I can only hope you are serious - it's still way more Open than Apple, however you can't have it all - no fragmentation, no carrier "crapware" and full openness. So they seem to be doing the next best - if you are Google partner you will get to ship Google Apps, but you would have to agree to reasonable terms that help control fragmentation or UI variances etc. If you are not - then take the open code (it might be released later than you like but still) and do whatever you want with it, just don't say "Google" anywhere.
And as a user - you can still buy handsets that allow you to use Amazon appstore or side load apps. So yeah in the spirit of everything being relative - it is still far more open - just enough to be not a detriment.
I beg to differ. We could have it all if it was really an open source project.
The community would be able to make it into something great - not just by making apps. If it was great, it would be desireable. Carriers probably wouldn't like it, but Google could commission open hardware just as they have done already, and demand would cause other hardware makers to follow suit.
Google's intent behind Android is to put them in control, and they aren't afraid to say so.
No, you can't have it all, but that's the point. Google rode the "openness" train to gain philosophical support for Android from the open source community, even though critics pointed out that Apple's strict control has a reason. Now that Google has established a beachhead, they're exerting a kind of control over the platform that goes against the principles they originally espoused and ultimately justifies the very reasoning from Apple that Google and its supporters publicly antagonized for being a "draconian future."
Furthermore, Honeycomb's source is being withheld, allegedly for quality control reasons. However, Google's privileged partners are allowed access, which means they can start work on Honeycomb products earlier than those without access. That's not an open platform. That's an insular platform of privileged access.
The article also states that Google is requiring licensees to agree to clauses that give Google final approval over changes to the operating system. The implication is that if you make changes Google doesn't like, your Android license is at risk. This is supposed to be an open platform with which you are free to do what you want, not some Google platform.
Most troubling is the claim that Google is obstructing phones which use Bing. Bing is a Google rival. With Google having the power of final approval, holding up a Bing-using phone reveals the motives behind the Android platform. An Android phone modified to interface with Bing directly affects Google's bottom line. If Android is an open platform, it shouldn't matter if a device manufacturer chooses to go with Bing over Google. But apparently, it does matter to Google.
Google has exploited the positive feelings of the phrase "open source" for years. The point behind their free services has always been to support the closed source, proprietary search and advertising platform that makes them their money. Now, cracks are beginning to show as their genuine motives begin to influence their public behavior, revealing that Google is just another capitalist. I don't have a problem with that, but the open source community that Google has wooed and relied on for buzz over the years might.
I am not sure what point you are trying to make here. Even after the control that Google is "allegedly" trying to exert over Android, it still remains a more open platform than iOS.
Are you advocating 100% Open as in Utopia OR Totally Closed like Apple? I don't see how that makes sense. More open is better even if it is not 100%.
And as a user - you can still buy handsets that allow you to use Amazon appstore or side load apps. So yeah in the spirit of everything being relative - it is still far more open - just enough to be not a detriment.