During the Day 2 Google I/O conference keynote, Vic Gundotra implied that Android was created to bring an end to the tight grip that Apple has in the mobile market. He wasn't shy about his adversary, painting a grim future that reflects the totalitarian regime in George Orwell's 1984 or even George Lucas' Empire in the Star Wars universe.
"If Google didn't act, it faced a draconian future where one man, one phone, one carrier were our choice," he said. "That's a future we don't want."
His words echoed vice president of engineering Andy Rubin (and former CEO of Android Inc. before it was assimilated by Google) who shared the same dream of rebelling against Apple's dominance. Google even made fun of Apple's 1984-themed ad aired sixteen years ago--which ironically pegged IBM as Big Brother at the time--by throwing up its own 1984-themed banner reading "Not The Future We Want."
"If you believe in openness, if you believe in choice, if you believe in innovation from everyone, then welcome to Android, " Gundotra added. He thus goes into all the features Froyo provides that we've already covered, however you can't help but hear the little jabs here and there at Apple throughout the keynote.
Here's a good example. "There are some [Jobs] who say that users don't use Google Search on smartphones," he said. "Well, we're a company driven by data, and not by opinions." The comment was in retaliation to a statement made by Jobs back in April. He claimed users aren't searching on mobile devices (which is utterly false), but rather are using apps to get to data on the Internet "rather than a generalized search." Jobs didn't offer numbers in his keynote--Gundotra did.
While Google seems intent on taking down Apple, manufacturers are worried that Google may be turning over to the dark side. It's speculated that carriers pulled out of their agreements to offer the Nexus One because of a common fear that Google is gaining too much power. While Apple called IBM Big Brother back in 1984, and Google is now calling Apple Big Brother in 2010, will history eventually repeat itself?
