In his insightful piece on Andy Rubin's departure from the helm of the Google Android division, Charles Arthur looks into the future to see what's next for the Android platform. He makes a case for a merge between Android and Chrome OS, however that has been speculated for four years already; even from the horse's mouth.

What's perhaps more interesting, is Arthur's observation that Rubin was in fact a proponent of open source, and Android as a free platform, even though that was difficult to see at times. Arthur contrasts Rubin's stance against Google's and possibly Sundar Pichai's (Rubin's succeeder) desire to control the Android ecosystem. That path could conflict with handset manufacturer's wish to brand and distinguish their products from their competitors. Arthur points out that about half of the 145m Android phones shipped in Q4 2012 were in fact not Google enabled (with a Google account, Gmail, etc). He speculates that the logical move for Pichai is to tighten control of the platform; making it less open.

That brings us to another headline: The general fight for control of devices, not just mobile phones, and the right to do whatever we want with the hardware we've bought, paid for and own. Kyle Wiens makes the case that we should be allowed to unlock any device, with tractors and cars as prime examples. These farmer and household items have become so complex to repair and maintain, that independent mechanics can no longer do the work. And even if they could, they are barred from access to embedded computers, sometimes based on proprietary tools and software, but also based on copyright, of all things. The access codes (passwords) are copyrighted, as are the service manuals, and only licensed technicians are granted access.

So are we headed towards the locked down nightmare Stallman warned us about sixteen years ago in his 1997 easy "The Right to Read"? If we keep letting mega-corporations have their way, that is a danger. However, as Wiens points out, Massachusetts passed Right to Repair legislation to make it possible to repair automobiles; other states are following. The White House petition to make it legal to unlock mobile phones did get a response, however, it is unclear if it is enough to avoid the criminal law which now applies to phone unlocking. Maybe there is still hope.