Hmmm...I read that story and immediately thought: dueling media relations dudes out to secure their profit margins and stock prices. Contrast that story with this one from today's Wall Street Journal, "In the Long Run, Apple Will 'Bow to Android Reality'."

Both articles make good points, but I couldn't help but think the Apple story sounded like bluster from the big dog on the block. As Apple CEO Tim Cook put it, "The next generation of Android tablets, which is what you discussed primarily at CES—there's nothing shipping yet…Generally they lack performance specs, they lack prices, they lack timing, and so today they're vapor." Well, all those things are dependent on one thing: cold, hard cash. Something Apple has in abundance that its small, mostly start-up competitors lack. Go figure.

The real story is which of those start-ups is managed well enough that it'll have the cash flow and relationships with its subcontractors to get to the finish line with its deliverables without alienating customers with unfilled promises. Apple can afford to be secretive until the last minute because it already has HUGE brand identity and core users by the millions. But if Android, which people are buying more of than iOS because its cheaper and has a wider array of products, can sustain its current growth even for a little while longer, it will assume the lead.

And then, as the professor said, "The open system has always won. Always.