Google quits selling tablets • Hacker News Board

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#21

Post by freehunter » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:33 AM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #9

> ... few people see any reason to upgrade a device that was originally sold for its simplicity and ease of use, not its specs. I, for one, have been using the third-gen (1st Retina) iPad since its release approximately 500 years ago and have never felt any compulsion whatsoever to get a new one. This seems a little weird to me. Don't tablets age in a similar way that smartphones age? As in, the battery gets weaker o…

>Don't tablets age in a similar way that smartphones age

Funny enough, although iPhones have a new "battery health" screen to show you if you're being throttled due to a weak battery, the iPad doesn't have this. The reason I've heard is because the iPad battery is so massive (it's basically last year's iPhone with a 10" battery strapped to it), the battery always has enough juice to not have to throttle during a spike in CPU load.

That may explain why iPads still feel relatively snappy compared to phones over the years.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#22

Post by jxdxbx » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:38 AM UTC

In think 8” tablets are a good form factor for content consumption (ebooks, movies, some games) but Android tablets always fall short even then. You need a good screen, especially for text. The 2015 iPad Mini 4 is still much better than any similarly-sized Android tablet.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#23

Post by the_snooze » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:38 AM UTC

drak0n1c wrote: post #17

zdw wrote: post #11

The mid level tablet market died in a race to the bottom. Looking on aliexpress or taobao, you'll find dozens upon dozens of cheap tablets with CPU's from allwinner or rockchip, a few gigs of ram/flash and a not that great 8-10" screen for Completing against these are a few Samsung models that have their highly customized variant of Android, and Apple holding the premium ground with iOS/HW quality/price/performance,…

Apple's newest full form-factor iPad is only $300, and often is available on sale for ~$270. I think that's made a big difference.

I picked up one of those iPads at ~$270 with an academic discount, and it's a solid machine. Great battery life, good screen, enough space for a couple Netflix movies on flights. It doesn't feel cheap or compromised at all.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#24

Post by ovao » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:38 AM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #9

> ... few people see any reason to upgrade a device that was originally sold for its simplicity and ease of use, not its specs. I, for one, have been using the third-gen (1st Retina) iPad since its release approximately 500 years ago and have never felt any compulsion whatsoever to get a new one. This seems a little weird to me. Don't tablets age in a similar way that smartphones age? As in, the battery gets weaker o…

I have the same model iPad as the author. Mine is pretty much dog slow at even relatively simple things now, but it still works, and I rarely mind waiting for it to trudge through things. I’d like to replace it at some point, but even at $200 or $300, the value proposition for an upgrade is still too low.

The iPad starts out with such good battery life that even if its capacity decreases by half over its service life, that’s still ~5 hours. Good enough to survive a cross-country flight is, well, good enough.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#25

Post by ygmelnikova » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:40 AM UTC

Google sold tablets?

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#26

Post by megablast » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:41 AM UTC

jxdxbx wrote: post #22

In think 8” tablets are a good form factor for content consumption (ebooks, movies, some games) but Android tablets always fall short even then. You need a good screen, especially for text. The 2015 iPad Mini 4 is still much better than any similarly-sized Android tablet.

And unfortunately looks like it will be Apple's last in that form factor.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#27

Post by duxup » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:42 AM UTC

My Chromebook that runs Android apps has replaced any need for a tablet for me. It is lighter than my bug laptop but still can get a lot done and if I want I fold it into tablet mode and I'm set.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#28

Post by vidarh » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:42 AM UTC

zdw wrote: post #11

The mid level tablet market died in a race to the bottom. Looking on aliexpress or taobao, you'll find dozens upon dozens of cheap tablets with CPU's from allwinner or rockchip, a few gigs of ram/flash and a not that great 8-10" screen for Completing against these are a few Samsung models that have their highly customized variant of Android, and Apple holding the premium ground with iOS/HW quality/price/performance,…

> At higher price points you can get a chromebook with a keyboard and arguable more functionality.

Alternatively at the (note that I would consider any of these usable as a replacement for a proper laptop - I use mine as a "I can't bother carrying my big and heavy 17" laptop to this meeting" option)

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#29

Post by kbenson » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:51 AM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #18

crooked-v wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I understand, the Nintendo Switch is pretty much a (newer) Shield reference system implementation with a different OS. There's also a working exploit to run Ubuntu on the Switch right now: https://gbatemp.net/threads/quick-tuto-how-to-boot-linux-on-...

I would love to be able to stream games from my PC onto my Switch like you could with the Shield. It's just such a convenient system to play.

Steam link would be a pretty cool app to have on the switch. Unfortunately, I doubt that will ever happen, since it would undercut a lot of Nintendo's control of the system.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#30

Post by cwyers » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 1:54 AM UTC

vidarh wrote: post #28

zdw wrote: post #11

The mid level tablet market died in a race to the bottom. Looking on aliexpress or taobao, you'll find dozens upon dozens of cheap tablets with CPU's from allwinner or rockchip, a few gigs of ram/flash and a not that great 8-10" screen for Completing against these are a few Samsung models that have their highly customized variant of Android, and Apple holding the premium ground with iOS/HW quality/price/performance,…

> At higher price points you can get a chromebook with a keyboard and arguable more functionality. Alternatively at the (note that I would consider any of these usable as a replacement for a proper laptop - I use mine as a "I can't bother carrying my big and heavy 17" laptop to this meeting" option)

I have an RCA tablet that's Windows-only, with a detachable keyboard (although one of dubious value) that I got at Wal-mart for $80. Wrote this post on it, in fact. It is a shitty computer, but it's an incredible amount of computer for $80.