Which side are you on?
There’s a war at the University. Most students are involved, and the majority of them don’t even know it. It’s a battle approaching its fifth year with no real end in sight.
Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, smartphones have taken over our lives. Remember when you didn’t have the power of the Internet right at your fingertips? Remember the days you actually had to pay attention in class and couldn’t instantly play around on Facebook?
Yeah, me neither.
Of course, when one company does something successful, everyone else tries to ride its wave to success.
Several companies, such as RIM (BlackBerry) and Palm, attempted to make mobile Internet a reality, but it wasn’t until the iPhone that the process was streamlined and simple enough for everyone to use.
It’s safe to say the iPhone has been successful.
However, shortly after the iPhone, Google introduced its Android platform, which is both similar and drastically different from Apple. Last year, Microsoft re-entered the ring with its rebranded Windows Phone 7.
With all the hype of the announcement and release of the iPhone 4S, accompanied with the new operating system iOS 5, many may have missed the unveiling of another upgraded OS — Android 4.0.
Also known as “Ice Cream Sandwich,” Android 4.0 brings dramatic changes to the table with a simplified user interface and a more streamlined experience on both phones and tablets.
Android has seen dramatic success in the last year, even overtaking the iPhone when it comes to both market share and app downloads. Granted, many devices run Android. But considering the iPhone had a year head start, it’s an impressive feat for Android.
This mobile OS battle is nothing to scoff about. Each side has its own set of fans that will defend their system of choice.
Aside from crazy fans, the companies themselves throw words and lawsuits at each other almost daily, including harsh words from Google and Apple.
In his newly-published biography by Walter Isaacson, the late Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple, reveals his true feelings toward Google and Android.
It isn’t pretty.
“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong,” Jobs said. “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”
I told myself I was going to stay away from Steve Jobs and his beliefs after his passing, but this quote was too powerful to pass up.
While Android does have similar features to Apple’s iOS, saying Android is a stolen product is a bold, and somewhat inaccurate, statement.
Technology evolves by building on what has been successful in the past. As previously mentioned, the iPhone wasn’t the first phone to put the power of the Internet in everyone’s hands or even let people play music on their phones. It was, however, the first to make it practical and easy to use.
By claiming Android is a stolen from Apple, one could easily claim the iPhone is a stolen product of many other devices in the past.
Google fired back in blog posts with claims similar to what I just mentioned with Apple responding.
Jobs was known to have a pretty bad temper, so it’s possible this quote was said at an intense moment — or maybe it’s the truth. Unfortunately, that’s one thing we will never know.
One thing we do know is the mobile platform competition isn’t going anywhere. The way technology advances, it’s only going get worse.
So, which side are you on?
 
Adam Arinder is a 22-year-old communication studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
 
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Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]