It's all going a bit pear-shaped

This blog is dedicated to the improvement of the Android operating system - oh hell, that's not true. This blog is dedicated to my extreme worries that Android doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of surviving due to fundamental design flaws and lack of interest on Google's part.

Here's the thing. I am an Android developer. I have a game in the top 20 paid downloads. I'm far from being an Android hater. But there are things long apparent to anyone that are desperately WRONG with Android, both from a techincal point of view, and from a marketing and organizational point of view.

The organizational problem is the reason for this blog. There IS NO SUPPORT SYSTEM for Android. There are a couple of Google groups where the core team hangs out, and since Google conveniently forgot to assign ANY SORT of help desk functions to the Android developers, they bear the brunt of the complaints.

And they're pissed, and they're a little bitchy at this point, and who can blame them? If you have a tech job, think how close you would come to quitting if you were suddenly expected to cover for the Help Desk.

Oh, you DO work for the Help Desk? Sucks for you, dude.

Anyway, there is no room for complaint in the Google groups. They are full of (a) a few people who actually know their shit, (b) newbie programmers who think THEIR version of Flashlight will make them rich, and (c) people who have never touched an iPhone and really, really don't get how dire the outlook is.

Maybe you don't either. Answer me this: Why is Google Earth available for the iPhone and not for the Google Phone? (And don't correct me about the name, I'm making a point here.) Why did Electronic Arts announce the imminent release of a few games way back in October and then not a peep since then? Why are there no flight simulators or even side-scrolling games?

I'll tell you my theory. The operating system simply can't do it. It's a Java-powered multitasking system with random garbage collects that developers simply cannot count on to reliably draw to the screen in a smooth manner.

I have four applications on hold now because the operating system simply isn't finished. You want to play synchronous sounds back, like for instance for a music player? Forget it, can't be done. You want to monitor the raw audio from the microphone for a myriad of excellent reasons? Forget it, can't be done. You want to write a simple side-scrolling game as of old without having it stutter in the middle of drawing the frames? Forget it - it can't be done.

Let me say immediately, I am no Java guru. I know enough about it to suit my needs. This is to counter the inevitable comments about "write it yourself and submit it" in regards to missing features of the operating system. Sorry, not interested enough to help you write the freakin' operating system, I'm an application developer, I'll spend my time in a more complete environment, thank you.

This is an introductory post and I have much more to say. Let's just say I am very worried about Android, and given the COMPLETE inattention to problems by Google, I don't think things are going to get any better anytime soon..