Openess? Just Give Me the Froyo!

(Photo Credit: TrendsUpdates.com)

MG Siegler of Tech Crunch released a blistering commentary on the effectiveness of Google Android's "Openness". He excellently points out that the level of liberty Google is giving carriers is ultimately slowing down Android's success in the market place. Because carriers are delaying the release of newer versions of Android OS to devices, so they can throw in their own tweaks and apps, the widespread progress of Android OS is being hindered. While I agree that the carrier hurdle is something Android must overcome, the bigger threat to Android is its fragmentation across devices. While the carrier hurdle plays into the fragmentation of the OS, fragmentation due to device specification irregularity is still Android OS's biggest threat.
Unless Google can forge some agreement with carriers and device makers, Android may very well be deeply fragmented for the remainder of its life span.

MG Siegler's Original Blog Post: techcrunch.com