Say What? Andy Rubin at D: Dive Into Mobile

Q (from us): “One of the things about Android is that it seems a bit clunky? Are we going to see a sea change in a more user friendly OS?”

Andy: “I understand what you are saying. I would characterize Android as an early adopter platform (or for those married to people that are tech enthusiasts). We know the difference between customization and personalization — that was the concept. We wanted to allow people to change things with widgets and menus. We had to make concessions there. Anyone can go to the Android Market now and start personalizing. I think you will start to see more of what you are talking about.”

Last night Andy Rubin spoke at D: Dive Into Mobile.  I’m sure you didn’t miss it.  There was talk of Gingerbread, Nexus S, and of course the preview of the Honeycomb tablet.  Of course that means most, if not all, the focus was on those items.  Yet, the one statement that caught my attention the most was the words in bold above, “I would characterize Android as an early adopter platform (or for those married to people that are tech enthusiasts).”   Is that still true?  Throughout the days of the G1, Jesusfreke, Haykuro, and a lack of code names – sure.  Through the time before the Nexus One, most likely.  But now?

If this is the case, we are still the fringe.  Andy is saying that in many ways Android has not yet hit it’s stride.  There is still a lot of work to be done.  That is true.  But can you really say that it is still an early adopter platform after it has launched in 50 countries and has been built into 172 different models of phone?  I don’t think so.  The problem is the numbers don’t add up, you cannot have the kind of penetration that Android has and still be an early adopter platform, not in the sense of the cell phone market.

Could he mean the core?  Those of us who are always tearing apart every minute detail of the SDK  to find gems like this

Or to port over the Gingerbread keyboard or add the 2.3 Launcher to 2.2 courtesy of Modaco’s @paulobrien.  The general public has chosen to embrace Android and I don’t think that we can still look at it as an early adopter platform any longer.  Maybe we can look at it as driven by the early adopters.  Those who purchase the latest and greatest(?) phone, tablet, TV, or even the connected Refrigerator, but it has moved past that stage for everyone else.   We are still the beta testers.  O.G1 owners, were the Alpha testers.  People who picked up the MyTouch or Hero were the Release Candidate 1 test group.  The Droid was RC2.  When the Nexus One dropped we entered the prolonged Beta phase which continues until the release of Honeycomb.   Perhaps that is what Honeycomb is going to address.

Maybe Honeycomb is going to end up being the first “real” Android platform.  Integration with Google Chrome OS, built-in Google music store, and a Market that just works right for the consumer, developer, and critics as well.  If that’s the case, I’m going to go to this bar in San Jose and drink a beer at the fateful spot where the iPhone 4 was found and drink a beer with my true iPhone killer and a smile.