Acquired Episode 20: Android
01:22:49
Andy Rubin's Journey and a Generous Friend
- Andy Rubin's career path, from Apple to General Magic and WebTV, shaped his vision for Android.
- Notably, Steve Perlman, Rubin's friend and former colleague, gave him $10,000 in cash to support Android's early stages.
The iPhone's Impact and Industry Reactions
- The iPhone's 2007 launch was a pivotal moment, forcing Android to redesign its initial hardware.
- Different companies reacted differently: BlackBerry was in denial, Palm was complacent, and Google recognized the need to adapt.
Open vs. Closed Platforms
- Google's "open" strategy with Android involved open-sourcing the OS and allowing developer access.
- This contrasted with Apple's initially "closed" iOS approach, which later opened up to developers.
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Introduction
00:00 • 2min
Zoom Info - The Single Best Way for B2B Professionals to Find and Grow Accounts
01:49 • 2min
Google's Android Acquisition
03:44 • 2min
The Acquisition History and Facts
05:37 • 3min
The Sidekick in Danger
08:42 • 2min
Android Is a Full Stack Operating System
10:13 • 2min
Is There a World Where You Can't Build a Camera Phone?
11:56 • 2min
Google's Quote Best Deal Ever
14:18 • 2min
Steve Jobs Announces the iPhone
15:55 • 2min
The Blackberry Guys Don't Even Believe It's Possible to Do That
17:51 • 2min
Android Is an Open Operating System and That Means Two Things
19:45 • 2min
The iPhone Is the First Android Phone That Comes to Market
22:15 • 2min
Verizon Sprint T Mobile Is a Rocket
24:15 • 2min
Is This a Phone That's Worth It?
26:04 • 2min
What's the Difference Between Android and the iPhone?
27:38 • 2min
Are You Guys Blazing It?
29:54 • 1min
What's the Quirk of History?
31:24 • 2min
How Fast the World Changes
33:48 • 2min
Is Google Doing That at First?
35:24 • 3min
Google Adwords
38:07 • 2min
Chrome and Android Are Huge Economic Value to to Google Yeah.
40:09 • 2min
Google's Acquisition of Motorola
42:15 • 4min
What Is Open Source Android and How Can It Compete With Apple?
45:46 • 2min
Android - What's the Point of Android?
47:33 • 2min
Google Acquisitions
49:04 • 2min
Google's Android Acquisition Is a Good Buy
50:57 • 1min
Google's Mna Strategy
52:22 • 2min
Google Apps
54:29 • 2min
You Have to Own the Front Door to the Customer Um, Okay Tech Themes Um
56:25 • 4min
Android Makes Money for Google
01:00:46 • 3min
Is Instagram Defensive or Forward Thinking?
01:03:39 • 2min
Android Is My New Gold Standard for Defensive Acquisitions
01:05:17 • 2min
Google and Uber Um - What's the Difference?
01:06:50 • 2min
Uber
01:08:21 • 2min
Apple's Big Event Launching the iPhone 7 and AirPods
01:10:21 • 3min
The Business Adventures by John Brooks
01:13:26 • 4min
Ben & David examine Google’s 2005 purchase of Android for a rumored $50M, undeniably one of the best technology acquisitions of all time. But will it top the list of these tough graders? Tune in to find out.
Sponsors:
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- Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
- Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
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Topics covered include:
- Welcome new listeners! We quickly review the show format for newbies.
- Community spotlight: Patagonia on a Budget from community member Matt Morgante (@mattm on Slack)
- Andy Rubin’s career trajectory and what made him “born to start Android"
- The undeniable “cool factor” of the Danger Sidekick in the early/mid-2000’s, including fans such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin and… Turtle from Entourage
- Android’s original ambition to build an operating system for… digital cameras
- WebTV founder Steve Perlman is pretty much the best friend ever
- Google’s own perspective on Android as their “best deal ever"
- The Android team’s reaction to Steve Jobs unveiling the iPhone in January 2007, and redesigning the initial launch hardware
- Announcing Android and—equally importantly—the Open Handset Alliance (“OHA”)
- The much-talked-about "mobile holy wars", between Android’s “open” platform and Apple’s “closed” platform
- The less-talked-about US carrier wars with the iPhone + AT&T in one camp, and everyone else in the Google / OHA camp (including “Droid Does”)
- A quirk of history: HTC at one point acquires a majority share in Beats, resulting a short-lived period of Beats-branded Android phones (still available on Amazon!)
- The real battleground for Google in the mobile platform wars: the economics of “default search” (briefly known thanks to the Oracle/Java lawsuit against Google)
- Google’s detour into smartphone hardware with the acquisition (and subsequent divestiture) of Motorola
- The “fork-ability” of Android via the Android Open Source Project (versus “Google Android”), and the rise of Xiaomi, Cyanogen, Kindle Fire and other platforms
- The ecosystem economics of the Android business for Google
- “Defensive” versus “offensive” acquisitions, and protecting Google’s core search business
- Could (or would) Google have built an Android-like platform without acquiring Android the company (or having Andy Rubin)?
- Framing the technology world’s shift to mobile within (surprise) Ben Thompson’s Aggregation Theory
- The current “moving up the stack” of the competitive playing field as the mobile landscape matures
- Grading: Android versus Instagram?
Followups:
- Waze launches Carpool in the Bay Area. Much consternation ensues on the Uber board.
Hot Takes:
- The iPhone 7 (and AirPods) announcement
The Carve Out:
- Ben: Business Adventures by John Brooks, Bill Gates’ favorite business book
- David: Ezra Edelman's fantastic 5-part ESPN documentary on O.J. Simpson, O.J.: Made in America
- None this week… coverage of Instagram Stories to come next time!