I'm starting to realize that the success of Android is, in part, a triumph of open source and that's got people scared. And now their attacking it with everything they've got.
To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
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Re: To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
#12I'm starting to realize that the success of Android is, in part, a triumph of open source and that's got people scared. And now their attacking it with everything they've got.
It has nothing to do with the Open Source part and everything to do with the "triumph" part. Android devices are selling very well. Its competitors couldn't care less how it's built or by whom. Their response is the same regardless: they use every tool in the shed to not only make themselves better, but to act as a drag on their competitors.
Re: To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
#13I'm starting to realize that the success of Android is, in part, a triumph of open source and that's got people scared. And now their attacking it with everything they've got.
It has nothing to do with the Open Source part and everything to do with the "triumph" part. Android devices are selling very well. Its competitors couldn't care less how it's built or by whom. Their response is the same regardless: they use every tool in the shed to not only make themselves better, but to act as a drag on their competitors.
Open has a lot to do with it - Android is a great OS by itself but because it's free, it has hurt RIM, MS and Apple's profits quite a bit. Hence why they've banded up and decided to throw everything they have at it.
Re: To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
It has nothing to do with the Open Source part and everything to do with the "triumph" part. Android devices are selling very well. Its competitors couldn't care less how it's built or by whom. Their response is the same regardless: they use every tool in the shed to not only make themselves better, but to act as a drag on their competitors.
Open has a lot to do with it - Android is a great OS by itself but because it's free, it has hurt RIM, MS and Apple's profits quite a bit. Hence why they've banded up and decided to throw everything they have at it.
Do you really think they'd throw anything less at it, if it were closed source?
Re: To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Open has a lot to do with it - Android is a great OS by itself but because it's free, it has hurt RIM, MS and Apple's profits quite a bit. Hence why they've banded up and decided to throw everything they have at it.
Do you really think they'd throw anything less at it, if it were closed source?
I expect Apple would much prefer iOS to have a duopoly with WP7 than with Android. Open platforms lead to messy disruptive innovations that can quickly dislodge established players.
Re: To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
#16I'd like to see them take that $4bn they would've spent on Nortel patents and use it for a patent reform campaign. I'm sure that kind of money could buy a lot of votes in DC.
While I agree with your sentiment, buying votes in DC is not the best approach IMHO. I would like to see them indemnify their partners and then go berserker on the patent protection racket mafia.
[added] Google is in a pretty unique position to do this:
1) They have relatively few patents, so destroying software patents would cause little collateral damage to them.
2) They have financial resources, with $4B set aside for purchasing (or destroying) software patents.
3) They have a lot of smart people resources (in house and hired guns) - the Google v. Oracle lawsuit is showing this.
Re: To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
#17I'd like to see them take that $4bn they would've spent on Nortel patents and use it for a patent reform campaign. I'm sure that kind of money could buy a lot of votes in DC.
The fact that your last sentence is uncontroversial is really depressing. Everyone accepts that 'lobbying' is a polite word for 'bribery' and should be unacceptable in a modern democracy. We should all be on the damn streets about this.
In the US, limiting lobbying is tough (impossible?) without undermining the First Amendment right to petition.
I totally agree lobbying is a problem - perhaps one of the largest (along with our two party political polarization). A solution that doesn't break the US Constitution would be awesome.
(Edit: added second paragraph.)
Re: To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
#18"That is, Google could easily have gone higher with its bid: why didn't it?" ... Rich people get rich by spending wisely. Just because Google -has- money doesn't mean it should spend it on the first thing that comes along. If they didn't buy something, it's because they thought the price was too high for the value it brought to them. It's pretty simple economics.
This.
Also, the value of patent pool may be vastly different to the consortium than to Google. Basically, the value reflects how the buyer evaluates competitor's competetitive strength.
In this case, it may be the consortium considers Google a very strong competitor, while Google considers the consortium a somewhat less troubling competition.
Re: To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
It has nothing to do with the Open Source part and everything to do with the "triumph" part. Android devices are selling very well. Its competitors couldn't care less how it's built or by whom. Their response is the same regardless: they use every tool in the shed to not only make themselves better, but to act as a drag on their competitors.
Open has a lot to do with it - Android is a great OS by itself but because it's free, it has hurt RIM, MS and Apple's profits quite a bit. Hence why they've banded up and decided to throw everything they have at it.
I think you meant Nokia not Apple. Apple's profits have been world beating and they sold pretty much every iPad and iPhone 4 they could make for the last year.
Which is not to say Android isn't a threat to Apple, clearly it's the largest threat, but just that it hasn't seriously affected Apple's profits.
Re: To defend Android, Google must attack software patents
#20Sure, they could throw $4B into a lobbying campaign against software patents. But there's no great reason to think it would be successful, and it probably wouldn't have any effect on previous patents. On the other hand, that would make a hell of a warchest for defending themselves in infringement suits...