Google Not Against Alternative App Stores, & Neither Am I [OPINION]
Alternative app stores and markets for Android are nothing new. GetJar’s long been a provider of downloads, SlideMe is a classic offering that everyone from the original G1 days should remember, and countless more are out and about. No one’s really made noise about this sect of the ecosystem, however, until folks like Verizon, Amazon, and Best Buy have been rumored to launch their own stores. Their names obviously add a lot of attention to their ventures, but we all know what it’s really about: policy.
At least for Verizon and Amazon, a lot of what they want to do with their own separate app stores resemble what we all hate about Apple’s walled garden. None of their plans are confirmed yet, but going based on the leaked distribution agreement for Amazon and details from emails sent to developers, the amount of control they are looking to have over anyone doing business with them is enough to leave a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths. I don’t think we should be angry at these companies for wanting to carry out their own strategies using Android as the peddler.
For Amazon’s case, their app store looks to accompany a supposed tablet that could be headed our way (or at least announced) as early as the end of this month. We all want a bulging tablet market to take off, but up until now Google hasn’t made it easygoing for any manufacturers to get into. Archos led the way earlier on and Samsung’s taken the challenge on quite well, but whatever’s working for them doesn’t seem to work for everyone else. Amazon likely wants to maintain a level of quality and control over their tablet experience to make it more valuable in the eyes of users and developers alike.
Who are we to say that they can’t provide (and excuse me for this line that sounds like it came straight from the mouth of a public relations representative) the best possible hardware and software experience for the end user? Why should they be forced to comply with Google’s terms to include the Android market when that’s not the sort of thing they want to do with their tablet? And even if they did comply, they probably wouldn’t be OK with something like this:
No offense to Samsung, of course. But the point is they don’t feel that the Android market fits with what they want to do, and they want to take a different approach. Are we really ready to throw them to the wolves because of that? As consumers, voting with our wallets is the only thing we can do to express our distaste with something a company’s doing. I don’t mean to echo sentiments that have been echoed since the beginning of time, but if you don’t like it then don’t buy it. It’s not hurting you to know that other app markets out there might exist.
And as long as Google doesn’t mind and as long as they keep the Android market going just as comfortably as it has been, then what’s the issue? It’s not like these third party vendors are bidding on replacing the Android market – there is no replacement for the Android market. At least for the smartphone sector, there’s nothing to be sour about. For tablets, it’s something Google has to work on and it’s something they’ve acknowledged they’re working on. Until then, let the carriers and the manufacturers do what they need to do and just go on about your business.