the rest? Certainly Microsoft and Yahoo didn't believe that a product called Gmail would make an impact, right? After all, why would anyone actually want to use an online email application from Google when they can use Outlook on any Windows machine in existence? Nice one, Microsoft."

This whole paragraph is both wrong and makes no sense. Both Hotmail and Yahoo had online email long before Gmail so the comment about Outlook is just wrong (I believe that Hot mail is exclusively online as it does not allow POP mail access from another application). On the other hand I believe that both Yahoo and Hotmail membership numbers still outweigh Gmail (I believe Yahoo is way out in front). More generally speaking I don't believe that Google is really successful from a monetary point of view other than search. Not that I want to take anything way Google as they are a great company and I believe that Android will be a great success. I sure hope it is as I don't really think much of Apple or the iPhone.

[williamblanchard]

As someone who works in the IT field, I can tell you most buisiness professionals use a Blackberry and Yahoo mail, because Yahoo seems to be the only email to format it correctly when received by mobile devices.

[onlyauser]

this article appears to have confused you

[paulbenjou]

Yet another point of view and the laughable market predictions ... at the ad industry blog ... www.MyOpenKimono.com

[buggermenot]

I haven't read a story this biased in at least a month. So much misinformation it is impossible to believe anything written. The author likes Google, we can tell, now how about some facts?

All the Blogs instead of stories are moving CNET in the wrong direction. The site looks prettier, but the quality is not getting better...

[onlyauser]

Bullseye...

At least you understand what Google is up to. To bad Microsoft's monopolistic throat has been cut in so many of its core businesses. I do not find it unreasonable that Microsoft will continue to slowly bleed out as Google move in everywhere. These other companies should all be very cautious and not resting well AT ALL (especially Microsoft --- Google has special targets on MS me thinks). Apple out of all these companies has good customer understanding but competing and winning against Google and it's mountains of money will be interesting. One thing is certain, Google is no Microsoft.

[jbower1950]

Let's see what Google has after a successful Android introduction:

1) An operating system - open source, cheap, capable
2) Interested developers
3) A full-featured browser - Chrome
4) A growing suite of web-based productivity software with no obstacles to adding sophistication
5) A radio - in each phone, easily changed to support different networks
6) A thriving economy depending only on searching

Now, what is left:

1) A wireless network - whitespace, anyone?

What does that spell? The end of several aging, closed, and hated, business models that waste huge money in their marketing programs:

1) Microsoft
2) cell phone companies

This is like watching a chess game between a Grand master and an infant. It's not about keyboards, cell phones, operating systems, or any other single thing. They listen and deliver what people need and want. That includes independence from oppressive, old business models that have outlived their usefulness. This is graduate-level thinking on display.