Google’s Open Source Android OS Will Free the Wireless Web

“‘Is this interesting to Google?’ That’s what Andy Rubin was
asking Larry Page. It was a spring day in 2005, and the two were in
a conference room just off the main lobby at Google’s headquarters.
A simple yes and Rubin would have walked away happy.

“They had met three years before, when Rubin was about to launch
a smartphone he’d invented called the Sidekick. At the time, Google
was just an up-and-comer, trailing AOL and even Lycos in traffic.
But Rubin, a well-known Silicon Valley player, chose Google as the
Sidekick’s default search engine. Page was flattered by the
unexpected endorsement. So when Rubin called out of the blue and
requested this meeting, well, Page couldn’t say no…”

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