Apple vs Google — Benevolent Dictatorship Vs Free Democracy? →

D. Salmons:

Ah, but you say that the Google brand will carry Android to a strong position. I have heard this argument before, but let me remind you of a fact earlier in this article – the Google Nexus One has sold less than competing Android phones in its initial week of sales.

This could indicate that the branding is being watered down thanks to the different places you can find an Android phone. The Nexus One is being marketed as “an” Android phone, not “the” Android phone. The typical buyer is confused, and they are left comparing technical notes without a kindly dictator assuring them that this particular unit is the latest and greatest you can find.

In addition to this, Android phones outdate each other every month or so. Compare that with my three year old first generation iPhone which pretty much runs all of the software features of Apple’s current generation iPhone.