Russ Pearlman's Blog

A colleague of mine forwarded on an article from CNet about HP investigating the use of Android for it’s Notebook computers. Essentially, companies like HP are looking for ways to drive down the price of Notebook computers – trying to push below the $200 mark. Using an operating system such as Windows requires a hefty licensing fee, so replacing it with something else is a reasonably good idea.

Now, my colleague proposed that using something like Android could also help in the convergence of entertainment content such as music, games, etc. between mobile devices. After all, a notebook running Android and a mobile phone running Android results in the exact same applications running on different form factors. This extends the potential consumer based beyond just T-Mobile phones.

This got me thinking, though.

As an iPhone user, I often “defend” the device against offerings from other companies. For example, the Sprint Instinct and Rumor phones are mighty capable. But, for me, the secret sauce of the iPhone is entertainment connectivity. Regular readers of my blog – or those that have to endure my opinions in person – know that I’m a big advocate of digital libraries. While Apple hasn’t implemented Utopia, it’s the closest thing there is yet. iTunes provides a computer based digital library that I can use to stream across my local network, sync to my portable device and use on the primary computer as well. The iPhone then, is really just a delivery device (although is a really sleek, cool package). I haven’t seen such a compelling offering anywhere else (though the Kindle is getting there for books).

So, other than bragging that I have an iPhone, what does that have to do with Android and Notebook computers? Well, the problem to me comes down to digital libraries and distribution. Running Android on the notebook doesn’t have anything to do with that. How do I download music onto my Android phone? How do I get games? How do developers deal with the multiple form factor? A platform company (such as Google – who makes Android) working with a hardware company (such as HP – who makes the notebook) is missing the key bits: an application store with 10,000′s of interesting applications, an entertainment store with 100,000′s of music tracks, a video store with 1,000′s of TV episodes and movies and a suite of SDKs. Of course, you also have to figure out the DRM part of the equation – otherwise good luck getting movie studios to provide compelling content.

Some quick thoughts:

• As for music and video, until Android can figure out DRM – this is a non-starter. Unfortunately, DRM and open-source just don’t mix. Perhaps this will require a proprietary extension like what JCA enables for Java applications.
• For games, ditto DRM, but more importantly, where are the strong development tools (like what Microsoft has done for XNA) to support multiple device properties (e.g., video screen size, physical controls like a mouse, etc.) while leveraging a mostly consistent code base? (For those not familiar with XNA, it does a good job of creating XBox and PC applications from the same code base – you only really have to differentiate the development of the application for device specific qualities. In theory, this works for Zune applications as well, but I haven’t been able to test this out myself).

With all of that said, I think HP would be better served to look at Android as opposed to say Ubuntu Linux. But, it’s not the operating system that’s exciting – it the content, the distribution of content, the availability of content and the compelling experience (device, content and platform combined) that makes all the difference. I think there is an amazing opportunity for someone to take this spot – perhaps Google or HP are already thinking about it… Hmm…