So, there’s this small office in downtown Chapel Hill that used to have a paper “Google” banner in the window.  Today, on a trip past the Cosmic Cantina, I noticed that the window now has a more permanent logo for Android. I’ll admit that the basic idea behind Android – a generally open cellphone platform mostly developed by the ‘net’s largest advertising distribution network — is really appealing, given how disappointing the current situation in the US is (e.g. I can take a picture on my current phone, but I can’t transfer it off the phone without emailing it, which means I’d have to pay a fee; and, equally important is the fact that the applications installed on the phone … well, they suck).  If it takes off, it could open up a range of possibilities for “mobile computing,” and I seriously hope it pulls the rest of the industry along with it.  We have these pocket communicators and the dominant business model for them is oriented around ringtones, fer gosh sakes.  Hm, on second thought, I don’t see how a modular, extensible platform’s going to change that, but maybe it will let me ignore it somewhat, which is good enough.

But why’s there an “Android” office in downtown Chapel Hill?  One related development suggests itself …