Ding Dong the Witch (IE) is Dead

I've just been browsing through my client's Yahoo Analytics. Internet Explorer's fall from the dominant web browser has been stunning. A few months ago, here is what most websites would see (and Internet Explorer was Pac-Man):

Now, things are a lot different. Suddenly, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera have ganged up on Internet Explorer and stole it's lunch money. Here is a typical browser report for a client website from Yahoo Analytics (it's real time and Google isn't).

In short, Firefox and IE have near equal 38-42% market shares. Chrome, Opera and Safari are eating a big piece of the pie, too. This is good news for designers who have been complaining about Internet Explorer's major problems with W3C compliant code.

What is interesting is that smart phones and iPhones (if I don't say the word iPhones the Apple zealots will be at the door with torches and pitchforks) are not yet making their mark just yet in non-techie websites. The only places where I see little screens on this report is for websites that would be considered technology sites.

What are you seeing in you metrics this month?

browserwars, browsers, internet explorer, google chrome, firefox

Google's Big Move

Google just announced an operating system for low cost netbook computers. Google's Android is poised to to take over the smart phone market (here's a look at new Android Phones you'll see by Christmas 2009). I've been working developing a few Android applications, and it's pretty clear what Google is up to.

This isn't about pushing MS out of the box. It's about getting into the application distribution business and extending the advertising business. Of all the places where MS has totally screwed up over the past few years, two stand out:

• Microsoft missed the boat on the iTunes model for applications. Much of this has to do with MS reliance on their retail partner channel - which is about as obsolete as the corner record store.
• MSN and MSN advertising have performed abysmally compared to Google. Mobile is a new and huge market - and Google wants in on the ground floor, a ground floor that would be fully occupied had MS done something better than Windows CE.

Enter Android's Market and whatever they call Market for the Chome operating system. Retailers sell devices, Google sells the software (splitting 30% between Google and the carrier and 70% going to the developer). It's a better deal than retail software publishers get, companies wanting to use the cell phone giveaway the device, collect on the subscription model love it, and it simplifies support dramatically by leveraging software package management technology that allows for brain dead easy installs and automatic updates.

There's even one more market to create: Ebooks, which to date Google has not entered but seems poised to do so. Netbooks make great ebook readers, as evidenced by the picture here.

So far Android has been a resounding success (18+ devices by December). Companies wishing to give away netbooks using the cell phone model are facing real problems with Windows - they get little revenue from software sales to users and have massive support headaches due to Windows XP's security issues. The combination of a free operating system, an Andorid Market like model and low support costs is a combination that distributors will not be able to ignore.

Notes:

• Here's Google's official post on the new Chrome Operating System.
  
• If you want some Google Chrome screenshots, your wish is my command.
• Yes, I think Android is going to eat the iPhone's lunch this holiday season. Too many devices (LG, Samsung, HTC and Motorola, are you kidding me?) and carriers for it to fail.
  
• So far as game support goes, if you are buying a netbook to play games, it's like buying a Y2K era 400 Mhz PIII machine. Gaming is really a non starter in this market so far.
  

Android is the game changer

2009 is not the year of the Linux Desktop. It is shaping up to be the year of the Linux powered smartphone as Palm re-enters the game with the Palm Pre and most importantly Google's Android is positioning itself to be the de facto standard in smartphone operating systems. With companies like HTC, Sony Ericson, Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Archos, Motorola and Yuhua all announcing phone and netbook products based on Android (there are a total of 18 promised Android products heading to market), Android is going to be an instant player and rapidly pass up the iPhone in sales. Incidentally, both Google's Android and Palm's Pre run Linux.

Android Strategy Parallels Microsoft in the 80s
Google has pulled off a coup: while others were focused on creating walled gardens and vendor lock in, Google has quietly built the modern equivelent to the DOS/Windows value proposition of the 1980s. Back then it was, "you make the hardware, and we'll provide the software." DOS and Windows weren't as nice as Xenix or later the Mac, but hardware manufacturers cranked out the PC clones because the R&D costs were much lower than trying to sell a proprietary OS. Users like the fact there was choice, and that choice led to competitive differentiation between PC manufacturers. Google's Android is uniquely positioned to deliver the same benefit MS delivered back in the 1980s that led to it's current monopoly of the PC market. Ironically, Android is positioned to take off where

Good Enough is Good Enough
One surprise is that Android is very, very good. It's easy to use, has lots of eye candy and most importantly is very reliable. More importantly, the developer's tools are strong and a vibrant community of application developers have emereged cranking out thousands of add on applications for Android. While Android comes just short of the level of eye candy on the iPhone and Palm Pre, it comes close enough to get people excited.

Best Bet for Developers
Software developers should give Android a long hard look as it has a promising future with a user base that is set to explode as the new Android devices hit the market though the fall and winter. Google has taken the time to provide a strong development environment and there are lots of open source applications to play with to learn. Because Android supports persistent processes and multitasks smoothly, you can create applications that are always on and always working (this is a particularly big problem with the iPhone)

The Andorid Market makes selling and distributing applications to users easy, and you are not solely dependent on Google's Market to sell your application - most Android phones can download applications directly from your website.

android, iphone, smartphone, palmpre