How Android Is Transforming Mobile Computing - Newsweek - 0 views
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In addition to making Android available for free, Google also lets phone makers change the code and customize it so that an Android phone made by, say, Samsung has a different user interface than an Android phone from Motorola. Rubin believes this open-source model gives Google an advantage over rivals selling closed systems, like Apple, which also operates its own online stores. Apple’s tight control enables it to deliver an exceptionally smooth user experience, where everything works seamlessly together.
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Key point. There are clear advantages to open systems
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So what happens when most of the residents of planet Earth carry a device that gives them instant access to pretty much all of the world's information? The implications-for politics, for education, for global economics-are dizzying. In theory, the mobile revolution could enable citizens to demand greater openness and accountability from their governments. The reverse might also be true: governments could more easily spy on citizens. "You also have the prospect of having 5 billion surveillance points," says Jonathan Zittrain, codirector of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society.