After reading about Google buying Motorola, I wrote a slightly skeptical post about what it might turn out to be, and how it might affect the open-source platform of Android.
We also wondered if Google would stand to gain anything by diversifying into not just Mobile Device Industry, but also home and video devices. Now, news has just come that Google has 18 prime patents which it could use against Apple.
Google has already blamed the traditional IT companies like Microsoft, Oracle, and Apple for waging an organized conspiracy against Android (persecutory complex, or feigned illness?). David Drummond, SVP and chief legal officer claimed that the biggies have been using their patents offensively like vultures, and he didn’t mince words, then. Now, with Google itself playing the patent-thumping lawsuit-filing game, one can just wonder where all this is going to lead to.
To be honest, Google is no novice that it has to act pure and untainted when fighting an unfair war waged against Android by Apple, Oracle and Microsoft. After buying Motorola, Google not only got hold of 17,000 already approved patents, but also another 7,500 pending ones. Google will certainly use these patents against whoever it thinks will come in its way. Like a giant juggernaut (Yeah Shirley Manson, you taught me the word), Google has accumulated prime patents which it can use against Apple.
Why Apple has been singled out from the Google’s version of ‘axis of evil’ (Oracle, Microsoft and of course, the Apple juice) is pretty clear. Apple still remains the preferred brand for most high-end users and Apple applications need the approval of the company to find a place in iTunes. However, Android is totally the opposite and anybody could create applications for all sorts of devices, which are mostly free. People with money usually either purchase an iPhone or a Blackberry, and Android still has to catch up, except for a few eye-candy devices by HTC and Samsung.
It makes one smirk when Google plays the untainted ‘friendly’ company which is being hounded by the mysterious, affluent, and elusive Apple. All this talk of being persecuted by rivals is a good market strategy and helps Google to reach out to a less affluent market that may not be able to afford iPhones or MacBooks. One must remember that no company is actually perfect, and one needs to pick and choose the products that one wants. As an end user, you would be interested in custom-choosing various products by different corporations instead of being fanboys and fangirls of a particular company, OS or technology. What have you guys got to say about it?
Image for illustrative purpose.
