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Your problem is with Google, not with Android, MG.
12 January 2012

Well, this MG Siegler rant about Android makes the round, doesn’t it?

Let me emphasize that I do not think that MG Siegler is dumb or crazy. On the contrary, he knows what he is doing. The fact he used to write scripts for Hollywood before he made a career for himself in the technology news business certainly gives him an advantage when communicating a specific agenda. Whatever that may be, I do not know. But one doesn’t need to be a genius to see that he doesn’t really like Google.

Usually, I do not give a shit about those posts. Either out of arrogance or because I just got used to the kind of bickering, non-journalism that emerged out of that thing we know as techcrunch. But after reading this post about Android, I felt like I want to say something. Especially after readings this:

It’s so wonderful that the platform which helped cripple Net Neutrality and is keeping the evil carriers in control is taking off. Make no mistake: Android is now the carriers’ best friend.

Here is the thing. MG’s problem is not with Android in itself, but with Google. I can not read minds, but I’m fairly sure that he actually knows this. He decides to frame Android into this picture as if a technology can have an agenda. To that, I can only refer to an article by Vint Cerf on why access to the internet shouldn’t be a human right:

But that argument, however well meaning, misses a larger point: technology is an enabler of rights, not a right itself. There is a high bar for something to be considered a human right. Loosely put, it must be among the things we as humans need in order to lead healthy, meaningful lives, like freedom from torture or freedom of conscience. It is a mistake to place any particular technology in this exalted category, since over time we will end up valuing the wrong things.

Technology is neither evil, nor good. It is what we make out of it. Android is not a bad OS, because Google is making some bad decisions and collaborating with ISP’s. There are plenty reasons to critisize Android, Google’s political decisions shouldn’t be part of it. My hesitation to buy iOS devices is not rooted in the fact that it’s a bad OS – on the contrary –, but on how Apple as a company is using technology to create a very specific ecosystem.

So, if you re-post or quote MG, keep in mind: his problem is really not Android, it’s Google.

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2011
28 December 2011

It became somewhat of a tradition to write an years end post. To describe my year, it would require me to use many and more adjectives which I could support with photos, posts, tweets and just plane data.

But I am not going to do that.

Let me just say this: I feel grateful. Foremost for the people in my life who supported, trusted and gave me strength and for the extraordinary opportunity to be fortunate enough to build my life as I see fit.

I wish you a splendid 2012.

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A very brief first impression about Path 2
2 December 2011

I love those moments on Path when a notification pops up that somebody loved my photo or looked at my path. They’re almost scary. In that exact moment you know there somebody else holding their mobile computing device exactly the same way you do. Path managed to create a new way to experience intimacy on social networks. This is exciting.

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