Google compares Apple to 'Big Brother' from iconic 1984 ad

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
More than 25 years after Apple compared IBM to a totalitarian state in an iconic TV advertisement, Google at this week's I/O conference attempted to suggest Apple is now playing the role of Big Brother with the iPhone.



Vic Gundotra, vice president of engineering for Google, made the comments during his presentation demonstrating "Froyo," the latest update to the company's Google mobile operating system. He suggested that Google's entrance into the mobile phone market was a move meant to directly oppose the likes of Apple and its tightly controlled iPhone platform.



"If Google did not act, we faced a Draconian future where one man, one company, one device, one carrier would be our only choice," Gundotra said. "That's a future we don't want."



Gundotra was paraphrasing Andy Rubin, CEO of Android Inc. before it was purchased by Google, and current vice president of engineering at the search giant. Gundotra's story earned applause from the crowd as a black-and-white image reading "Not the Future We Want" and "1984" was displayed, clearly referencing Apple without specifically naming the iPhone maker.



"If you believe in openness, if you believe in choice, if you believe in innovation from everyone, then welcome to Android," Gundotra said.







The introduction of the Macintosh was declared with the Ridley Scott-directed "1984" advertisement, which aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVII on Jan. 22, 1984. The 60-second TV spot was made for a budget of $900,000 and is considered to be a masterpiece in advertising.







Thursday's comments from Gundotra and Google were just another example of the fallout between it and Apple, as the two companies continue to enter and compete in the same markets. This week, Google announced its entrance into the set-top-box arena, where Apple has been present for years with the Apple TV. Google TV aims to integrate both Web browsing and cable TV into one device running its Android operating system, and will arrive this fall.



Last summer, as both companies continued to enter the same markets, Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from the Apple Board of Directors. The removal of Schmidt was seen as necessary as Google and Apple now compete in numerous markets in the technology sector: Google's Android mobile operating system competes with Apple's iPhone; both companies recently made large mobile advertising acquisitions; Google's forthcoming Chrome OS will see the company enter the traditional PC space; and the Chrome browser competes with Apple's Safari.







In March The New York Times reported that Steve Jobs feels Google betrayed Apple by partnering with hardware manufacturers to make cell phones that resemble the iPhone. Jobs also allegedly let his feelings be known to employees at a company meeting in January.



"We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business," Jobs reportedly said. "Make no mistake, Google wants to kill the iPhone. We won't let them."



Despite the companies differences and the growing rivalry, Jobs was spotted having coffee in public with Schmidt back in March. The two were seen having a chat at a cafe in Palo Alto, Calif.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 431
    swingeswinge Posts: 110member
    Any bets on total comments? I'll go with 420



    First post! Woo hoo!!
  • Reply 2 of 431
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member
    pot kettle etc.



    (honest, we collected that data from open wifi networks completely by accident)
  • Reply 3 of 431
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Google said those things with a straight face? The captains of privacy-violators, the sultans of data-collection, the admirals of advertisements. Pshaw.
  • Reply 4 of 431
    rfrmacrfrmac Posts: 90member
    Work with Apple. Learn what is going on and why. Take it back and duplicate it.



    Apple was not very smart here. Google had no where else to go in their minds. Who selects the Board of Directories anyway? And of what use are patients?
  • Reply 5 of 431
    Google just bought SimplifyMedia



    "Buy 'em out, boys" (Simpsons Reference)
  • Reply 6 of 431
    ilogicilogic Posts: 298member
    Wasn't Apple betrayed before?



    Best line of the article:

    "If you believe in openness, if you believe in choice, if you believe in innovation from everyone, then welcome to Android"
  • Reply 7 of 431
    I'm finding their search engine starting to become pretty useless at this point...I just skip to page 4 anymore to get through all the paid search results.
  • Reply 8 of 431
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member
    "If Google did not act, we faced a Draconian future where some other man, some other company, some other device, some other carrier would be our only choice," Gundotra said. "Google only.... that's a future we want."
  • Reply 9 of 431
    kindredmackindredmac Posts: 153member
    Apple is indeed the Big Brother of this generation. I have no problems saying that.



    It all started with the iPod though, not as recently as the iPhone as Google is saying.



    If you want to use an iPhone or iPad you NEED to use iTunes... You NEED an iTunes account. That right there is restricting. And what is Apple's reasoning behind this? "It just works better that way" is the usual response. Well I'm sure IBM thought the same way when they were considered the top dog.



    But the funniest thing about this whole story is that this argument is coming from Google...



    They are actually more of a threat to being the next Evil Empire. Hell they have been collecting data on people for years and when they get caught only reply with "Oops, our bad. Sorry."



    What we have here is the basis of Capitalism. The reason for starting a business is to grow your business and make more money. Being the top dog SHOULD be your goal. So why is one business pointing fingers at another because they are successful??? A little bit of Marketing and a pinch of jealousy thrown in for good measure, that's why.
  • Reply 10 of 431
    One key difference: people LOVE the iPhone*.



    Who ever really loved IBM, even now?



    (People may not love AT&T -- I surely don't -- but "them's the breaks.")



    My sister, several of my friends, and over half of the people I know at work have iPhones (and now, some iPads), and ALL of these people are very happy campers.



    Mind you, they haven't become mindless drones on the road to happiness, either.



    Vic Gundotra & Co. seem to think they're Christian Bale in "Equilibrium" (time for your daily dose of Prozium!) or Laurence Fishburne in "The Matrix": red pill, or blue pull, Mr. Anderson?
  • Reply 11 of 431
    erybovicerybovic Posts: 37member
    I love how Microsoft is nowhere on the radar.
  • Reply 12 of 431
    zindakozindako Posts: 468member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by erybovic View Post


    I love how Microsoft is nowhere on the radar.



    I was about to mention that very same thing, all this Android talk is making windows technology all the more irrelevant. I like that
  • Reply 13 of 431
    iancass79iancass79 Posts: 80member
    I can only hope that with Google entering the phone and tv box market will drive the iPhone and Apple TV to be better. Especially the Apple TV. Don't get me wrong, I love my Apple TV unlike most people. I use it all of the time. It could be much better though. Maybe this will light a fire under Apple's butt to do something more with it. My luck though, they will come out with something fantastic and I will have to buy another one because mine won't do it. That's how it always goes. For once, they should reward the ones that have been in there for the long haul.
  • Reply 14 of 431
    danielswdanielsw Posts: 906member
    Google is obviously envious and/or running scared.



    "1984" is in the stale past and has nothing to do with anything. It's feeble FUD.



    The fact is, Apple's current prosperity has everything to do with its mislabeled "closed" system.



    "Control" is a bad word only to the poor slobs out there who've suffered from lack of good control in their lives and who are consequently irrationally rebelling against it. Apple has benefitted from good leadership under Steve Jobs and from well-defined policy, the purpose of which is not oppressive in the least, but it rather establishes a basis of agreements within an activity or company. These agreements foster efficiency and good communication, and in turn foster a certain "esprit d'corps" which is vital to a company's long term survival.



    Others see what Apple has built and what it has and the success it is now enjoying, and they're understandably envious. They also don't seem to understand that "competition" really doesn't consist of "attack" or "battle" or "war". A sane response would simply be to use Apple as an example and to organize competing companies to study what Apple has done that work well and to try to improve on those things.
  • Reply 15 of 431
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    I wonder what it will take for Apple and Google to partner up again. I miss the mutualism; they both did better then. Now with them trying to get into each other's core business things are just messy.
  • Reply 16 of 431
    ktronixktronix Posts: 12member
    Mussolini was much loved for bringing order to a nation wracked in chaos. He even made the trains run on time (sounds simple, but was actually a major undertaking). I'll take a police state over the KGB (i.e., Google) running the show.



    Just kidding! But in reality, living in a digital "gated community" is great for keeping the baddies at bay.
  • Reply 17 of 431
    asherianasherian Posts: 144member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DanielSW View Post


    Google is obviously envious and/or running scared.



    How could anyone say this with a straight face?



    Android's marketshare is up over 800% year over year, iPhone up 112%. Extrapolate.



    Android is already outselling iPhones in the US and is on pace to pass worldwide this year. Android is on a meteoric growth curve right now, growing far faster than iPhone is. And there's no reason to believe that won't continue with how many carriers, how many hardware makers they support. They're activating 100,000 Androids every day right now, and 12,000 apps were added to the Android Market in the past month alone. It's catching up very, very fast.



    It really is Mac vs PC from the 80s all over again. That's not to say PC is better than Mac, but far more people will use PCs than Mac. Apple simply can't monopolize the entire market with their couple iPhone models.
  • Reply 18 of 431
    fulldecentfulldecent Posts: 108member
    Lol. So just Bing it.



    But don't bother deleting your Google cookies, you'll be back in no time.
  • Reply 19 of 431
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    So I guess this is why Google is trying to get into every facet of our lives.
  • Reply 20 of 431
    aduzikaduzik Posts: 94member
    Google must be even more genius than we thought since they bought Android in 2005, nearly two years before anyone knew for certain Apple was developing a phone. And three years before the App Store opened. Yeah, they developed Android to fight off a competitor that didn't even exist at the time. Puh-leeze.
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