iPhone

What's to say?

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John Willoughby
What's to say?

Fair enough. There are several angles to it, but I suppose it's being covered to death elsewhere too.

Only thing I'm curious about is whether this was in the works when Google was bidding unseriously on the Nortel patents.

I thought that Google was invited to be part of the Nortel purchase and opted out. I really don't see this as a big deal other than the patents. Samsung and HTC seem to be carrying the Android hardware torch.

Edit: Now that Google has purchased Motorola, can we call them lumbering?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2011 09:40AM by Mokers.

jk, supposedly this is recent and spurred in part by MS sniffing around.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2011 10:02AM by porruka.

Google had to do something. This makes the most sense when compared to their other options...

HTC is a Chinese company and I think there's a lot of trust issues right now with American companies acquiring/partnering with Chinese firms. I don't know how strong their patent portfolio is anyway.

Samsung and LG, both Korean, are just too big.

Sony Ericsson is an odd duck as it's based out of the UK but is a partnership between the Swedes and the Japanese. I think Sony would be more than happy to cash out of that arrangement but I think an actual deal would be too complicated.

Now that Nokia is in bed with Microsoft, I think any deal there would be a non-starter.

They could have bought RIM but the regulatory hurdles would have been huge since there's no way Google would be able to keep Blackberry propped up.

There are a handful of other players out there but those are mostly smaller Chinese companies with an even shadier background than HTC or they're companies like Toshiba which would still be beyond Google's reach.

Motorola is a US company with a hefty patent portfolio and their recent split with Motorola Solutions resulted in a package with the tastiest morsels all bundled together, just waiting for Google's belly.

I've already seen articles about how this puts Google in competition with its Android partners. Imagine how HP would feel if MS bought Dell.

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John Willoughby
I've already seen articles about how this puts Google in competition with its Android partners. Imagine how HP would feel if MS bought Dell.

Now we're starting to get into some of the interesting bits...

I wouldn't be surprised to see Google spin some of it off. They clearly don't want to be in the manufacturing business.

Today S&P cut Google's rating and dropped their price target by 30%. That is almost as bold a move as cutting the USA's rating. If their predictions don't pan out, this could be the start of S&P's collapse.

Not the triple A ratings given to mortgage-based derivatives? How odd.

cs: response in the parlor.

All of the ratings agencies should be given the same amount of credence as tea-leaf readers.

As to the downgrading of the US credit rating - it should have been done about 5 or 6 years ago.

I'd say a decade or so. I was listening to a lecture yesterday on how currency/money/trade worked in medieval Europe. You know, they went on/off metals (silver/gold) for currency, too. I am not sure what the best, long-term 'money' is.

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El Jeffe
I'd say a decade or so. I was listening to a lecture yesterday on how currency/money/trade worked in medieval Europe. You know, they went on/off metals (silver/gold) for currency, too. I am not sure what the best, long-term 'money' is.

Too far. A decade ago, the US was coming off two years of surpluses, during which there was discussion of retiring the entire federal debt. Granted, the US had just enacted fiscally irresponsible tax cuts (which are a big part of the reason for the mess we're in now), and the retirement of the boomers was looming inevitably; even so, there was no reason, a decade ago, to contemplate a credit downgrade at that time.

Hey, keep your fiscal policy out of my Apple hardware!

So looks like we'll have an announcement mid-to-late September. Funny how what's more interesting is what becomes the low-end iPhone. I will be sorely tempted if there's a no-contract data-only (hello, Skype) iPhone 4 lite for a reasonable price.

My bad, sorry johnny!

Huh -- not having a TV, I hadn't been aware that any of them advertised. It just didn't occur to me. Does the hardware manufacturer cover it all, or is their payment and co-branding by Android?

Okay, this question and all answers to it must necessarily be speculation, but: how many purchasing decisions do you think are based on uncertainty about a platform's future? I mean, if you buy an iPad, you're pretty sure there will be an Apple, an App Store, and more iPads in the future. But with a Xoom? An HP pad? How long before you're left high and dry, either with an unsupported product or no way to get added functionality out of your hardware?

ddt

I think few decisions are based on (any) platform's future. Most are what's hot and got what I need type thing. And of course price.

I bought Macs in the mid-1990's, so I know that my buying decisions are not based on the platform's future.

(Hello, PIC-2000!
(Hello, NeXT Color Turbo Workstation!)
(Hello, BeBox!)

Did all of those rely on a dedicated ecosystem for software?

And, uh, well, okay. A Willoughby should never be considered anything but an outlier when looking at technology and purchasing habits.

ddt