So google openly partnered with iFixit, and one of the products in that lineup is made primarily of glue.
Yup, that feels about right.
The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
21–30 of 85 posts
Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
#22It's not empty space, it's deformation zones
Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
#23Pet peeve: these parts are not spare.
Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
#24Is the sparse interior really that strange, or just a result of components getting more compact and the screen remaining the same size?
I think when you design a new device from the ground up you make them fit in a way that allows the remaining space to be a single large rectangle to be entirely filled with battery. This might require custom PCB to have some L shapes. Instead it looks like they took pre-existing components from other devices such as Pixel phones or the Google Home and put them in a larger case.
Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
#25I'm a bit puzzled by the tone of the piece in that the author frames it as a critique yet also points out how much easier it is to repair. I was anticipating some literal 2.5" SSD-like empty husk.
It's really really bizarre when you look at a teardown of a competitor like the iPad Air and see a similar amount of empty space.
Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
#26Isn’t the reason for the empty space just because it’s a tablet — by which I mean that the dimensions are determined by a large screen? Phones are dense inside because they have to be small.
In most tablets the extra space is filled with more battery, better cooling, bigger speakers, SD card slot, more ports… lots of possibilities. Here’s what the inside of a 2020 iPad Air (10.9”) looks like for example. Still a little empty space, but much more full. https://i.ibb.co/hRKhPRP/IMG-2853.jpg
And an iPad Air costs between $600 and $800. If you want to hit a lower price point, it makes sense to just put less stuff inside. "The case isn't full" is not a metric that anyone should give a whit about, as long as the size of the case is determined by other factors (in this case, the dimensions of the screen).
Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
#27Isn’t the reason for the empty space just because it’s a tablet — by which I mean that the dimensions are determined by a large screen? Phones are dense inside because they have to be small.
I mean, if you have space left over you could just pack it with more battery? For example if we look at the iPad [0], there is some empty space inside, but mostly it's all battery. [0] https://youtu.be/uCYUZQGjm8I?si=D-fpaRSSCkbOdReo&t=75
the amount of stuff you cram in also affects the weight (as well as the price)
Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
#28I was strongly considering the Pixel Tablet to run it with grpahene os as a sort of secure terminal for banking, mail, some chat messengers. But the weird decision to include that useless speaker stand instead of a keyboard case and stylus and the price kept me off it. Seeing the insides shows that was a good decision. That is chinesium tablet level of design. I cannot fathom why Google is so unwilling to take the An…
They used to - back in the android 4 days there was strong competition and a number of flagship devices.
I’m assuming it’s somewhat of a chicken and egg combined with googles inability to invest in growing products. No one makes good android tablet apps, so there’s a no reason to make android tablets, so there’s no reason to invest in android tablet apps.
Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
#29Isn’t the reason for the empty space just because it’s a tablet — by which I mean that the dimensions are determined by a large screen? Phones are dense inside because they have to be small.
That's not what the inside of a good tablet looks like though right?
Well, no, but how would a good tablet bring them a large enough increase in ad revenue to make it worth the investment? That’s what the difference in business models naturally leads to, right? There’s no indication that Google is trying to change what kind of company they are, is there?
Re: The Pixel Tablet is just a few spare parts in a half-empty body
#30Isn’t the reason for the empty space just because it’s a tablet — by which I mean that the dimensions are determined by a large screen? Phones are dense inside because they have to be small.
That's not what the inside of a good tablet looks like though right?
This question strikes me as bizarre. What is the causal relationship between the goodness of a tablet and what its inside looks like?