https://www.apple.com/ https://www.apple.com/ A war of words between the CEOs of Google and Applemakes for great headlines, but does little to illuminate reality. Google says its Android OS is “open,” while Apple’s iOSplatform is “closed.” Apple, on the other hand, claims Android is “fragmented,” while iOS is “integrated.” They’re both right about Apple, at least with […]
| https://www.apple.com/ |
| https://www.apple.com/ |
A war of words between the CEOs of Google and Applemakes for great headlines, but does little to illuminate reality.
Google says its Android OS is “open,” while Apple’s iOSplatform is “closed.” Apple, on the other hand, claims Android is “fragmented,” while iOS is “integrated.”
They’re both right about Apple, at least with their respective spins, but wrong about Google. Google, in fact, is at least as “closed” as Apple. I’ll tell you why below.
But first, let’s take a quick look at the spat.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt held courtat a conference called TechCrunch Disrupt recently, where he explained why iOS is closed. Speaking of Apple, he said “You have to use their development tools, their platform, their hardware, their software — if you submit an application, they have to approve it — they have to use their monetization and their distribution.”
That, Schmidt said, “would not be open… The inverse would be open.”
Schmidt gave an example of how Android was more open than iOS by pointing out that Google allows Adobe Flash to run on its mobile OS, and Apple doesn’t.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs counteredin a statement during an earnings call. He did this not by disagreeing with Schmidt’s basic argument, but merely disagreeing with Schmidt’s interpretation and judgment.
The iOS isn’t “closed,” according to Jobs, but “integrated,” resulting in a better user experience. Both Schmidt and Jobs mean the same thing, but disagree about whether Apple’s “closed” or “integrated” approach is bad or good for users.
What Jobs didn’t say was that Google is every bit as “closed” as Apple. Here’s why.
The CEOs are comparing Google’s mobile OS with Apple’s. It’s the wrong comparison because from a business perspective Android and iOS are incomparable.
The iOS, along with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad hardware, are products that Apple sells to its customers for money. That’s Apple’s business. In fact, it’s the biggest slice of Apple’s revenue and profit pie, the fastest growing and most important to its future.
Android, on the other hand is not a product that Google sells to customers for money. Android is not a business. Google’s business is advertising — a whopping 99% of Google’s revenue comes from selling ads.
Let me clarify by way of analogy. Donald Trump and McDonald’s both buy land and organize the design and construction of buildings. Donald Trump builds buildings in order to sell (or rent) buildings. McDonald’s builds buildings in order sell junk food.
In this analogy, Apple is like Trump. Both Apple and Trump make something in order to sell it. Google is like McDonald’s. Both Google and McDonald’s make something in order to sell something else.
The companies are different, and what they’re “open” about reflects that difference. For example, Trump is very secretive about pending real estate transactions, but would probably be happy to share the details of food served at one of his golf courses. McDonald’s on the other hand, isn’t all that secretive about real estate transactions but they’re very secretive or “closed” about their Secret Sauce.
In other words, companies are very closed, secretive, and controlling about the part of their business that makes the money.
So in the case of Google, the company is like any other: “closed” when it comes to the business.
AdWords and AdSenseare Google’s products in the same way that the iOS and iPhones are Apple’s products.
Schmidt says iOS is “not open” because “You have used their development tools, their platform, their hardware, their software… their monetization and their distribution.”
But with Google AdWords, you have to use Google’s tools, their platform, their hardware, their software code, their monetization and their distribution.”
I’m sorry, Schmidt, but that would not be open. The inverse would be open.
Further, you have to get Google’s approval to use your keywords. Google bans AdWords keywords relating to pharmaceuticals, hacking, student essays and other things Google has decided will pollute the AdWords environment — just like Apple bans apps for the same reason.
And Schmidt uses the example of Flash to demonstrate that Google is open and Apple is closed. It’s not a fair comparison. Flash both competes with, and affects the user experience of, Apple’s core moneymaking business, but not Google’s.
Apple allowing Flash to operate inside the iOS is comparable to Google allowing adCentercode to execute inside of a Google display ad in a way that enables Microsoft to keep the money. Google would never allow it.
So the next time Google slams Apple for being “not open” about its core bread-and-butter business, ask when they are going to open up AdWords.
Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
December 04, 2020
Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 18, 2020
Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA
FEATURE | By Guest Author,
November 10, 2020
FEATURE | By Samuel Greengard,
November 05, 2020
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
November 02, 2020
How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 29, 2020
Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
October 23, 2020
The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
October 16, 2020
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
October 07, 2020
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Guest Author,
October 05, 2020
CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science
FEATURE | By Guest Author,
September 25, 2020
Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 25, 2020
Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2020
FEATURE | By Cynthia Harvey,
September 22, 2020
NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
September 18, 2020
Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 14, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By James Maguire,
September 13, 2020
IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 11, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality
FEATURE | By James Maguire,
September 09, 2020
Anticipating The Coming Wave Of AI Enhanced PCs
FEATURE | By Rob Enderle,
September 05, 2020
The Critical Nature Of IBM’s NLP (Natural Language Processing) Effort
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | By Rob Enderle,
August 14, 2020
Mike Elgan is an American journalist, blogger, columnist, and podcaster. He is a columnist for publications including Computerworld, Cult of Android, Cult of Mac, Forbes, Datamation, eWeek, and Baseline.
Datamation is the leading industry resource for B2B data professionals and technology buyers. Datamation's focus is on providing insight into the latest trends and innovation in AI, data security, big data, and more, along with in-depth product recommendations and comparisons. More than 1.7M users gain insight and guidance from Datamation every year.
Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2025 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved
Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.
