[rorymarinich]

> Every single review would say "it's cute and all, but without the apps its a nonstarter".

I think we're getting to the point where we can't discuss this alternative reality meaningfully (but don't get me wrong, this was a very nice discussion!), but I'm curious. What makes you think that without Android nobody else would launch an App Store, or that nobody else would have the clout to get the sorts of apps that users are interested in?

Sans Android, the iPhone would still have the limitations inherent to a closed system that it has today. Anybody else could have added the background multitasking, or the free GPS, or any of the features that made Android popular, to their own OS, and attracted the same audience that made Android big. I mean, Microsoft is by no means a company that can't afford to compete with Apple financially, and RIM's no slouch either.

[ergo98]

What makes you think that without Android nobody else would launch an App Store, or that nobody else would have the clout to get the sorts of apps that users are interested in?

Android didn't prevent anyone else from entering the space. Yet where are they? If Android didn't appear and get a lot of often undeserved goodwill on Google's back (through much of its life it has been a seriously shitty platform. I've been using it since it was released but would not wish it upon even an enemy until recently), the iPhone would have conquered the whole smartphone market with ease.

Windows Phone 7 already appears too far behind, yet in an alternate scenario where Android didn't "fragment" the market it would have been impossible behind the times.