Ref: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/10/19/google-exec-tweets-to-tell-jobs-what-open-is/
The above will build a version of Android that could be deployed on your new headset. Something most developers do not do. Most of us will use the published and document APIs of the OS we are building our application for. Having a peek at the source code is indeed helpful but not usually necessary. Look at all of the applications that have been built for Apple's iOS to date, (greater then 250,000 at last count), and Windows, as another example. We don't see Microsoft's source code.
Is Android more open then iOS, yes. Does that matter to me as an application developer, yes and no. Yes, if it means I now have a larger market place for my application. No, if the market place becomes fragmented and I have to test my application longer and longer to cover the diversity of Android devices. At this point that fragmentation has not taken place, will it? Time will tell, that is why I take "The Long View".
