Google’s CEO Resigns From Apple’s Board – Are You Surprised?
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from Apple’s board due to “potential conflicts of interest”. Is anyone surprised?
While I’m not trying to be snarky, I did have a tongue-in-cheek reaction to this news. As an iPhone owner, advocate, and usually, ally – I have to admit to finding my iPhone conviction wavering as I watch Apple reject one golden opportunity to join the collaborative world after another.
Their latest bungle was the rejection of the Google Voice app., a move that, to be fair, may also be blamed on AT&T (while AT&T has no official role in Apple’s decisions, there is talk that they were the reason for Apple’s move).
What does Apple/AT&T have to be afraid of? Google Voice offers free calls in the US, free SMS messages, useful features such as voicemail transcripts, phone routing, and your choice of notification methods among a list of others. I have one of the beta accounts, but lacking a way to connect it to my iPhone, I’m missing out on the greatest feature it offers – the potential to radically simplify my work/home connection.
Apple needs to separate its phone from its carrier. How about letting Verizon or T-Mobile into the game? Then we could be sure it really was Apple’s decision to block Google Voice. Granted, I’m not unaware that Apple and AT&T are in business to make money and allowing applications to offer similar services for free might seem counter-intuitive.
Consider this, though – the wold is continuing to become more and more connected. With our increasing reliance on on smart phones and PDAs to get our work done and our lives ordered, the companies who are hiding behind scale-me-not walls will be left in the virtual dust.
Now that the FCC is investigating Apple’s decision to reject the Google Voice app, it’s possible that a drawbridge will be forced down anyways – regardless of AT&T’s “unofficial” preferences. What do you think? Did Apple do the right thing?
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3 Comments
Alice Mercer
Wednesday, 5th August 2009 at 12:38 pm
I don’t think Apple cares about VOIP on cell phones, but it because of what they do care about that the iPhone will not be “open”.
1. Apple wants to sell and control the revenue from apps. Unfortunately, this is also Verizon’s revenue model, so they will NEVER come to agreement unless they decide to split the revenue. OTOH, Verizon is living with Blackberry apps being separate entity, so hope springs, etc., etc.
2. Apple has never been, and will never be, an “open” platform. It is much more closed than the PC platform and always has been. That has never been their raison d’etre, and won’t be with the current management.
3. Even if they got agreement with Verizon about revenue from apps, and had a phone for all mobile networks, NONE of the carriers would be open to having VOIP on their network. Only the FCC/courts will make them swallow that bitter pill.
So, you need agreement on apps, regulators to force acceptance of VOIP on cell/mobile network. Apple will still have a closed O/S for their iPhone (as will Blackberry–which won’t want to give up the special “data fees” they get for their phones). Not sure how Nokia is about it’s OS, but Google with Android will be the only deliberately open platform.
Wes Fryer
Sunday, 9th August 2009 at 11:23 pm
AT&T is struggling to become a data services company and cling to existing marketshare for POTS. They won’t be able to do that forever, of course, and there are a lot of double standards when you look at what they are allowing on Blackberries relative to the iPhone, but I think that is one of the big issues. They are playing in the convergence space in big ways but still want to maintain, or at least slow the loss of, their marketshare in pre-convergence arenas.
I agree Apple is not an open platform like Android and is not likely to become one, but the developer kit for the iPhone gives lots of license to creativity and I hope we continue to see that unleashed in the apps store, rather than censored. I’m glad we continue to see Apple censoring some apps based on content deemed inappropriate for minors, but I hope following the FCC inquiry we’ll see more openness when it comes to apps like those that support Google Voice.
As to your question about Apple opening up to other carriers, Kaya, my understanding is that Apple signed a 5 year contract with AT&T to be the sole carrier. Doing the math I think that means 2012 will be the first year we might see other carriers in the iPhone US market, unless something happens which causes that contract to change.
Kaya Hardin
Friday, 21st August 2009 at 12:39 am
Thank for your comments, Wes! I keep hearing rumors that AT&T will be coerced into allowing Verizon to also carry the iPhone. It will be interesting to see how things end up when the FCC is through with their investigation.
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