Gardiner, Bryan.  "Google's Latest Efforts Test the Open Waters."  Wired.com.  November 9, 2007.

This article discusses Google's forrays into arena of open source technology and places them within the context of past open source endeavors by other companies.  The most revelatory aspect of this article is the emphasis on the fact that open source technologies are not unfamiliar territory for media companies.  In fact, the article describes Google's strategy with Android as a "classic move," that is, a big company taking on a collaborative project in a market where it has little presence.  While, in the short term, it may seem Google has little to gain by partnering with Android, there could be huge gains in the long term.  The best case scenario for Google would be dominance in the mobile market, which is currently up for grabs.

Although Google hasn't won over Verizon or AT&T, and it has some stiff competition from companies like Microsoft over domination of the mobile market, the article notes that networks would benefit from partnering with Google, since Google is known to drive data usage rates, which could in turn lead to more money for networks.  Ultimately, the success or failure of Android will not be evident in the short run, since domination of the mobile market is likely to be a long process.  However, even if Android does ultimately fail, it will still likely cause mobile web technology to evolve, and any impovement to mobile internet surfing is a boon for Google, meaning Google's investment in Android is essentially a win-win situation for the company.