Android Apps, Games, Themes, and more for the Nexus One

You’ll have to forgive my recent foray into all of this Android vs Apple debate, but I have been involved in a number of very interesting, and thought provoking, conversation on the topic and I would love to get more input.  I promise I will get back to more technology oriented topics tomorrow!!!

So in a recent conversation, a very bright young developer, named Eric Bustamante, forwarded this analogy:

If you think of it in terms of real life businesses, these App Stores are like digital extensions of real consumer retail stores. Apple, in that sense, is like Target, and Android Market is like the public market. Apple, like Target, selectively chooses what to put out and sell on their shelves. Android Market, like the public markets, lets anyone willing to pay a small fee share and sell their wares. Both are attractive places to shop for each other’s branding and type of consumer, regardless of the stipulations each impose on what gets sold/not sold in their outlets.

I thought this was a great analogy, and can see the draws each type of environment would have.  The App Store has a greater degree of quality control, though their selection may be arbitrary.  The Android Market, on the other hand, will have just about anything that people can come up with, but the questions of quality control will always be there.

So what is it that draws each type of consumer to each type of device and software distribution scheme? I guess a lot of it will depend on how comfortable you are with the technology.  Someone who wants more direct control of their device and its software will opt for the chaos, and customization, of the Android device.  Someone who “just wants to work” is going to go with Apple.  Yet will this dichotomy always exist???  Can one platform ever survive without the other?

Thoughts?

{ 4 comments }