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Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

techcrunch.com

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Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#11

Post by psy-q »

meri_dian wrote: post #4

As the mobile computing ecosystem matures it's becoming clear that it will mirror the PC dominated computing ecosystem. You have the major player (Microsoft/Windows in PC, Google/Android in mobile) occupying about 85% to 90% of total market share [0] while Apple/Mac/iOS will do well in the high end market and control about 10% to 15% share. iOS today controls about 20% to 25% of global market share but Android growth…

I always hoped for a more 30%/30%/30%/10% distribution, with two big proprietary players, one FOSS one and a bunch of other more experimental or niche systems. Guess that hasn't happened so far. The only place in technology where I remember three big and roughly equally powerful players was the console market, but only for a while.

Would be interesting to find out details about these dynamics.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#12

Post by dustedrob »

JBReefer wrote: post #2

On one hand, this is a truly incredible accomplishment for Google, and in so little time! On the other, it's sort of amazing this hadn't happened already - so, so many people in the developing world are entirely reliant on mobile, and mostly use low-end Android phones. I use a Moto G4 and the experience is shockingly good for a device that costs less than a bar tab. It's no wonder that low-end Android's are winning,…

Agree entirely! However, Google still has a lot of work to do to put some sort of order in the lower end of Android devices like reducing fragmentation, offering a more unified experience for users and making sure that new devices are not shipped with obsolete hardware and software. Android One, for example, is a great initiative that desperately needs to go global.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#13

Post by psy-q »

JBReefer wrote: post #2

On one hand, this is a truly incredible accomplishment for Google, and in so little time! On the other, it's sort of amazing this hadn't happened already - so, so many people in the developing world are entirely reliant on mobile, and mostly use low-end Android phones. I use a Moto G4 and the experience is shockingly good for a device that costs less than a bar tab. It's no wonder that low-end Android's are winning,…

Don't forget that the proprietary Google Play Services are required by more and more apps and that Google is doing everything it can to push these services to the largest number of devices by weaving some sort of web of interdependency.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#15

Post by _mhyx »

meri_dian wrote: post #4

As the mobile computing ecosystem matures it's becoming clear that it will mirror the PC dominated computing ecosystem. You have the major player (Microsoft/Windows in PC, Google/Android in mobile) occupying about 85% to 90% of total market share [0] while Apple/Mac/iOS will do well in the high end market and control about 10% to 15% share. iOS today controls about 20% to 25% of global market share but Android growth…

This sort of matches Duverger's Law[0], which holds that given a particular set of constraints that sound a lot like the smart phone market, you will always end up with 2 players/political parties.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger%27s_law

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#16

Post by eatbitseveryday »

ygra wrote: post #5
eatbitseveryday wrote: post #3

> Report: Linux overtakes Windows NT as the internet's most used operating system kernel. Might be more of an interesting headline written this way. GNU/Linux dominating Windows as a "most used" consumer OS has been a long-term push for the entire community. I would see this as achieving it, albeit in a form different than some would expect.

Well, Android is hardly GNU/Linux, is it? Especially the GNU part is completely absent there.

The drive isn't / wasn't so much the "GNU" portion dominating as much as it was just for the Linux kernel itself.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#17

Post by gtirloni »

digi_owl wrote: post #10
JBReefer wrote: post #2

On one hand, this is a truly incredible accomplishment for Google, and in so little time! On the other, it's sort of amazing this hadn't happened already - so, so many people in the developing world are entirely reliant on mobile, and mostly use low-end Android phones. I use a Moto G4 and the experience is shockingly good for a device that costs less than a bar tab. It's no wonder that low-end Android's are winning,…

AOSP may be open, but on its own it is a skeleton of a OS. Most of the magic in Android today is housed in Play Services, one of two things Google can push an update for (the other being the Play store app) without any dialog or concent from the device user.

I'd say the majority of end users are not particularly knowledgeable about Google Play Services and the Store app to make an informed decision on whether to accept or not an update.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#18

Post by georgeecollins »

When I was younger there IBM, Apple, Be, and Microsoft were all working on these amazing new operating systems. Now the #1, #3, #4 most popular operating systems are all some variation on Unix. What happened? Why did no one except Microsoft come up with a new operating system worthy of mass adoption?

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#19

Post by pducks32 »

JBReefer wrote: post #2

On one hand, this is a truly incredible accomplishment for Google, and in so little time! On the other, it's sort of amazing this hadn't happened already - so, so many people in the developing world are entirely reliant on mobile, and mostly use low-end Android phones. I use a Moto G4 and the experience is shockingly good for a device that costs less than a bar tab. It's no wonder that low-end Android's are winning,…

What I'm most excited for based on my time in Liberia, is when these mobile first citizens wring all the juice out of mobile devices and are able to adopts tablets and then computers. The things they'll be able to do since their grew up on these tiny devices will be incredible.
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