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Andy Rubin Leaving Google

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Re: Andy Rubin Leaving Google

#11

Post by ChuckMcM »

oldxoog wrote: post #7
wfjackson wrote: post #4

This thread just 4 days ago on HN is interesting in this context. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8506911 Google employees were implying that Andy Rubin got bored of Android and left to work on robotics and people suggesting the opposite were getting downvoted. It still could be true but looks less likely down.

Throwaway because I know with pretty strong confidence what went down -- The truth seems to be both (a) unpleasant for Andy and (b) unremarkable to the rest of us. In other words, it wasn't his choice, but there wasn't a scandalous smoking gun either. He just wanted what Larry wouldn't give him. Nothing that would be front page news.

I expect it might be more unpleasant for wannabe Andys. But I agree it was unremarkable. Scott McNealy used to congratulate people getting promoted with "One step up, one step closer to the door." That captured the balancing act between climbing the ladder versus being pushed off of it because someone else wanted your spot. I think Andy will be much happier in his new role, and it isn't like he has to work for a living any more :-)

Re: Andy Rubin Leaving Google

#12

Post by mbca »

oldxoog wrote: post #8
judk wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does that mean? What history?

I agree it's a pretty trite comment - unless op meant he lasted so long ".. on the robotics junket" aka exit lobby, in which case I'd agree. Andy could be a pain but his accomplishments speak for him -- Android has long been seen as a massive success, warts and all, at the highest levels of goog.

Android is only a "success" insofar as being the only game in town for an open-source iOS competitor. I'm frankly amazed it ever gained any traction at all, but when your competition is non-free garbage like Symbian, Blackberry, and Windows mobile, I guess you can just win by default. Especially when you have the might of Google's multi-billion dollar support behind you.

Android has already gotten miles better in the year since Rubin is no longer involved, seeing long-needed improvements such as Chrome for the browser and WebViews, radically better runtime, more unified UI design, etc. Overall, Android is much better off without him and I look forward to whatever comes next (for Android, not Rubin).

Re: Andy Rubin Leaving Google

#13

Post by nostrademons »

mbca wrote: post #12
oldxoog wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree it's a pretty trite comment - unless op meant he lasted so long ".. on the robotics junket" aka exit lobby, in which case I'd agree. Andy could be a pain but his accomplishments speak for him -- Android has long been seen as a massive success, warts and all, at the highest levels of goog.

Android is only a "success" insofar as being the only game in town for an open-source iOS competitor. I'm frankly amazed it ever gained any traction at all, but when your competition is non-free garbage like Symbian, Blackberry, and Windows mobile, I guess you can just win by default. Especially when you have the might of Google's multi-billion dollar support behind you. Android has already gotten miles better in the…

That could be an indication that building a viable mobile phone OS is really, really hard.

While I'm also quite glad to see the recent Chrome/Android integration, I think Rubin should get a lot of credit for getting Android to the point where it's even worth integrating with. A bunch of competitors tried and failed; I'm glad that there's more than just Apple available in the mobile OS market.

Re: Andy Rubin Leaving Google

#14

Post by larrys »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #11
oldxoog wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Throwaway because I know with pretty strong confidence what went down -- The truth seems to be both (a) unpleasant for Andy and (b) unremarkable to the rest of us. In other words, it wasn't his choice, but there wasn't a scandalous smoking gun either. He just wanted what Larry wouldn't give him. Nothing that would be front page news.

I expect it might be more unpleasant for wannabe Andys. But I agree it was unremarkable. Scott McNealy used to congratulate people getting promoted with "One step up, one step closer to the door." That captured the balancing act between climbing the ladder versus being pushed off of it because someone else wanted your spot. I think Andy will be much happier in his new role, and it isn't like he has to work for a livi…

"Scott McNealy used to congratulate people getting promoted with "One step up, one step closer to the door.""

God knows when I hear things like that I thank my lucky stars I don't have to work in a large corporation or answer to anyone but customers. (Well more than that obviously but at least I'm not at the whims of corporate culture.)

Re: Andy Rubin Leaving Google

#15

Post by i_am_ralpht »

judk wrote: post #6
fidotron wrote: post #3

The surprise is he lasted so long. I really hope this is not the last we've heard of him. Sundar appears to be walking proof that victors get to write history, but I'm not sure how long he'll be able to keep that act up.

What does that mean? What history?

Maybe the business week puff piece on Sundar (which somewhat atypically spent a page complaining about Andy)?

Re: Andy Rubin Leaving Google

#17

Post by autism_hurts »

edderly wrote: post #16

I think it’s a good time to reflect on the massive impact of Android on the mobile OS market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system#Market_... The Android team under Rubin executed extraordinarily well with a tiny fraction of Google’s engineering resources.

By riding the coat tails and blatantly copying Apple.

Re: Andy Rubin Leaving Google

#18

Post by DannyBee »

autism_hurts wrote: post #17
edderly wrote: post #16

I think it’s a good time to reflect on the massive impact of Android on the mobile OS market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system#Market_... The Android team under Rubin executed extraordinarily well with a tiny fraction of Google’s engineering resources.

By riding the coat tails and blatantly copying Apple.

Andy was being innovative and succeeding with things like the hiptop/ sidekick well before phones were a twinkle in Apple's eye.

Re: Andy Rubin Leaving Google

#19

Post by edderly »

autism_hurts wrote: post #17
edderly wrote: post #16

I think it’s a good time to reflect on the massive impact of Android on the mobile OS market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system#Market_... The Android team under Rubin executed extraordinarily well with a tiny fraction of Google’s engineering resources.

By riding the coat tails and blatantly copying Apple.

Even if you take that argument at face value, do you think anyone could just have done that?

There are enough failed and feeble mobile OS vendors out there (Symbian, RIM, Palm, Microsoft) to prove that doing what Android has done is hard.

Re: Andy Rubin Leaving Google

#20

Post by DannyBee »

wfjackson wrote: post #4

This thread just 4 days ago on HN is interesting in this context. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8506911 Google employees were implying that Andy Rubin got bored of Android and left to work on robotics and people suggesting the opposite were getting downvoted. It still could be true but looks less likely down.

"Google employees were implying that Andy Rubin got bored of Android and left to work on robotics and people suggesting the opposite were getting downvoted. It still could be true but looks less likely down."

Andy definitely got bored and went to work on robots before. He even says that in the article.

As for what happened this time, no idea.

I have some guesses though, and none of them are "forced out".

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