There were few memorable moments at last year’s Google IO keynote. Without looking it up on Wikipedia, I don’t remember much about the product announcements other than Android, Android, Android and a botched Google TV demo. What I do remember is the affair being an opportunity for Google’s Vic Gundotra to take pot shots at Apple and fuzzy up the history of his own mobile platform.
Gundotra took the opportunity of last year’s IO to proclaim that they created Android to save the world from a Draconian future where one man, one company, one device, one carrier would be our only choice. The message of last year’s Android keynote was lost upon many as Google instead focused on attacking the current mobile juggernaut that is Apple.
This year’s Keynote was different. Outside of a single slide of an Android eating an Apple, Google’s focus was entirely on their own platform’s accomplishments and future. The 100 million worldwide activations. The 400,000 daily activations. The new features of Honeycomb and the forthcoming Ice Cream Sandwich.
Maybe Google is responding to the negative feedback they got on the nature of last year’s Keynote. Or maybe they realize that they now have a platform that can stand toe to toe with Apple in a variety of categories. Android isn’t as simple to use and not as elegant, but it’s powerful, functional and has a rabid fan base. When you can describe your platform with those attributes, it doesn’t matter what the other guys are doing.
Android’s functional and aesthetic improvements are good for Apple and the mobile industry as a whole. As iOS users, you don’t have to like the directions Google is taking their platform, but you should respect that the innovations Google brings to phones and tablets will in some way shape the direction the the entire industry goes moving forward.