Among many giant company, Google and Apple are two of them that significantly competing about operating system. Google’s decision to make Android as free software is surprising and this makes the competition even gets tighter, learning that many handset makers create a ton of Android-based devices. Therefore, reviewing the point of views regarding the competition between Apple and Android in 2011 is amusing, especially when they come from a pair of veteran high-tech luminaries hired by Google. The most attractive part about it that their disagreement.

Don Dodge, former Microsoft start-up evangelist commented about the competition between Android and iPhone that both of them will win the race because they are playing different games. Although Android will win the market share war, Apple may still generate bigger profits. He added in The Next Big Thing that Apple manages to develop and control both hardware and software on all their products. Mac still become profitable device for Apple even though it has never has more than 10 percent of market share. With this evidently successful strategy, Apple will apply the same strategy to iPhone.

Meanwhile, Google has special technique to be applied with Android. Surprisingly, the company offers software for free so people can make use Google search, Gmail, Google Voice, Contacts, Places, Maps and other services to work effortlessly with Android. The revenue streams for Google derived from mobile search and advertising and even if the advertising revenues are clearly lower than selling hardware, Google’s profit margins are quite good.

On the other hand, Tim Bray who joined Google right after leaving Sun Microsystems argued that he was less convinced. This statement points out that Android ecosystem, speaking of its hardware-agnosticism, recalls Windows, however the targeted goals of Google are different so to try the historical analogies seems really risky. He also made comment about Apple that this company will sell many devices because they are good and fantastically marketed. Also, many people will go for option to sell a ton of Android devices because they are good too, especially learning the fact that there are many options for different needs and networks and price-points.

Tim Bray added, Apple shipping a cheap iPhone won’t be a surprising thing and Android need not to think about anything fundamental regarding an industrial-design as well as user-experience. He also argued about testing the hypothesis that those things are important to Apple’s success.

On the other word, he predicted that there would still be quite surprising event if sometime in the next year, cheap Apple’s iPhone will be joining the competition against Androids that may push the user-experience lever farther than Apple or any other ever  have. So, the question appears will be where the prognosticators’ towers of sand are.