I noticed an article the other day in which the author was speculating about Apple’s long term branding strategy, in which all things begin with “I,” and the meanings of this recurrence. There is the suggestion of Apple’s focus on the individual, reflected in highly styled products that are all purchased and owned, (nothing free), tightly controlled architectures, and, of course, the recurring “I” in virtually everything offered. To take this a step further, and contrasting the styles of Apple and its search engine archnemesis, if one targets the individual then the other clearly the collective: global access, an open platform, free services, and even a technology that is made available to anyone to use and promote, resell, rebrand, whatever, Google doesn’t care. But if these comparisons and contrasts hold, then can we similarly surmise anything from a branding approach centered around the terms “android” and “nexus,” coming from an organization that promotes openness in almost every way? Probably not. But we can still play around, for kicks and giggles.
My attention perked up when I saw that Google was possibly being sued by the Philip K. Dick estate for use of the terms “android” and “Nexus One.” A similar combination of terms, “android” and “Nexus-6,” are at the core of the classic SciFi novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the inspiration behind the Hollywood hit, Blade Runner. Being a Philip K. Dick fan, and because this book’s title has always been among my favorites – a title so rich and nuanced and original that I can’t honestly think of another that compares - I was prompted to reread the novel. I won’t get into a synopsis, as there are plenty of these already online and off, and besides, there is a movie, and a detailed source document. An overview of the two key subject terms, the “android” and the “nexus,” which Google and Philip K. Dick share, is roughly as follows:
The “androids” of Philip K. Dick are a group of robots that resemble humans, and so much so, in fact, that they become nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. The only way to tell them apart is by testing for their empathy, which, being after all robots, they do not possess. The Nexus-6 of Philip K. Dick is an artificial brain mechanism planted into the latest model of androids (in the story, not really), which element causes the androids to become even more human and difficult to recognize than had previously been the case. With the Nexus-6, in other words, the robot becomes almost perfectly human, though still a machine.
As far as I know, there is never any reference to an “android phone” in Philip K. Dick’s novel, but if there were, this would be to describe a phone used by androids. To label an android phone, then, a Nexus, would identify this device as the very thing which causes the robot to move closer to human state. How ambitious of Google! And yet, how generous. Does Google mean something by this and was it intentional? We’ll check the court papers to find out. As a brand strategy, whether or not Google is trying to convey a message, I find it infinitely more interesting than a recurring “I”.
