You don't ignore the topic when your on an earnings call unless you want some really bad articles written. You could do like he did with the flash question ("we love flash memory") or you can give them some stats. The actual quotes (not the summarized crud in the article) were about on par with what was said about Apple at the last Google event.

The big take away from the call really wasn't Android versus iPhone, it was iPhone versus Blackberry. The "aw shucks" businesses are adopting iPhone / iPad all on their own without an Apple push is a pretty big shot at RIM. Add to that the whole 7" screen thing, it really looks like Apple is thinking of RIM customers as up for grabs.

I find it funny that a column called "Android Power" isn't talking about cool Android stuff. Seems like another "I need some page views" article.

Probably because everyone else seems to think that market share is so important. I'm not sure why. Look at Apple's current position as a minority PC vendor.

I think Steve is trying to make the point that the iOS ecosystem is huge, healthy, and a much larger play than a smartphone OS.

if the iPhone had infinite color models, he would probably highlight that every chance he had, but that doesn't make it a priority in their strategy. But of course if you are passing a company like RIM that represented the concept of smartphone for years, that's something you want to tell people about.