Google vs. Apple: another standards war

We have blogged about standards wars before (Another standards war, this one with rules, Will this standards ware become a quagmire?, DVD war drags on), and now we see a new one being fought between Google and Apple for a mobile telecommunications/Internet operating sytem.

Adam Schiff analyzes the tradeoffs between an open system (Google, more applications) vs. a closed operating system (Apple, higher quality):

But if I had to bet on it, I’ll bet on Apple. I think people’s preferences for quality are relatively strong, especially among people who want to use Internet applications on their mobile phone. I think a platform that provides some quality control over the applications available on its system will have an advantage over one that doesn’t, even if it reduces the number that are available. Of course, this depends on getting all the prices right — how much to charge for applications and how much to pay developers. This makes me more nervous about betting on Apple, as they don’t have a history of getting prices right the first time.