Google’s Andy Rubin on Apple: “Everybody Is Embracing the iPhone”
Google and Apple may be fierce rivals in the mobile space, and they may have different visions of the meaning of “open,” but there’s a mutual respect between the two companies that was in evidence tonight at D: Dive Into Mobile. Asked for his views on Apple in an interview with co-hosts Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, Andy Rubin, Google’s Android guru, had good things to say about the iPhone and the company that created it.
“I think everybody is embracing the iPhone,” he said. “I think that Apple makes good consumer products and focuses on a robust consumer experience and consistency across applications. More recently, I see them getting involved in the other end of the mobile spectrum, which is services–the App Store, iTunes, etc. I think that when you move into the services business, it creates a lot of new opportunities. If the operating system is the razor, then services are the blades.”
Does Apple have the DNA to make it in the services business?
Said Rubin, “My assumption is Apple is a company that learns from its mistakes.”