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Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

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Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#321

Post by 18pfsmt »

cube13 wrote: post #307
pyre wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Google, as a software company, doesn't currently have > to worry about a lot of the issues that the hardware > side of Motorola does, like supply chain management The purchase comes with the employees that are currently running these things. It's not like Google bought the operation sans the talent, and now has to use current Google employees (with no experience in this field) to run Motorola Mobility. All they hav…

That's exactly why I said Google's priority needs to be keeping those employees with those skills and talents. As with any acquisition of this nature, people are going to leave Motorola because of this. Google needs to make a lot of effort to identify and keep the key people. It's important to note that this isn't anything like any of Google's previous acquisitions, both in scale and the nature of the company being a…

Remember the 280 North[1] acquisition by Motorola (they were a YC company)?

I don't know what will happen, but I'm optimistic as a complete outside observer. This acquisition was completely unexpected from any conventional/ conservative perspective.

Edit: I forgot to link: [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/280_North

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#322

Post by Hawramani »

ralfd wrote: post #288
tspiteri wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that Google's interpretation of "Don't be evil" is consistent with money making. They do it because they believe that in the long run, they will be more valuable if they are not "evil". Doing what is morally objectionable may lead to short term gains, but has a high maintenance cost. Not being evil is like having a clean sustainable system design; there is no need for kludges to hide the bad parts.

I am puzzled by this "Don't be evil" bullshit. How would be "killing HTC Sense" not evil? How is Google not evil in requiring real names for G+ and banning people with pseudonyms? How is shutting down APIs (like translation) which developers have grown to depend on not evil? How is monetizing their search monopoly to undercut the business of other companies not evil? Or shaping with their mystical page rank the fates…

What made Microsoft evil: They used to go into acquisition talks with small companies without planning to buy them. They'd learn about their technology and duplicate it themselves.

Another example of evil is cell phone carriers giving users high internet speeds but putting ridiculous caps on them. Or Apple banning apps from the app store then copying their functionality into their own software.

I don't know if Google has done or does anything like that, and that is why people tend to think they're 'better' than other companies.

Therefore by evil what is meant is the company using slimy underhanded tactics on competitors or customers (such companies usually use them on both). Maybe it can be expressed in one word: Cheating. Does the company cheat customers, partners, etc?

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#323

Post by te_chris »

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #257
lurker14 wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is "Motorola Mobile" and what is the rest of Motorala? I saw that in the news headline and figured there was going to be a lot of confusion over what actually got bought.

They're roughly broken down as follows: Moto Mobile: general consumer devices (phones, tablets, GPS nav, DSL/cable modems, IPTV boxes, etc.) Moto Solutions: enterprise and industrial stuff (2-way radios, RFID, barcode scanners, networking)

I think a lot of people are missing that they make stuff like DSL modems and IPTV too. If I was google I'd be interested in having a piece of that too.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#324

Post by [deleted] »

runjake wrote: post #302
mindcrime wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why krakensden is being downvoted for their comment. Maybe because Google have been pretty emphatic about the fact that the Honeycomb / Ice Cream Sandwich code will be released, and because their delay in releasing this one specific revision is hardly the same thing as "closing Android" or whatever hyperbole is being floated around. That said, I didn't downvote him. I didn't think the comment added much…

I'm not sure I see the point of opening an Android release after it's developed. It defeats a primary benefit of open source software. And even then, on most models (HTC, Motorola), unless I'm willing to violate my warranty and root it or unlock the bootloader, I'm not able to actually use the source. This whole "Android is open!" thing seems largely for marketing, not to actually promote any openness (unless you buy…

[deleted]

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#325

Post by [deleted] »

runjake wrote: post #302
mindcrime wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why krakensden is being downvoted for their comment. Maybe because Google have been pretty emphatic about the fact that the Honeycomb / Ice Cream Sandwich code will be released, and because their delay in releasing this one specific revision is hardly the same thing as "closing Android" or whatever hyperbole is being floated around. That said, I didn't downvote him. I didn't think the comment added much…

I'm not sure I see the point of opening an Android release after it's developed. It defeats a primary benefit of open source software. And even then, on most models (HTC, Motorola), unless I'm willing to violate my warranty and root it or unlock the bootloader, I'm not able to actually use the source. This whole "Android is open!" thing seems largely for marketing, not to actually promote any openness (unless you buy…

[deleted]

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#326

Post by [deleted] »

runjake wrote: post #302
mindcrime wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why krakensden is being downvoted for their comment. Maybe because Google have been pretty emphatic about the fact that the Honeycomb / Ice Cream Sandwich code will be released, and because their delay in releasing this one specific revision is hardly the same thing as "closing Android" or whatever hyperbole is being floated around. That said, I didn't downvote him. I didn't think the comment added much…

I'm not sure I see the point of opening an Android release after it's developed. It defeats a primary benefit of open source software. And even then, on most models (HTC, Motorola), unless I'm willing to violate my warranty and root it or unlock the bootloader, I'm not able to actually use the source. This whole "Android is open!" thing seems largely for marketing, not to actually promote any openness (unless you buy…

[deleted]

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#327

Post by [deleted] »

runjake wrote: post #302
mindcrime wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why krakensden is being downvoted for their comment. Maybe because Google have been pretty emphatic about the fact that the Honeycomb / Ice Cream Sandwich code will be released, and because their delay in releasing this one specific revision is hardly the same thing as "closing Android" or whatever hyperbole is being floated around. That said, I didn't downvote him. I didn't think the comment added much…

I'm not sure I see the point of opening an Android release after it's developed. It defeats a primary benefit of open source software. And even then, on most models (HTC, Motorola), unless I'm willing to violate my warranty and root it or unlock the bootloader, I'm not able to actually use the source. This whole "Android is open!" thing seems largely for marketing, not to actually promote any openness (unless you buy…

[deleted]

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#328

Post by rbanffy »

runjake wrote: post #302
mindcrime wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why krakensden is being downvoted for their comment. Maybe because Google have been pretty emphatic about the fact that the Honeycomb / Ice Cream Sandwich code will be released, and because their delay in releasing this one specific revision is hardly the same thing as "closing Android" or whatever hyperbole is being floated around. That said, I didn't downvote him. I didn't think the comment added much…

I'm not sure I see the point of opening an Android release after it's developed. It defeats a primary benefit of open source software. And even then, on most models (HTC, Motorola), unless I'm willing to violate my warranty and root it or unlock the bootloader, I'm not able to actually use the source. This whole "Android is open!" thing seems largely for marketing, not to actually promote any openness (unless you buy…

> I'm not sure I see the point of opening an Android release after it's developed.

Why? I certainly see a point in having the source to the software running on devices being sold.

> It defeats a primary benefit of open source software.

The primary benefit is having the source, being able to modify it and to build upon it. No OSI compliant license grants you the right to immediate access to the latest commits by all developers.

> And even then, on most models (HTC, Motorola), unless I'm willing to violate my warranty and root it or unlock the bootloader, I'm not able to actually use the source.

The decision is yours. I voided my warranty and I am very happy with 2.3.4 on my phone.

> This whole "Android is open!" thing seems largely for marketing

Things like Cyanogen Mod wouldn't be possible without this "Android is open!" thing. If that's marketing, then I love it.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#329

Post by colintan »

nextparadigms wrote: post #135
latch wrote: post #4

63% premium...insanity. This is all about patents, isn't it? Instead of spending $4billion for patents, spend 3x as much, get a huge portfolio (I don't know how large, but it's supposedly quite large)..and a part of a company as well.

Google wouldn't have done it just for patents. They want to enter the hardware game as well. Both to show others how Android phones should be made, but also to make many billions from selling devices, as well. I think this is just the beginning for Google as a hardware company, and in a way it was inevitable. They are a strong tech brand, and they could become very successful selling tech products.

Yes I agree, and moreoever a mobile device company with social/search/payment infrastructure built in.

The days of ad-subsidized, and democratized mobile devices are upon us!

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#330

Post by mahyarm »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #267
olalonde wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well as far as I know, Google search doesn't tweak its algorithm to rank Google owned websites higher. This alone gives them some credibility...

Except, of course, things like Maps and Places and stock quotes etc. etc..

That is not algorithm tweaking, that's a separate search.
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