On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 12:38 PM, Nick Whitelegg <nick.whitel...@solent.ac.uk> wrote: > >>-If you look at Android from the view point of the end user or the >>hacker, it's quite closed. DRM, binary drivers, and the mobile >>operators occasionally blocking tethering applications. > >>However, independent application developers with valid business models >>love Android. Their applications aren't tied to a proprietary >>operating system. There have been reports that it's even possible to >>remove Google from the ecosystem, should they ever become evil. > > TBH I think that hackers (as in open-source developers) can do quite a bit > with Android too, as is evidenced by the large number of OSM applications > available for it - as long as, presumably, they don't have to do anything too > low-level. I myself intend to do some hacking with it and it looks like it > will allow me to do what I want to do. I don't think a "valid business model" > is needed. Compared with the ridiculously closed model of the iPhone, far, > far more closed than desktop Windows ever was, Android is very open by > comparison. > > Nick
I meant "valid business model" as in no malware, no piracy, no violation of the terms of service of the mobile operator e.g. tethering. Using a mobile phone to collect and verify mapping data is definitely a valid business model, even if no money changes hands. > _______________________________________________ > talk mailing list > talk@openstreetmap.org > http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk > _______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
