I’ve neglected Dogpatch Dispatch for good reason. I’ve been busy putting together an emerging media practice at McGrath Power Public Relations in San Jose. And the standard disclaimer follows…I’m not related to the founding McGrath.
That said, I’m sorry to see my blog fall into a state of disrepair. There are forces at work that are increasing my will to blog. Without making excuses, here’s what’s on my radar.
The Android announcement was kind of a non-announcment, wasn’t it? This story may play out like the old OS battles in the mid ’80s and ’90s. It took MSFT 3 versions to make a commercially successful version of Windows. I think the iPhone has a headstart and that Google has the tenacity to go the distance. Too soon to call, except for one thing. Larry and Sergey positioned the phone as the ultimate in geek chic. After all, you can write your own programs…
Aside from being too geeky, who does this product offend? It offends carriers who don’t embrace the vision of phone as computer. They want control, not the user. It also misses the point that a phone is less a phone and more of a mass market user interface game. it’s all about web services and the differentiation is in software, not hardware. Carriers need to compete on user experience as well as coverage area and industrial design. Making user experience a differentiating factor is Apple’s strength.
Apple’s role as gatekeeper of user experience will always put it ahead of the mass market curve in mobile internet devices.
Dogpatch Dispatch 