Apple’s Google Voice Fail.
Look, I’m no pundit. I’m just a developer trying to do right by the world. When giant corporate entities start pissing all over one another I could usually care less. The PC vs Mac debate, for instance, is something I never really cared about. I don’t prefer the Windows OS. I prefer OS X. That’s a preference not a condemnation of Windows. I develop on/for windows machines, happily.
So, when I noticed that Google has filed with the FCC because Apple has rejected their app due to competitive issues I have to side with Google. Mostly because I believe if you have a marketplace to sell apps you should be given a choice in apps. I mean, I loathe the Apple iPhone Mail application. I HATE it. I would love to see a great alternative but that’s probably not going to happen anytime soon because Apple will reject the app before anyone gets the chance to choose an alternative. I’m sure most people love it, and that’s great but limiting my choice so you can lock folks into your idea of a good app is pretty lame.
But Google vs Apple… I don’t really care. They make enough money to make Solomon blush so what the hell do I care. The truth is that Apple wants you to use their shitty phone service because of ATT. Google wants to funnel your calling through it’s Google Voice app to provide Google Voice customers a seamless experience. Either way I’m making phone calls and ATT and Apple both benefit by my using the phone even if it goes through the Google Voice proxy. But they want to have a “bottom-line-fight” to ensure that their projections are accurate and revenue streams do not dry up due to… dare I say… competition.
All of that will be fought in courts and we’ll hear of it second hand and yawn. I’ve made a financial commitment to Apple’s iPhone platform (for 12 months that is) and during that time, I don’t care.
What I DO care about is this gem which is about how Apple then went after 3rd party developers looking to provide a bridge to the Google Voice service in the form of a native app on the iPhone. Apple, unceremoniously, pulled all GVoice apps from the store and placed the onus back onto the developers to communicate the change to their customers. The essentially removed a product from the public market without notice, making the developers look bad and ensuring a horrible customer service experience from the folks that purchased apps in earnest.
Not only is this poor form but it’s monopolization reminiscent of IE 6 on Windows. When that was the default browser and it couldn’t be uninstalled from the system and bullied others out of the market. A few law suits from the Europeans and finally we get choice on Windows and less lock in from the vendor. That’s what’s happening on iPhone right now. The suits are doing all the thinking and it’s making life shitty for the people who are constantly paying into the closed iPhone system.
I’m now seriously considering my options for the phone that I’m going to choose in 12 months. If this is how Apple chooses to conduct its business, it’s developers and the community that’s formed around these products then I may have to see what all the buzz is about in Palm Pre or Android’s neck of the woods.
UPDATE: here’s another account of Apple’s Douche nozzlery
