So, this happened. It's not a Facebook phone. It's Facebook home - a homescreen replacement for the Android OS. Actually, it's also a phone. It's a Facebook homophone. Like Phasebook. Sorta like that.
It's so cool to see also how one of the big four (sorry audit firms, I don't mean you) is piggybacking on one of the other four's properties for advancing its own interests. For reference, my big four are: Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. Microsoft is a shadowy, shady fifth. I always find the competition-co-operation between these companies fascinating. Apple used to provide Youtube and Google Maps by default, Google still has some of the best apps on iOS, Facebook is deeply integrated into iOS as well, Amazon uses a custom version of Android. And you can use Facebook on an iPad you bought from Amazon to share a picture of the latest Google doodle.
But that does beg the question - does the company that does no evil now decide to wall its garden a little more? Ban home screen replacements like they ban Youtube downloads? Or does this actually boost the Android brand a little bit? Does Google make Google Plus the center of its next operating system? Does it really make GMail blue? Or does it stick its guns on openness? (Techcrunch seems to think it's the last, I'd reserve judgment for now.)
According to Facebook, the homophone was to make 'people' the center of the phone experience. A noble plan from the boys in blue. That said, I've always thought that Facebook's user stories begin with 'As a stalker, I want to...'. And making the phone the center of Facebook or the other way around gives me the jitters. I don't want Facebook to be the center of my phone experience. Some fears:
1. Friend unlocks her or his Facebook homophone. Said friend's parent loves Microsoft and reads this post on my Facebook 'humor' page. The parent hates me forever because of Facebook homophone's bigmassive font right there on the lock screen.
2. I am someone's 'chat head'. Dragged around with a thumb. This I didn't sign up for. This insults my culture. Will Facebook explicitly ask for my permission before using my picture as a chat head? I DON'T WANNA BE A CHAT HEAD, FACEBOOK.
3. You think the Facebook homophone looks pretty now, wait till you start seeing adheads next to your chatheads. Oh yeah, you'll think of me then.
4. I buy a phone that says 'Android'. Now instead of a nice stock Nexus skin, or a shitty HTC Sense Skin or a shittier Samsung Touchwiz, I get a shittier Facebook home? Seriously? What now, every app of import becomes a skin / homescreen? What next - a Twitter 'Homeline'? A Whatsapp 'Homessenger'?
Speaking of Senseless skins, dear HTC - are you moving away from 'quietly brilliant' to 'We only name our phones with stuff to do with the number One'? The HTC One series, now the HTC First. Coming soon: the HTC Unity, the HTC (10 minus 9) and the iPhone killer - the ProbabilityOfAnAlmostCertainEvent?
Crankiness aside, I think that this is a really smart play from Facebook. They didn't waste time building up an OS from scratch or their own hardware. I still love my iPhone, but I have a a feeling that that's not going to last for long.
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| Image courtesy: Techcrunch |
But that does beg the question - does the company that does no evil now decide to wall its garden a little more? Ban home screen replacements like they ban Youtube downloads? Or does this actually boost the Android brand a little bit? Does Google make Google Plus the center of its next operating system? Does it really make GMail blue? Or does it stick its guns on openness? (Techcrunch seems to think it's the last, I'd reserve judgment for now.)
According to Facebook, the homophone was to make 'people' the center of the phone experience. A noble plan from the boys in blue. That said, I've always thought that Facebook's user stories begin with 'As a stalker, I want to...'. And making the phone the center of Facebook or the other way around gives me the jitters. I don't want Facebook to be the center of my phone experience. Some fears:
1. Friend unlocks her or his Facebook homophone. Said friend's parent loves Microsoft and reads this post on my Facebook 'humor' page. The parent hates me forever because of Facebook homophone's bigmassive font right there on the lock screen.
2. I am someone's 'chat head'. Dragged around with a thumb. This I didn't sign up for. This insults my culture. Will Facebook explicitly ask for my permission before using my picture as a chat head? I DON'T WANNA BE A CHAT HEAD, FACEBOOK.
3. You think the Facebook homophone looks pretty now, wait till you start seeing adheads next to your chatheads. Oh yeah, you'll think of me then.
4. I buy a phone that says 'Android'. Now instead of a nice stock Nexus skin, or a shitty HTC Sense Skin or a shittier Samsung Touchwiz, I get a shittier Facebook home? Seriously? What now, every app of import becomes a skin / homescreen? What next - a Twitter 'Homeline'? A Whatsapp 'Homessenger'?
Speaking of Senseless skins, dear HTC - are you moving away from 'quietly brilliant' to 'We only name our phones with stuff to do with the number One'? The HTC One series, now the HTC First. Coming soon: the HTC Unity, the HTC (10 minus 9) and the iPhone killer - the ProbabilityOfAnAlmostCertainEvent?
Crankiness aside, I think that this is a really smart play from Facebook. They didn't waste time building up an OS from scratch or their own hardware. I still love my iPhone, but I have a a feeling that that's not going to last for long.
