Google has another really good operating system, and we need to talk more about it.
Writing and talking about Android for a living is fun. Every time you hear one of us sound agitated or complaining about something, know that they still probably love their job. I have a good feeling the people doing what we do at other places feel mostly the same way. Even when you're not doing something fun it's still mostly fun, if you know what I mean. And my job is about to get even better because I'll get to write more about something I really love that I've been wanting to write about — Chrome and Chromebooks.
Chrome is an important part of Google's internet strategy. And now they run Android.
You've probably noticed that there are more Chrome posts lately, as well as posts about other stuff that isn't an Android phone. This isn't an accident. For starters, we all have things we want to write about that aren't phones or updates or the stupid thing one of the companies who make Android phones did this week. Some of those things — like Chromebooks — are of interest to enough people who use Android to make them worth writing about here at AC. Other things like fishing are not, unfortunately. (I would write the hell out of anything fishing.) When those two worlds meet talking about it is good for all of us. And Android and Chrome are about to meet in a big way with the Google Play store for Chrome in testing right now.
I'm not going to quit writing and talking about Android. It's still a really kick ass way to earn a living and something I'd want to do even if I didn't have this job. Our little family has grown enough (and in the right way with the right people) so that the best person for the job can be the person doing the job. When it comes to how all this stuff works, or how badly broken something is or Google's role in all of this, I'm that person. I'm also great at making red squiggly lines appear under the words I type. And I'm also that guy who has been using Chromebooks forever and has a ton of stuff to talk about.
Enough about me and my feats of mediocracy. Stuff happened this week that I want to talk more about.
- Speaking of Chromebooks, prepare to see more things being written that you might already know about. You can fuss at me in the comments (seriously, I think that's your right and responsibility as long as you stay inside the proper boundaries) or you can move past those posts. Ideally, you'd use all the things you already know to help someone in the comments, but no matter what they are going to continue because people still need them and ask for them. Al Gore didn't invent the internet just for you.
- I'm tired of telling people to give their Note 7 back to whoever they bought it from. Anyone who was going to listen to (what I think) is reasonable advice from someone who actually understands how it works has already listened. Hearing that less than 15% of the people who bought one listened to Samsung and returned it has made me give up. Do whatever you want to do, just stay the hell away from me and mine if you're doing something stupid.
- I'll still say Samsung moving forward with their own recall instead of waiting on the government was the right call. We found out that the CPSC was notified before Samsung's initial September 2 announcement, and it took the better part of two weeks for them to do anything about it.
- Even with Samsung taking the reigns to try and get people to stop using the Note 7, there were 81 reported instances of people or property being harmed (26 reports of burn incidents and 55 cases of property damage) by the issue. If Samsung, knowing this, had done nothing we would crucify them. And rightly so.
- If this is right, why is this so wrong? Or vice-versa? Both exist to create a reaction. Both succeeded. Under the face of it all, they are the same.
- Jim Balsillie. Tech Entrepreneur extraordinaire, Hockey enthusiast and ... the man who planned an expedition that found sunken treasure. This is really cool, though. Also, Terror Bay. What the hell, Canada?
- I still love Canada though. At least the Montreal parts and the Vancouver parts. They can keep the Saskatoon in January and the Terror parts.
And we're ending on that high note. Which is better then Balsillie managed to do with BlackBerry. Be good to each other!
