As is known, the Android operating system currently dominates the world’s smartphone market share. The research firm IDC noted that in 2020 there were 84.1 percent of smartphones shipped worldwide based on Android of various versions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind the success of Android today, the figure of Andy Rubin certainly cannot be ruled out from the history of the technology industry, especially smart phones. Andy Rubin is known as the “Father of Android”, because he was the one who invented and developed the software which is now under the auspices of Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among ordinary people, his figure may not be as famous as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. However, Andy Rubin’s figure and career path are quite interesting and important to observe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Short biography<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrew E. Rubin or better known as Andy Rubin is an American programmer and businessman. Rubin was born in 1963 and raised in Chappaqua, New York, United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1977-1981, Rubin attended Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduating from high school, Rubin continued his studies at Utica College, Utica, New York and earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Works at Carl Zeiss<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After graduating from college, the man who loves robots worked as a robotics software engineer at the optical company Carl Zeiss X-ray Microscopy in Thornwood, New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rubin worked for approximately three years, from 1986 to 1989. According to Business Insider, Rubin had spent a year in Geneva, Switzerland, working as a software engineer at a company called Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Genevoise d’Instruments Physiques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sign In Apple For Helping People<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before creating Android, Rubin had worked for Apple. Rubin was accepted to work at Apple in a fairly unique way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One day in 1989, Rubin was on vacation to the Cayman Islands. There, he accidentally met Bill Caswell, an engineer at Apple at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caswell is said to have been kicked out of the cottage where he was staying after an argument with his girlfriend. Because of that, Rubin offered Caswell a place to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In return, Caswell offered Rubin a job at Apple. Rubin also received the golden opportunity and started working at Apple in 1989. At that time, Apple was in a healthy business condition thanks to the Macintosh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Apple, Rubin started a position in manufacturing and then moved to Apple’s research department. In 1990, Apple created a company called General Magic and Rubin joined the spin-off company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n General Magic focuses on developing handheld devices and communications. At General Magic, Rubin and his team succeeded in developing a software called Magic Cap. Unfortunately, Magic Cap’s age is not long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The response from handset vendors to Magic Cap is minimal. In fact, Magic Cap was very popular at that time. In fact, Forbes called the failure of General Magic the “death of an important Silicon Valley company.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n After General Magic was destroyed because the Magic Cap failed, Rubin and several Apple veterans founded Artemis Research. Artemis Research developed WebTV, which became the forerunner of the merger of television and the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Artemis Research was then purchased by Microsoft in 1997. Rubin was finally “transported” with the other Artemis Research team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two years later, in 1999, Rubin decided to leave the WebTV team, which automatically left the Microsoft company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Founded Danger Inc And Released Sidekick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After leaving WebTV, Rubin rented a shophouse in Palo Alto, California. Rubin calls the shop a laboratory full of his collection of robot toys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From this shophouse, the idea emerged to establish a new company called Danger Inc, which Rubin and several of his colleagues built. This company spawned a device called Sidekick. The device’s original name was the Danger Hiptop, but it was better known as the T-Mobile Sidekick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sidekick has an application store like the Google Play Store and also cloud computing storage. This handset also has Google as the default search engine. In 2002, Rubin gave a lecture at Stanford on the development of the Sidekick. Apparently, the two founders of Google, namely Larry Page and Sergei Brin were also present at the lecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Page and Brin then meet Rubin and want to see Sidekick up close. Page is impressed with Sidekick that has Google in it. It was here that Page came up with the idea of \u200b\u200bGoogle’s cell phone a few years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its time, the Sidekick was an uncommon and out-of-date device. According to Rubin, Sidekick can access cellular data and has phone capabilities. Rubin rejects the notion that Sidekick is a PDA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to him, this device is a mobile phone that becomes a platform for third-party developers. And today, what Sidekick has is commonplace, where phones are crammed with tons of third-party apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Android And The Origin Of Its Name<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rubin eventually left Danger Inc and founded Android in 2003. This Pisces man is such a big fan of robotics that his former colleagues at Apple used to call him “Android” (a robot that resembles a human).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, Rubin used the nickname to name the software he was developing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, Android was intended to be a digital camera operating system, then the plan changed to the development of a mobile operating system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rubin, whose mind is always visionary, said that Android started from a simple idea, which is to provide a strong and open mobile platform so that it can encourage faster innovation for the benefit of customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures became an early proponent of Android development. However, Android development capital is apparently quite large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rubin and the entire Android team, which at that time numbered only eight people, finally racked their brains for funding. They all ended up flying to Seoul, South Korea to pitch Samsung’s Android idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The incident took place around 2005, at which time Samsung was already a major global mobile phone vendor. Rubin presented Android in front of 20 Samsung executives. Instead of being enthusiastic, the higher-ups were silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Long story short, Samsung rejected Rubin’s Android idea. About two weeks after his misfortune in Seoul, good news came and became a turning point for Android’s success to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In July 2005, Google then acquired Android after Page heard the idea of \u200b\u200bAndroid from Rubin in early 2005. After the acquisition, Android officially came under Google’s umbrella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like a match, at that time Google was also looking for a way to change the mobile industry. Page and Brin worried that Microsoft would be faster than them, and Rubin came at the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, Page had “fallen in love” with Rubin’s idea at a time when many thought it was “crazy”. This was revealed by Page when Rubin resigned from his position at Google in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google bought Android worth 50 million US dollars at the time, plus a number of incentives. In mid-2005, the entire small Android team was brought to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View. Rubin became senior vice president of mobile and digital content in charge of overseeing Android development. In 2007, Android was officially introduced commercially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under Google, Android is given great power. The giant company then formed the Open Handset Alliance to develop devices for Android. Android devices on the market are not made by Google, but other handset vendors such as Motorola, Samsung, and HTC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Withdraw From Google<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On October 31, 2014, Rubin announced his retirement from Google after nine years at the tech giant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The position of head of the Android operating system was finally filled by Sundar Pichai, who now serves as CEO of Google and Alphabet, Google’s parent company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a report by The Information, the love story and allegations of sexual harassment with a female colleague at Google were the reasons Rubin submitted his resignation. His female colleagues reportedly complained to resources about their relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The New York Times then conducted an investigation into the alleged sexual harassment and led to protests from Google employees after hearing news that Rubin had received $90 million in severance pay from Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Establishing Venture Capitalists And Essential<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A year after leaving Google, Rubin founded a venture capitalist company called Playground Global. Google became one of the investors of this company. Today, the Playground Global portfolio is growing, including Intel and Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2016, Rubin founded a startup called Essential. This start-up makes Android smartphones. In 2017, Essential released its first phone, the PH-1. Unfortunately, the market is not interested in the phone so the price drops very quickly. In 2019, Essential developed a new phone with a unique design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shape is similar to a television remote or cell phone that is cut in half. The phone is called “Project GEM” and is planned to be the second phone from Essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the development of Project GEM stagnated. In early 2020, Essential announced that it was closing its operations. Rubin’s career seemed to drag after leaving Google. Moreover, he was plagued by several personal problems that dragged him into the realm of law.<\/p>\n\r\n