Androids - Kirjakasa

Published Aug. 13, 2021 by Self Published.

ISBN:: 978-1-7373548-3-3

(1 review)

In 2004, Android was two people who wanted to build camera software. But they couldn't get investors interested. Today, Android is a large team at Google, shipping an operating system (including camera software) to over three billion devices worldwide.

This is the inside story, told by the people who made it happen.

Androids: The Team that Built the Android Operating System is a first-hand chronological account of how the startup began, how the team came together, and how they all built an operating system from the kernel level to its applications and everything in between. It describes the tenuous beginnings of this ambitious project as a tiny startup, then as a small acquisition by Google that took on an industry with strong, entrenched competition. Author Chet Haase joined the Android team at Google in May 2010 and later recorded conversations with team members to preserve the early days of Android's …

In 2004, Android was two people who wanted to build camera software. But they couldn't get investors interested. Today, Android is a large team at Google, shipping an operating system (including camera software) to over three billion devices worldwide.

This is the inside story, told by the people who made it happen.

Androids: The Team that Built the Android Operating System is a first-hand chronological account of how the startup began, how the team came together, and how they all built an operating system from the kernel level to its applications and everything in between. It describes the tenuous beginnings of this ambitious project as a tiny startup, then as a small acquisition by Google that took on an industry with strong, entrenched competition. Author Chet Haase joined the Android team at Google in May 2010 and later recorded conversations with team members to preserve the early days of Android's history leading to the launch of 1.0. This engaging and accessible book captures the developers' stories in their own voices to answer the question: How did Android succeed?

3 editions

Thom reviewed Androids by Chet Haase

Review of 'Androids' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

This recent release has a lot of history, some technical details, and mini-bios of a HUGE cast of characters. Taken from interviews with some of them, this is a prettier version of history.txt - and not exactly fun to read.

The author acknowledges this in the introduction, and other reviewers seem to have given him a pass on that, rating the book 4 of 5 stars. I can't help but rate it as a book, where it falls short. It's not a good history (though it contains a lot of historical information) and it's not a good technical book (too technical for a lot of the audience, probably not specific enough for the rest). Yes, the author recognized that in the intro as well, saying he tried to make it accessible. My feet are firmly planted in the tech industry, which is why I read it - but this is …

This recent release has a lot of history, some technical details, and mini-bios of a HUGE cast of characters. Taken from interviews with some of them, this is a prettier version of history.txt - and not exactly fun to read.

The author acknowledges this in the introduction, and other reviewers seem to have given him a pass on that, rating the book 4 of 5 stars. I can't help but rate it as a book, where it falls short. It's not a good history (though it contains a lot of historical information) and it's not a good technical book (too technical for a lot of the audience, probably not specific enough for the rest). Yes, the author recognized that in the intro as well, saying he tried to make it accessible. My feet are firmly planted in the tech industry, which is why I read it - but this is far from accessible to non-coders.

Why not 1 star? It does contain some great history and some wry observations of the team and the work. Could be a good source for another book surveying the industry or the market. Wouldn't recommend reading it cover to cover, though.