It seems sad to have to continue this theme another week, but it is certainly the most pressing topic du jour…
The ADP1 developer phone lacks the firmware update to allow it to see priced applications in the Android Market.
Even when that is dealt with, it is possible that the ADP1 will still be unable to see copy-protected applications in the Android Market, due to the concerns that ADP1-specific capabilities will make it easier to defeat the limited copy protection scheme.
Some developers have run into problems where their applications are unable to be upgraded through the Market, in part perhaps due to some locking bugs that have been reported.
The Android Market forces developers to list their wares in their home currency and displays those prices to users in that same currency, forcing users to do currency exchange conversions in their heads.
Most, if not all, of these problems are with the Android Market, not with Android itself. And most, if not all, of these problems are likely to be solved in the fullness of time, some perhaps even sooner.
Yet the sound and fury of these issues will likely trump their true importance, due to a lack of communication. In other words, “what we have here is a failure to communicate”.
There’s a long standing expression of relevance here: “nature abhors a vacuum”. This is as true with communications as anything else. When issues arise, interested parties will communicate. In the absence of hard data and fact, those parties will also ruminate, extrapolate, debate, pontificate, insinuate, and eventually denigrate. They may do some of that even with hard data and fact…but at least those providing the data have a stronger position to help steer the debate. This pattern has held true for centuries if not longer – Android application development is just another venue.
Google and the Open Handset Alliance definitely have the means to communicate with the broader development community. There are the various Android-centric Google Groups, plus the Android Developers blog. And there is nothing preventing them from establishing other channels or sites for information distribution (e.g., status dashboard for major outstanding issues).
What does appear to be lacking is the will, or perhaps the interest.
At least with these issues, the long-term solution is to minimize the Android Market, ensuring that it is not a monopoly and that Android device users are well aware of alternative means of getting interesting applications. That may not be the desired long-term solution for Google and its partners, but the lack of communication around these issues does not bode well for the Market’s long-term success. But, at the end of the day, the Market is secondary to Android itself – I, for one, want Android to succeed, come what may for the Market.
