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When something that consumers have been dreaming and hoping for shows any sign of happening, it is a pretty standard thing for all of us to make quick jumps to conclusions.
Andromeda has been thrust on the scene, surrounded by this exact behavior. We have some info today that should give us a bit of clarity regarding the future of Android and Chrome OS.
While some of the current conclusions surrounding Andromeda may come to fruition, most times it is best to take a step back and see things from all perspectives. Today’s article by JR Rafael was a great example of this. His response to the Andromeda craze is calm and calculated while taking a few minutes to ask “what if?”
As a part of his analysis of the situation, he recalled something said by Hiroshi Lockheimer that should make us all look at Andromeda with a little more clarity. The comment occurred during an interview between JR and Hiroshi, and went a little something like this:
It’s definitely not binary. In fact, they coexist beautifully today. … [Chrome OS and Android devices] work great together, and it’s not like I have to choose one or the other. They serve different needs.
That’s how we see it, and I think that’s how it will continue to be going forward. We’ll bring good attributes from both — so for instance, the example of running Android apps on Chrome, that’s bringing an attribute of Android over to Chrome. And maybe there are attributes of Chrome OS that we bring over to Android, and so on. That’s how we’re seeing it, so definitely not a binary sort of switch-transition type of thing.
You can check out the podcast right here if you like. Around the 41 minute mark, you’ll hear the exchange. I highly recommend listening to that few minutes and listen to what is being said.
This interview happened just 5 months ago.
There’s also this, stated by Lockheimer just after the WSJ article was published claiming a coming merger between Chrome OS and Android.
There’s a ton of momentum for Chromebooks and we are very committed to Chrome OS. I just bought two for my kids for schoolwork!
He also posted on the Official Chrome Blog:
While we’ve been working on ways to bring together the best of both operating systems, there’s no plan to phase out Chrome OS.
JR Rafael goes on to shed further light on the situation before taking a few paragraphs to simply pose some “what if” type questions. It’s really a great read and I highly recommend a read (when you finish up here, of course).
I do realize that Lockheimer could have been blowing smoke, but the clearly-stated dedication to Chrome OS could’ve easily been put forth without making such specific points about the two OS’s remaining separate. He could’ve dodged that without being so particular. Yet, he didn’t.
Instead, he reaffirmed how well Chrome OS and Android do in their particular lanes. He also made the point that there are tons of school systems who have invested tons of money in Chrome OS as their sole platform. For Google to simply drop a merged OS and let Chrome OS whither away is almost unthinkable.
So, what are we to gather from all this? At this point, it is truly anyone’s guess what Andromeda is. A project? A new OS? An evolution? We simply don’t know yet.
What is becoming very clear, however, is the fact that regardless of how sure anyone seems about all this, no one outside of Google (and likely the team inside Google working on Andromeda) REALLY knows what is happening.
I think we can all feel a bit better about Chrome OS as we wait for what we hope is a sneak peak at the 10/4 Event. We can feel better knowing that Google has no intention to ditch Chrome OS. We can feel better knowing that, more than likely, the internet has missed many details about all this.
Lastly, we can feel better knowing that whatever Andromeda ends up being, it is very likely that Chrome OS will be playing an important roll at Google for a long time.
And that, my friends, makes me feel much better.
