"It suggests that Apple, which has pledged to be true to Jobs' vision, may try to derail Android in court."
Apple has pledged to be true to Jobs' vision? Really? Because I think we just saw a better-sourced article state that Jobs himself said "Don't ask, 'What would Steve do?'".
In fact, if anything, my big wish for Apple now is that they start cooperating with Google. If FaceTime and iMessage were available on Android, and Google Voice native on iPhone (other than Sprint), they could turn the carriers into dumb pipes. It's time.
>Apple has pledged to be true to Jobs' vision? Really? Because I think we just saw a better-sourced article state that Jobs himself said "Don't ask, 'What would Steve do?'".
I don't think that Jobs was alone in his feelings on Google and Android at Apple, whether it's justified or not. I'm reminded of a Gruber article:
"ERIC SCHMIDT. Zero chance. Schmidt is viewed throughout Apple as a traitor, who perhaps used his knowledge of the iPhone, gleaned while then a member of Apple’s board himself, to give Google’s Android effort a leg up. There is a better chance of Apple choosing its next CEO through a raffle of ten golden tickets hidden inside iPad boxes distributed around the globe than that they’d give the job to Eric Schmidt. Wall Street might accept him but Apple rank-and-file would revolt."
The increase in value to Facetime would not compensate for the loss in value of iOS with it no longer being an iOS exclusive. Facetime is a free service used by Apple to sell Apple devices. It is not an end to itself.
No, if the value of the move to Apple would be at best non-existent and at worst negative, which you've just agreed is a strong possibility, there's little to nothing for Apple in such a move.
Apple does not care about metcalfe's law in fine, their goal is not to convert the world to Facetime and iMessage but to use those to drive users to iOS. Network effects play a role in this, but by letting Google build iMessages and Facetime into Android (if Google was even interested in doing such a thing, which they probably wouldn't) they'd only lower the value proposition of iOS: now you can chat with your facetime-enabled iOS-sporting friends without buying and iOS device, meaning you have one less reason to buy an iOS device.
Apple has pledged to be true to Jobs' vision? Really? Because I think we just saw a better-sourced article state that Jobs himself said "Don't ask, 'What would Steve do?'".
In fact, if anything, my big wish for Apple now is that they start cooperating with Google. If FaceTime and iMessage were available on Android, and Google Voice native on iPhone (other than Sprint), they could turn the carriers into dumb pipes. It's time.