Tim Wu had a great analysis in Slate.com recently about Google's new Open Handset Alliance and how they're locked in a potentially zero-sum tussle with the vestiges of Ma Bell in the form of AT&T and Verizon. But before reading the excerpt below, have a look at the video explaining what Android is all about.

Here's the excerpt:

In Google's words, its recently unveiled "Android" is the "first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices." But it is a signal of much more. Google is as much an ideology as a firm and can resemble a nation-state in its pursuit of power rather than a mere corporation chasing quarterly numbers. Google and its allies are now trying to make the principles of openness—the commanding ideology of the Internet—the conquering principle of the wireless world, and the Android announcement is just the first step.

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