Steve Jobs said that Android isn’t as open as they portray and said that when we think of “open” we think of Windows. Boy that is pure double talk.

There are lots of levels of open but Windows is far from it. What Jobs was referring to was Windows open API so that developers could write applications for it. IOS and Android both have similar open APIs (otherwise developers couldn’t write apps).

Android claims to be open because developers can look at the source code of the operating system itself. In that regard Windows and iOS are very closed. Android, however, doesn’t go as far as most open source systems because it doesn’t allow outsiders to “commit” (make changes) and only releases the source with each new release (instead of ongoing as it is developed).

Enough explanation. To my mind the number one aspect of smart phones that makes them different and interesting are the apps. And in that regard Apple is as closed as possible: there is only one Apple app store and they carefully monitor and restrict what gets in there. Android on the other hand allows users to install apps from anywhere and is completely open. So in this most important aspect, Android wins hands down and that is the reason that when my contract ends next year I will be switching from an iPhone to an Android phone.