Herbivore2

And the fragmentation of the Android market only continues to worsen. . .

MacPro said:

gatorguy said:

Soli said:

gatorguy said:

Comparing OS versions between iOS and Android is a bit misleading anyway. With iOS new features are delivered only via an OS update. With Android many of the very latest features are available to nearly every user.  Android owners aren't as dependent on the latest OS version as iOS users might assume.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3216104/android/android-upgrade.html

The foundation counts. You can't Bolt the spoiler of a Ford GT supercar onto a Ford Pinto and then claim the Pinto is just as good as the GT.

Of course it matters just as I said. But if you are looking forward to some announced new Apple Maps feature there's only one way to get it. Same if you want an updated Calendar app. Or any other update of an Apple feature. With Google you can update to the very latest Google app features whenever Google offers them rather than waiting for your annual iOS update. Don't want to update some specific feature? No problem if you are on Android.  

Here's what I suspect will be a surprising list of the Android enhancements that have been made available in just the past four months, totally independent of any OS update and available to almost any Google Android user regardless of OS version.

Contacts	8/14/17
Photos	8/14/17
Allo	8/14/17
Duo	8/14/17
Google	8/11/17
Calendar	8/10/17
Gmail	8/10/17
Google Play Services	8/10/17
Translate	8/10/17
Docs	8/9/17
Android Pay	8/9/17
Phone (limited to Google's own devices)	8/9/17
Maps	8/9/17
Trusted Contacts	8/9/17
Chrome	8/8/17
Android System Webview	8/8/17
Sheets	8/7/17
Slides	8/7/17
Keep	8/7/17
Clock	8/7/17
News & Weather	8/4/17
Street View	8/3/17
Android Messages	8/2/17
Play Books	8/2/17
Play Movies	8/1/17
Drive	7/31/17
Gboard	7/28/17
Play Games	7/28/17
Trips	7/28/17
Android Device Policy	7/26/17
Cloud Search	7/25/17
Play Music	7/7/17
Cloud Print	7/5/17
TalkBack	6/21/17
Calculator	6/14/17
Play Newsstand	6/13/17
Pixel Launcher (limited to Google's own devices)	6/6/17
Find My Device	5/17/17
Wallpapers	5/2/17
Text-to-speech	4/10/17

It's two different ways of trying to accomplish the same goals and both have advantages. 

Wow, just wow.  For someone who doesn't have a Mac or an iPhone according to your own words you sure seem very agitated and insistent upon contributing endlessly to this Apple user blog on all matters where you can say Android and Google are wonderful.  Why?  Why for heaven's sake don't you spend your time on a blog of your own platform of choice?  This would be like me spending all day, week in week out, on an Android site to defend and promote Apple. Now, if Apple paid me ...

Trolling an Apple enthusiast site and promoting a lousy platform that essentially amounts to spyware seems to be the reason for Googleguy's, er. . .Gatorguy's existence. He may be a paid by Google, but it doesn't matter, it's not like anyone cannot see that he acts like a paid shill. 

The thing is that once ARKit really gets going, the fragmentation on the Android platform is going to be a major issue. Not that Samsung is going to care because their AR efforts are based on the Oculus platform. All of a sudden, Wall Street will wake up to the fact that the emperor, in this case Google, has no clothes. Marketshare will be meaningless, especially when the majority of users on the so-called dominant platform can't take advantage of meaningful advances. 

The biggest issue for Alphabet isn't the possibility of Apple removing Google as the default search. The issue that keeps them up at night is making Bing the default engine. 

I am convinced that the primary difference between Google and Bing isn't the actual algorithm. It has more to do with the data generated by the users. And Google has large amounts of data where Bing does not. However, remove Google from iOS and put Bing on it and the market dynamics will change VERY quickly. 

Google has been fortunate that there isn't a lot of love between Microsoft and Apple either. These days I don't bother with Google search at all. DuckDuckGo is pretty good. And for professional people, Bing is actually the best. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Amazon and Apple's own maps app, serve nearly all of my needs. I haven't done a single Google search in nearly 3 years. 

If Alphabet doesn't want to see Bing gain serious marketshare, they will continue to pay Apple and pay them handsomely. Apple doesn't need Google. The converse is absolutely not true. 

gatorguy said:

Herbivore2 said:

MacPro said:

badmonk said:

560,000 infections through an app store...nothing to see here people...keep moving please...

paging Gatorguy for the unofficial Google response...and i do respect Gatorguy's intelligence.

Give him a chance!  He has to wait for the email from Google HQ to have all the links to false equivalence articles to attach.  

Google is doomed. .

Google actually has some very serious issues to address. So far they've done a very poor job. 

The whole thing I find amusing is the fact that development of the software is automated. So we now get to experience the next big thing in AI. Utilizing "intelligent" computing platforms to develop sophisticated malware. Perhaps such malware can automate the process of transferring large sums of money to ISIL and North Korean bank accounts from various western nations. 

Perhaps Google will one day realize that the development and release of new technology comes with responsibilities. The company acts like its run by a bunch of juveniles.  Kids who do things for fun but don't realize the potential consequences. And then when the consequences come, they try to shirk any responsibility. 


It's time for the company to grow up. There's nothing wrong with admitting oversights and mistakes. There is nothing wrong with trying to right past wrongs and act as a responsible and decent corporate partner. It's too much to ask I know. Google will be around for a long time. But they won't be getting my business. And if they continue to behave as they do, they are going to turn off ever larger portions of the public off to their practices.  But their products appear inexpensive. There will always be a market for them. That is, if one wants to live with the trade offs in having little to no privacy. 

MacPro said:

badmonk said:

560,000 infections through an app store...nothing to see here people...keep moving please...

paging Gatorguy for the unofficial Google response...and i do respect Gatorguy's intelligence.

Give him a chance!  He has to wait for the email from Google HQ to have all the links to false equivalence articles to attach.  

Excellent response! 

Gatorguy reminds me of all of those tobacco company sponsored PR people who spun the facts to make tobacco appear to be a safe product back in the 60's and 70's, even sponsoring research to refute legitimate medical research. 

When the truth became overwhelming, the tobacco companies stopped the nonsense because there was no one believing them anymore. 

The same will happen to Google and Android. If this malware has the ability to take photos, listen in on conversations and the like, it's a VERY MAJOR problem. It's a HIPAA violation just waiting to happen. And when it does, Google is going to subject to very large civil lawsuits they cannot win. The attorneys will be salivating after going after Google's billions. Never mind the potential criminal issues involved. 

If I were in Pichai's shoes, I would probably want to keep it quiet too. However, sometimes the right thing to do is to be honest and transparent. It's not going to happen and Google is faced with a nightmare on its hands.