> "His job is to make Android's interface so good that companies like HTC or Samsung don't have to spend so much time improving it."
An admirable goal, but IMHO never going to fly. HTC, Samsung, et al are desperately fighting not to become commoditized as merely hardware manufacturers (Foxconn style). They desperately need to differentiate themselves and convince consumers that they're buying a unique experience, as opposed to simply doing the hardware fabrication for the Google Experience.
I mean, look at their current changes to stock Android - IMHO nothing really compelling. In fact, most of these OEM-specific UIs seem like just cruft on top of the Android experience. Wholly unnecessary even without the Honeycomb makeover.
I guess there might be some credibility in the suggestion that if the current stock of OEM makeovers usually make an OK interface slightly worse, they would make a very good interface only slightly less very good.
Another thought, I wonder if Google initially anticipated the amount of makeover work that OEMs would put into Android.
Does anyone know how hard/easy the current presentation layer makes customisation? If they released a more easily & deeply skinnable version of their UI, do you think it would be possible for Google to steer manufacturers towards making less sweeping customizations, leading to a more standard (although still distinct) UI/UX?
I suspect that, not only did they anticipate it, they fully expected it. HTC's Sense UI started on Windows Mobile before HTC ever sold an Android device. Google's customers for Android aren't you or I, they are the device manufacturers and carriers and a customizable user experience is a big selling point for a company like HTC.
If they were actually competing to differentiate themselves, wouldn't they have issued android os updates to their users phones in a reasonable time frame? And not ship phones with outdated versions? I mean I really just want a manufacturer I can trust.
An admirable goal, but IMHO never going to fly. HTC, Samsung, et al are desperately fighting not to become commoditized as merely hardware manufacturers (Foxconn style). They desperately need to differentiate themselves and convince consumers that they're buying a unique experience, as opposed to simply doing the hardware fabrication for the Google Experience.
I mean, look at their current changes to stock Android - IMHO nothing really compelling. In fact, most of these OEM-specific UIs seem like just cruft on top of the Android experience. Wholly unnecessary even without the Honeycomb makeover.