[rmusial]

Linux isn't capabilities based, or real time by default. Google likes permissive licenses. Android, while good, was a knee-jerk by Google in reaction to the iPhone. If you've got the resources of Google, why not try to build something in house that scratches some long standing itches and at the same time get ownership over the OS that could power everything from your phones to laptops?

[tziki]

Android was in development far before iPhone was released.

[drewvolpe]

The original version of Android looked like and worked like a Blackberry: small screen with a physical keyboard and a D pad for navigation (no touch control).

When the iPhone was announced in 2007, they realized that on-screen keyboards and multi-touch control were the future, so they did a complete redesign, moving to an interface similar to the iPhone. Here's a quote from one of their engineers talking about the iPhone announcement:

“As a consumer I was blown away. I wanted [an iPhone] immediately. But as a Google engineer I thought ‘We’re going to have to start over’” Chris DeSalvo said. “What we had suddenly looked so… nineties. It’s just one of those things that are obvious when you see it.”

http://bgr.com/2013/12/19/original-iphone-android-story/

[blinkingled]

Nothing to do with OP's point of Android being based on Linux even before the iPhone.

[Every time this story is told, I like to remind - note how fast Google were able to pivot / adapt when Microsoft with their crazy resources and Engineering might took way longer. (Even beyond that MS had to change the way apps were developed for WP.) Fact is Google/Danger/Android were in a fundamentally good position mobile OS design wise way before the iPhone. After the iPhone - they looked at the possibilities of multi touch soft keyboard UI and were able to get there and surpass fairly fast.]

[addicted]

To be fair Google knew about the iPhone well before Microsoft did (they worked closely with Apple in the beginning for Maps and search).

But even adjusting for that it took MS 3-4 years after the iPhone to just get Windows Phone 7 out, and that was also clearly a rushed release, because they had to throw everything out for Windows Phone 8.

[vvanders]

Yeah, and Danger was doing a lot of interesting stuff in the space as well.

They were the first to do push based email and IM in a context outside of business AFAIK.

[rmusial]

Correct, Google bought Android in 2005 but went back to the drawing board in 2007 when iPhone came out. Now Google has a chance to take some time and try some new things out.

[cma]

They didn't totally go back to the drawing board. Comparing with the original demo they mainly just added touch stuff. The first android phones still had the same blackberry-esque selection ball even though they also had added capacitive touch.

I believe after rage from Jobs they left out multitouch zooming at first and did something double tap based, even though MS had done it before Apple (without capacitive) and Minority Report has shown it.

[bitmapbrother]

If you look at both devices you'll notice that Android essentially looked and operated the same. The only changes were to add additional support for touch screen devices such as the virtual keyboard. I would hardly call this going back to the drawing board. There was no need as they already had all of the software pieces in place.