After months of waiting, it turns out there is no gPhone. And yet, I’m elated.

I think the iPhone design is an impressive technical feat. It belongs in a museum of product design, placed neatly in between a Ducati and a Dyson. But its beautiful design is the end of its consumer value. As an inherently closed system on a single network, Jobs cannot (and is actively fighting against) a crowdsourced approach to product development.

Crowdsourced product design is why I think the Google Android announcement is both more significant and more beneficial to the end consumer than the iPhone. Google’s Director of Mobile Platforms said it best:

“We are not building a GPhone; we are enabling 1,000 people to build a GPhone,” said Andy Rubin, Google’s director of mobile platforms, who led the effort to develop the software. [from NYT]

Let’s assume that Steve Jobs (or Jonathan Ive) designs the best products in the world. I’ll just give that statement to them. I still think Google’s platform has much more exciting room for growth because every programmer with a itch to scratch can do it without the permission of a gatekeeper. Why doesn’t the iPhone have cut, copy, paste? And, what recourse do I have as a programmer to fix this sorely lacking feature on the iPhone? I have none; I have to wait for Jobs to decide that cut, copy, paste is a high enough priority on his feature list.

Google’s announcement today and behavior thus far is encouraging the long tail of niche features, unlike Apple (who just crippled the latest jailbreak, thus breaking all third-party apps). Thus, I’m encouraged by their attitude and excited to see what developers due with the SDK (to be released next week).