The one of the nicer problems in modern life these days is that there’s too much choice. Name a product and there are at least three alternatives vying for your attention with their respective thumbs stuck in different parts of the growth-share matrix. Hell, name anything and that’ll happen. Unless you’re naming American Banks*.

In a month where Google Chrome was released to the rapturous cries of “why?” from people that were perfectly happy with Firefox and maybe not so au fait with the underlying ideas of market forces and innovation, there is definately a case where a wide choice is very obviously a good thing.

Mobile phones - sorry, I’ll clarify that - Mobile SuperWebCameraMP3ColdFusionReactor phones are possibly one of the few exceptions right now. There’s technically choice out there to compete with the IPhone, but no matter how much they may protest, anyone that has a Blackberry or Prada phone will find their eyes slipping across to watch the bloke sitting next to them on the Tube playing Monkeyball on his Jobs machine.
In the short term, Apple are sorted. There is nothing realistically out there to ITouch the IPhone in terms of pure desirability - and if something more technically adept comes along, it’s going to have a struggle against HMS Apple and her Great Marketing Armada. But then there’s Google’s upcoming Android.

The first potential genuine competition to Apple is coming along soon, and to my mind is looking goooood. It does all the things I personally want from a SuperWebCameraMP3C… modern phone (I can’t be the only one that spent most of my time thinking “why do I want that?” on the IPhone specification), it isn’t trying to compete with the IPhone directly, but modifying the better ideas and running with them in their own direction. And like Chrome, this bad boy’s open source - letting any Rod, Jane or Freddy have a muck about with it and see what they can bring to the party.

THIS is competition! One company chasing another doesn’t help - it just increases the chance of running down a technological cul-de-sac. Companies going in different directions with the same basic premise can only be a good thing - mistakes made, lessons learned, cross fertilisation of ideas blah-de-blah - the product type as a whole benefits.

The IPhone isn’t the perfect phone for all users, neither is Android - the knowledge that someone somewhere else could be just about to come up with something better is what drives the innovation onwards and make the next generation that little bit better. Is Google/the Open Handset Alliance** primarily out to take over the IPhone’s market? I don’t think so - just like I don’t think Google are trying to take over Firefox’s share of the browser market with Chrome - but they’re making the right people try harder, and that’s surely going to be to the benefit of us all.

I’ve ended posts like this before, but as much as I try to properly understand Google’s underlying long term strategy, the more I think that they genuinely are out to make the future the one with all the rocket packs, hover cars and robot man-servants.
Just before they crack out the 20-Foot Destruct-o-bots with the web enabled Death Rays…

^{*Zing!
**Anyone else hope these guys all meet up in a space station hovering about the planet all wearing capes?}