Should We Start A New Blog On Android?

by Robb Dunewood on December 22, 2008 · 10 comments

It seems like over the passed couple of months I had a bit of a facination with with Android.  I haven’t gone out and bought a T-Mobile G1 or anything, although I am thinking about it…  I am intrigued, however, with the thought of a viable open source mobile operating system that looks like it is going to give RIM, Apple, Microsoft, and Palm some legitimate competition.

I have been debating on whether or not I should create an Android category here on RIMarkable or if I should start a completely seperate site dedicated to it.  There are pros and cons to both options so I thought that I would throw it out to you guys to see what you think.

Should we create an Android category here on RIMarkable or start a brand new Android blog?

Opinion


Related Posts

  • Mike

    I think you should start an Android category here. I use a BlackBerry but I am watching other phones on the market like the iPhone and the Android phones; and I don’t really want to go out and subscribe to blogs that talk about nothing but a phone I don’t have. But an Android category on a Blackberry site, that I would probably follow.

  • Kells

    Well, if you think that you are going to do a lot of writing or even get other bloggers to specifically write about Android, you may want to set up a seperate blog from the start.

    I see where Mike is coming from but if your target audience is folks looking for news and information about Android, they may not readily find it here when mixed in with primarily BlackBerry content.

    If you are just talking about the occasional Android post like you do with the iPhone from time to time, a category should be just fine.

  • Thought

    Ditto on the first 2 comments…it depends on how far you want to take it.

    If you want to do to Android what you do to the iPhone on this blog, ie, offer it up as a comparison to BB, then keep it all here.

    If you want to explore in depth the world of Android, not only juxtaposed to BB, then a separate blog is appropriate.

    I will say, that like you, I don’t own an Android phone yet and have no plans to do so, but I am fascinated by how far the platform might go given its open source business model. I also think Palm probably should have opted to go the route of Android instead of developing its own “new” OS.

  • http://www.espressoreport.com Richard Ward

    New blog, new domain — brandable and memorable is where it’s at. If you pay the bills from advertising, those advertisers are going to want specifics. DO IT

  • rsm

    New blog might be better for you in terms of advertising dollars, but not quite useful for blog readers since there are a lot of Android blogs out there already.

    What you could offer to the blog reading community is perspective on the Android platform from where you are an expert at: the Blackberry platform. Perhaps striking a deal with another Android blog and cross-posting could work. But, I really don’t know how the economics of blogging works.

    If you were to start another Android blog, try having a focus that is unique from the other Android blogs so that you can differentiate yourself from them. For example, if you were to be an Android blog that would try to cover everything Android, you would have stiff competition from existing blogs and your expenditure of resources on maintaining the blog would differentiate you all that much from them. The ROI looks dim, in other words.

    However, if you were to create an Android blog that focused on, for example, comparing Android to other smartphone platforms and had posts showing Android’s advantages and disadvantages as well as work-arounds for the disadvantages, then you could cover news like new apps or firmwares issued by Android developres yet also have a focus that would differentiate your blog from others. It also means you wouldn’t have to cover certain pieces of Android news that get covered by at least 5 different blogs within hours of each other.

  • rsm

    Edit from my previous post:

    “For example, if you were to be an Android blog that would try to cover everything Android, you would have stiff competition from existing blogs and your expenditure of resources on maintaining the blog would NOT differentiate you all that much from them. “

  • cal

    I was readiing over the reasons posted for why NOT to post android info.

    I think as one of the first people to get one (3 months b4 release to anyone) I have put more time into this device than consoles, laptops, or any other personal electronic item. The possibilities are there. And I have been psyched about how many ways programmers will be able to take advantage of this phones vast strengths. I think these phones have been in a higher demand than could have been predicted and can’t wait til it becomes another standard that has great services like this one on the public market that bring to light intelligent ideas that find their way into even more intelligent innovations.
    It would be a good idea.

  • http://twitter.com/the_sanks BDOt

    Either/or. I own a G1, but switched to that from a Curve, and before that a 7900. I think most people these days are moreso gadget nerds in general vs. being blindly devoted to one platform.

    Except for the iTards. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

    …So the wider the coverage, the better.

  • bluehorseshoe

    My suggestion is a new blog. Won’t get lost in the RIMarkable name and will be specific. If I were an Android fan, I wouldn’t even think of looking at blackberry site for content related Android info, unless they are current readers.

  • Norman R.

    After first reading this post I started to say that you should just create an Adroid category here on Rimarkable, but, after thinking about for a while, I think that you should do both.

    Create an Android category and create a new Android blog. You can definitely leverage traffic from Rimarkable by writing the occasional post about Android here and then linking to your more in depth content on the Android specific blog.

Previous post:

Next post: