Is Android Really the New Windows? What Does This Mean for International eDiscovery?
Author: Eric Everson, MBA, MSIT-SE, JD Candidate (May 2013)
Technology Analyst David Meyer of
ZDNet recently wrote a controversial, yet thought provoking piece dispensing
that Android
really is the new Windows. This is a
bold pronouncement, which sent the early adopters of tech whirling, some in
support and others in utter disagreement.
The controversy stimulated by his article is important as it requires us
all to take a hard look at the numbers that the Android is pushing and for
those in the practice of law to pivot such that we are more inclusive of
Android as a power player in eDiscovery.
The article I’m responding to is one that Mr. Meyer primarily
based on a recent Gartner industry report that demonstrates that Android unit
sales more than doubled year-on-year to 122.5 million, and the platform has a
market share of 72.4 percent, up from 52.5 percent a year before. Apple's iOS is in second place, with quarterly
device sales up from 17.3 million to 23.5 million, but its market share down
from 15 percent to 13.8 percent. Other
mobile Operating Systems (MOPS) are all
in the single digits, from RIM's 5.3 percent share down to Microsoft's 2.4
percent.
Perhaps the greatest criticism that Meyer has received is
that he has blurred mobile devices with PC’s.
Taking a look at the technology industry as a whole however suggests
that the entire industry is also blurring the lines between mobile devices
(traditionally home to smartphones and tablets) and PC’s. Have you seen the Dell
XPS Convertible or the Samsung
Galaxy Note lately? Quite simply, the
lines are blurred and mobile devices and PC’s are forever changed.
Does this mean we should count Microsoft out of the game? Not if you recognize the 40
million Windows 8 licenses that Microsoft has already sold (insert Android
gulp here) since the new OS debuted just over a month ago. Microsoft is definitely still in the game and
with manufactures ever blurring the lines between PC and tablet, I think it’s still
premature to declare Android the new Windows just yet.
For eDiscovery vendors, digital forensic specialists, data
analysts, and technology attorneys alike, the expansion of Android means that
our world is growing. As the facts
indicate, data is growing at an astonishing pace; to facilitate the future of
litigation, we have to ensure that we too keep pace with the growth. As the facts demonstrate, the lines between
mobile devices and computing are forever blurred, as such the role of
eDiscovery in litigation continues to multiply.
#eDiscovery #mobile #techlaw
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About the Author: Eric
Everson is a 3L law student at Florida A&M University – College of Law
where he will graduate in May 2013.
Prior to law school he earned an MBA and Masters in Software Engineering
while working within the U.S. telecommunications industry. The
views and opinions presented in this blog are his own and are not to be
construed as legal advice. Eric
Everson currently serves on the Board of Governors for The Florida Bar Young Lawyers
Division Law Student Division and is the President of the Electronic Discovery
Law Student Association at Florida A&M University – College of Law. Follow: @IntleDiscovery or @iamtechlaw
Tags: mESI, Mobile eDiscovery, Mobile Device eDiscovery,
Android, Windows, Windows 8 eDiscovery, Tablet eDiscovery, Android eDiscovery,
ZDNet, MOPS, PC, iOS, iamtechlaw
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