John Gruber dropped a subtle bomb over on his blog Daring Fireball concerning Apple’s lawsuit against HTC and the New York Times recent write-up of the growing Apple vs. Google rivalry.
That last bit, regarding a general belief that Apple is gearing up for war against Google, echoes what I’ve heard lately from several sources who work at Apple.
….Hence the patent suit against HTC. That’s all about Google — about creating a situation where Android is no longer a free operating system for handset makers in the U.S., because the cost of using it is an expensive legal defense against Apple [ed. emphasis mine].
If true, then it’s plain Apple is trying to kill Android, just as Jobs claimed Google was trying to “kill the iPhone.” Gruber goes on to state that perhaps “the ‘war’ analogy is stretched,” but I think it is, indeed, war in the corporate sense. This is no longer a friendly competition of who can make the best product. They’re out to destroy each other’s product, Google through building a “free” version of the iPhone and Apple through removing “free” from Android’s equation. I hate to see anti-competitiveness anywhere, let alone used by two companies I love. It’s a strategy that got Microsoft into so much legal trouble in the recent past.
#1 by Damien on March 19th, 2010
Quote
Apple doesn’t need to own 100% of the smart phone market to be successful and Google doesn’t try to kill the iPhone; it just doesn’t want anybody to control the web.
#2 by Ted on March 19th, 2010
Quote
I thought that Apple was the trend-setter in the electronic market. They should not need to sue HTC, unless they have tapped out their well of creativity. The lackluster iPad comes to mind. No one wants to be railroaded into AT&T service, and iPad users have figured out that all they need to do is get a Verizon MiFi card and tape it to the back – lol. Seriously, though – Apple has no business suing HTC for multitouch, when Apple is being sued by Elan for the same violation. Elan’s multitouch patent is dated 1998. While we’re at it, Apple owes Motorola a pretty penny, too – they never bothered to pay the license to use GSM chips in their phones. Imagine a ‘cease and desist’ going through for either suit….
#3 by Ted on March 19th, 2010
Quote
Whoops – I meant Nokia, not Motorola.
#4 by KimH on March 20th, 2010
Quote
>>>> If true, then it’s plain Apple is trying to kill Android, just as Jobs claimed Google was trying to “kill the iPhone.” <<<<
That's overstated. Maybe Apple just wants to make the use of its IP something other than frictionless- which is what it's been up to now.
#5 by Matthew on March 20th, 2010
Quote
Ted: Since they are the trend-setter, they need to be able to protect their inventions against rip-offs. If you’d invented something and then somebody else was making money from your invention, you’d feel the same way as Apple’s leadership does, I imagine.
#6 by Scopie on March 20th, 2010
Quote
Both Steve Jobs and Tim Cook have clearly stated that Apple will use whatever means necessary to protect its intellectual property. If Apple didn’t sue HTC (and possibly others) and suffered what could be perceived as a business reversal as a consequence, there would be grounds for the mother of all stockholder lawsuits. In today’s legal climate a corporation’s senior officers can’t make such public statements and not keep their word.
Or, in other words, what’s wrong with doing what you said you were going to do from the beginning, well before Google was in the phone business or other players were copying Apple’s technology?
#7 by John Hawkes on March 20th, 2010
Quote
Scopie: good point on the stockholder lawsuit. Steve Jobs did make a point even at the iPhone’s first introduction to emphasize the patents.
KimH: I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say Apple is trying to kill Android. Android is currently “free” in both senses of that word. If there is suddenly a cost to the technology and it’s not open source, Android in its current form is dead. The name may live on, but it’d be something different.
#8 by britmic on March 21st, 2010
Quote
So let me get this straight – Android becomes too expensive to use in America, so innovation and economy is driven out to Europe, China, etc
Thanks Steve!