
Update from the CEO - cooldeal
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/update-from-ceo.html
======
dguido
Andy Rubin was the major factor responsible for insecure Android devices. He
thought it was impossible to be both secure and 'X' for any 'X'. Meanwhile,
Andy Rubin's replacement is Sundar Pichai, SVP for Chrome and ChromeOS.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundar_Pichai>

If you care at all about the security of Android mobile devices, this is
probably a good sign.

EDIT: I wonder if this helped move Andy out the door?
[http://www.macrumors.com/2013/03/07/phil-schiller-tweets-
lin...](http://www.macrumors.com/2013/03/07/phil-schiller-tweets-link-to-
mobile-malware-report-that-slams-android/)

~~~
jmillikin
Not to mention that Chrome has figured out how to push updates, while a
majority of Androids are still running a version released over two years ago.
If Google can start pushing auto-updates to all of its devices, that would be
one of the greatest improvements ever made to Android.

Also, one of Chrome's most touted features is performance, which has always
been Android's weakest point. Hopefully he'll be willing to assign more people
to the task of making Androids work as smoothly as iPhones.

~~~
laureny
> Not to mention that Chrome has figured out how to push updates, while a
> majority of Androids are still running a version released over two years
> ago.

The reason for the hold out is the carriers, not Google. Google is very good
at pushing updates to phones when it's not limited by the carriers (and
Android implemented over the air updates years before anyone else did. iPhones
still require cables to be updated).

~~~
jmillikin

      > The reason for the hold out is the carriers, not
      > Google. Google is very good at pushing updates to
      > phones when it's not limited by the carriers
    

I didn't imply it had to be a technical solution. If users can't update their
phones that run Google's operating system because Google isn't leaning hard
enough on the carriers, then Google needs to fix that.

Apple has managed to strong-arm the carriers into letting it supports its
customers, and Google's market position isn't _too_ much weaker than Apple.

    
    
      > iPhones still require cables to be updated).
    

iOS has supported OTA updates since iOS 5, which was released almost two years
ago.

~~~
kronholm
Just to add data to those wondering, iOS 5 released 16 months ago
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_version_history>)

------
cek
> But his insight immediately struck a chord because at the time it was
> extremely painful developing services for mobile devices. We had a closet
> full of more than 100 phones and were building our software pretty much
> device by device. It was nearly impossible for us to make truly great mobile
> experiences.

This is highly ironic statement given that one of the biggest pain developers
trying to build mobile experiences face today is the number of devices they
have to test on, and that Android plays no small part in making it worse.

The drawer/closet you have, full of all those test devices? it's called the
"Drawer of broken dreams."

~~~
georgemcbay
Having been working in the Android space as a programmer, IMO the idea of
Android fragmentation is mostly overblown these days. It was more of an issue
in the past, but post-Gingerbread it has ceased to be a practical problem for
any dev work I've done.

This isn't to say Android development is wonderful, it (often) isn't. And I've
been increasingly concerned with the amount of "OMG HOW?" bugs that have been
introduced into the Android OS and frameworks over the past few releases, but
generally speaking the code you write for one modern Android device runs (or
breaks due to OS or framework bugs) equally across all the phones, at least
those that (legally) ship with the Play store.

~~~
DigitalJack
I've just started android dev. I'm still struggling to deal with the fact that
you can still buy brand new devices that come with froyo.

I feel lucky that some kind soul created a compatible version of the ActionBar
(Sherlock) to work with these out dated but still selling devices.

------
aaronbrethorst
Sort-of thank you to the mod who changed the title. The old one ("Google lets
go its (sic) Android head Andy Rubin, appoints Sundar Pichai") was
editorializing and incorrect, but the new one ("Update from the CEO") is
completely useless.

On a related note, I find it rather fascinating that Andy is planning on
staying in Google.

    
    
        Andy’s decided it’s time to hand over the
        reins and start a new chapter at Google. 
    

I wonder what the real story is.

~~~
DannyBee
The real story?

He won.

What's left for him to do?

Sit around and defend 70% market share for 10 years?

Get deposed in a lot of lawsuits?

I certainly wouldn't enjoy either :)

~~~
samspenc
Exactly what I was thinking. :)

------
philwelch
Along with Sinofsky and Forstall late last year, this means the initial heads
of all three major mobile platforms are now out.

------
zmmmmm
> Sundar will do a tremendous job doubling down on Android as we work to push
> the ecosystem forward

This is really incongruous. You don't move a project from having a dedicated
top level manager to being one-of-many under someone else as a way of
"doubling down" on it (what an awful expression). It makes no sense, if Google
sees Android has having future in its own right as one of Google's top
priorities, that they put it under management with somebody with so many other
priorities.

I can only conclude that either a) Sundar is a temporary replacement while
they locate someone of Andy's stature as a replacement to lead Android in its
own right or b) Google has charted somewhere far in the future that Android
will get folded, substantially merged or otherwise share some kind of
significant synergy with the other projects that Sundar Pichai is in charge
of.

I find b) quite worrying because it signals an end to the (healthy)
competitive tension that Google promoted internally where both Android and
ChromeOS were pursued as independent ventures and "may the best man win" would
determine the outcome. I also find it worrying because no matter how they spin
it, I don't see how this can not seem like a blow to the esteem of the Android
team - they've effectively been taken over by another division, effectively
falling down one step in the company ladder. To have that happen after
establishing one of the most incredible technology success stories in history
- I can't imagine how deflating that would be to the team members. I hope
Android doesn't lose a lot of talent from this. A huge amount is going to
depend on how well Sundar Pichai handles this transition.

------
aashaykumar92
New Pope, New Head of Android--a wonderful correlation...just kidding.

It's an obvious move to try and blend Chromes OS with Android more seamlessly
but I think it also means something else BIG at Google is coming--and not
their everyday-'big'. As qualified as Pichai is, it doesn't make sense for
Rubin to go anywhere UNLESS he truly is upto something groundbreaking.

My bet is that Rubin has a vision, perhaps a "moonshot" as Paige said, that
impressed the execs at Google so much that it made sense for him to move on
from his current position. It'll be interesting to see exactly what this is,
but I have to imagine Rubin is upto something the masses (most of us) have not
yet heard about...and his ingenuity will be absorbed by Google themselves.

~~~
aashaykumar92
some backup to my above comment: [http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/13/andy-
rubins-next-moonshot-c...](http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/13/andy-rubins-next-
moonshot-could-happen-at-googles-project-x/)

------
outside1234
I suspect that Andy is not in fact staying on at Google but instead this is a
golden parachute in which he will pretend to stick around as "a consultant to
the CEO" before leaving.

~~~
recuter
I never really understood this sort of thing. Why would he stick around and do
nothing? To "save face"? And if he is not being useful why do they want him
around or play along?

~~~
jonhendry
Might be sort of like a non-compete period. Instead of being contractually
bound to not compete for a period after leaving a company, which isn't always
enforceable, pay the person enough to stick around for a while, perhaps with
limited access to information about upcoming products.

------
charlieok
“We’re getting closer to a world where technology takes care of the hard
work—discovery, organization, communication—so that you can get on with what
makes you happiest… living and loving.”

Just lie back and let yourself sink into the goo. Don't worry about all that
messy technology behind the curtains. We've got that taken care of. Have a
nice day :)

~~~
stcredzero
Isn't that what nerds have always wanted? To be the ones saying that.

~~~
charlieok
yeah, pretty much

------
mmanfrin
I remember the week or so when both Sinofsy and Forstall were let go, people
jokingly said 'these come in threes, look out for Rubin'.

Turns out that was true.

------
leeoniya
what an unhelpful title

EDIT: for those downvoting me, how is "Update from the CEO" in any way
relevant to the article's content?

~~~
kaoD
I had quite a few random downvotes today too (for completely aseptic claims)
so I suspect someone's trolling.

~~~
jessaustin
We need a unique term for such behavior. "Trolling" seems to be a different,
broader thing. "Karma griefing"? b^)

------
ryanmolden
Title seems misleading, the post said Andy is moving on to other things _at
Google_.

Edit: fixed (it used to be "Google lets go Andy Rubin", which is generally a
euphemism for fired)

------
pragmatictester
Pure speculation here: Andy might work on a new version of Android which will
integrate Android with Google's self-driving car, and also bring the work done
by CloudCar to Android. [http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/22/cloudcar-the-
stealthy-start...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/22/cloudcar-the-stealthy-
startup-that-andy-rubin-is-not-joining-has-raised-11-5m/)

------
pinaceae
Observation by Benedict Evans: almost all key divisional leads at Google were
born in India. Android, Engineering, Advertising, Youtube…

Polar opposite to Apple, which is a white boys club.

~~~
jholman
There are lots of Indians in top Google management, definitely, but they're
hardly the majority. Maybe 25% of "key divisional leads", maybe 25% of SVPs (a
group that greatly overlaps with "key divisional leads").

First of all, there's no "key divisional lead" of "engineering". That's not a
division at the top level. That'd be a pretty stupid top-level division, in a
company which is mostly engineering (I'm deliberately obfuscating exact
ratios).

Second, the SVP of Ads is Polish, and the SVP of Youtube is Persian. So that's
two more things wrong with the four examples.

Indian: Chrome/Apps/Android, G+, and Sales/Business.

Not Indian: Ads, Search, YouTube, TechInfra, Finance, Legal, Sergei (a law
unto himself), Geo/Commerce, Motorola, HR, PR, .....

In short, who the heck is Benedict Evans, and given that he is gibbering, why
are you quoting him?

~~~
pinaceae
<http://ben-evans.com/>

thanks for clearing this up, hard to find the real org chart of google.

~~~
jholman
Yeah, I too can find no publicly available org chart. I was careful to
restrict myself to public information in that comment (except, I guess,
"engineering is not a top-level division").

Several easy searches, like google.com/search?q=google+management or "google
svp", lead to this page:
<http://www.google.com/about/company/facts/management/>

You also get some media reports from 2011, which discuss several key players
from that era.

I admit that doesn't tell you about "key divisional leads", but it does give
you a list of who Google thinks is worth publishing about.

As for Ben Evans's tweet, he just made some random shit up. Again, 3/4 of the
people he mentions as being Indian are NOT INDIAN.

------
verelo
This is an interestingly timed article. We're building our Android app right
now, and its certainly more annoying than when we built out iOS app.

As an app developer, in Canada (not Canadian however) i'm excited that RIM
have attempted to prevent further fragmentation by sticking close to the
Android stack, however i really don't want to deal with the distribution and
other issues (such as screens, OS bugs etc) that i'm sure will come with
releasing on a 3rd platform.

I feel like we're dealing with the issues similar to what were encountered
during the 17-1800's with different size railway tracks. Is it just a matter
of time until we agree upon a standard?

~~~
tadfisher
> however i really don't want to deal with the distribution and other issues
> (such as screens, OS bugs etc) that i'm sure will come with releasing on a
> 3rd platform.

Is this better or worse than developing for a completely different platform
(i.e. BB<10, WP7/8, etc)?

~~~
verelo
I think its better for sure, but i'm sure there will be bugs that only exist
on Blackberry and those that only exist on Android. I suspect that eventually
we would (will...) end up with two builds anyway.

Overhead, it would be great if Blackberry could just start making Android
phones...

------
hugh4life
Whether Android and ChromeOS are merged or Android scales up to the desktop, I
hope Google makes a big play for the desktop within the next 1-2 years.

1\. Microsoft support for Windows XP ends in about a year leaving a huge chunk
of their users orphaned. 2\. PC sales are flatlining... there's a sense among
users that performance is getting to be "good enough" 3\. Apple isn't really
even trying to compete in countries that aren't somewhat well to do. 4\. The
ARM Cortex-A15 will help bring those ARM mini-pc sticks and net tops up to
task for desktop work.

------
fulafel
The "open source" posturing is very annoying. They're just doing it for the
PR.

Even considering the subset of Android that is "open source" the development
process is closed and we just get code drops after product releases. It's like
Apple used to do when they were playing the game with Darwin. They're doing a
lot of work to avoid and purge LGPL and GPL code so they can work this way.
It's not even free to use for vendors, you need to pay licensing fees to get a
useful system out of it and sign contracts subjecting you to Google's whims.

------
alexpopescu
Wait... where is this post saying what's going on with Andy Rubin? Let me
understand: you have a guy that leads one of the most adopted projects coming
out of Google and then you announce a new person to lead that project without
mentioning anything about the former? That should be an awesome feeling for
everyone at G...

------
Ologn
Rubin is someone who, from his days of running a BBS in New York many years
ago, to creating and working to expand Android more recently, has always had a
strong alignment with the values of free software, hackers and hobbyists. Over
two decades ago he praised those who "write their programs for the hobby, for
the hack". His commitment and his efforts for open source software and open
platforms have borne fruit with an open platform which accounted for over 70%
of smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2012. I am grateful for his
efforts in this regard, especially since I have been focusing on writing
Android apps for the past few years.

------
damniatx
Chrome OS and Android merger please?

~~~
msoad
I know something for sure and that is Java is not the future of Android.
Android will run web apps in future. In makes sense in many different ways:

    
    
      - Google is a huge pusher of web platform. They want it on mobile. 
    
      - They are pushing new APIs to HTML5 everyday to make it more suitable for mobile
    
      - Google is the only one that can make real mobile web apps a reality
    
      - Did you ever see that metal android status in Google campus? They want choromize the Andriod

------
sdfjkl
Better title "Andy Rubin hands Android team to former Chrome lead, stays at
Google".

~~~
wmf
Maybe Google should hire some SEO consultants.

------
programminggeek
Another way to look at it is that Android was a home run and basically
accomplished everything it was supposed to do, not much left for Rubin to
accomplish.

~~~
mcintyre1994
Sure, it's probably achieved everything it was meant to - like Google probably
had when they first became the top search engine. I really doubt anybody is
leaving because of that though, it's certainly not perfect, and it's certainly
not achieved everything it can achieve. In fact, it probably hasn't achieved
everything it is meant to achieve now. Goals aren't static, nobody's going to
leave because there's nothing left to achieve with Android.

------
andyl
If ChromeOS and Android merge, then a comparable is - Ubuntu! They would both
have a mobile/desktop linux distro.

------
znowi
This is an unusually bleak and uninspiring message. Reads like a mundane press
release. An average update from a small startup founder is more exciting.

------
sidcool
Andy Rubin is not leaving Google, is he?

------
mtgx
I would've preferred Vic Gundotra to take the lead of Android. He's a much
more "experience" kind of guy, and a great speaker, too.

But I guess Sundar Pichai isn't a bad choice, either, especially if they plan
on unifying the 2 platforms. But he's still more of a "core" product guy, than
a human interface guy. I just hope he at least leaves Matias Duarte enough
independence.

~~~
Lewisham
My read is that Pichai is a really good at ops, and the experience stuff will
be left to Duarte. It seems like a good partnership to have on the Android
boat.

------
enraged_camel
>>Today Chrome has hundreds of millions of happy users and is growing fast
thanks to its speed, simplicity and security.

Simplicity and security, fine. But speed? That's hardly the reason people
prefer Chrome these days.

~~~
clone1018
Speed is the reason I prefer Chrome, is Chrome not fast for you?

~~~
enraged_camel
It's decent, but Firefox seems a lot faster. Completely anecdotal of course.

edit: not sure why I'm being downvoted

~~~
tehwalrus
There was an article only the other day about how firefox is faster, on the
front page. I've even switched to it (for a few days, to see) myself!

------
recoiledsnake
Since Sundar Pichai is the head of ChromeOS, perhaps this move is part of a
larger move to unify Android and ChromeOS.

~~~
laureny
> Since Sundar Pichai is the head of ChromeOS, perhaps this move is part of a
> larger move to unify Android and ChromeOS.

I can't see both exist at the same time for much longer, and Android is
encroaching on ChromeOS' domain much faster than the other way around.

I'm predicting that ChromeOS will be shut down within a couple of years.

~~~
mythz
ChromeOS is going nowhere, it's currently the best OS option that is able to
turn a PC into an instant-start, always-connected "appliance" where end-users
don't need to care about the mundane details of using a PC, e.g managing files
and folders, backing up, syncing, updates, security and virus-scanning
protection, etc - everything runs in a sandbox, gets updated automatically and
"just works".

~~~
OGinparadise
Chrome is a browser, that's all. Not sure what it will be 1-5 years from now
but now it's a browser in a computer

~~~
mythz
Yeah it's just a browser if you forget about the Custom Firmware, Custom
Hardened Linux OS with auto-updating sandbox, built-in TPM support and a
trusted bootpath optimized for FastBoots, customized Portage build system,
Custom Window Manager, built-in media player, file manager, integration with
Google Cloud Print, Chrome Shell/SSH, Chrome Remote Desktop.

But it's comforting that there are people that just think of it as just
another web browser - that's the whole point, just think of it as a web
browsing appliance that "just works like a browser" -- even though it's not.

