Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#41

Post by bilal4hmed » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 5:58 PM UTC

s3r3nity wrote: post #30

sequence7 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only thing they have going for them is: * They have the most popular operating system in the world * They have the most popular browser in the world * They have the most popular search engine in the world * They have the most popular advertising network in the world * They have the most popular video platform in the world * They have the most popular mapping software in the world * They have the third most popula…

Some devil's advocate: 1) They bought Android - they didn't build it in-house. 2) They bought Double Click - they didn't build it in-house 3) They bought YouTube- they didn't build it in-house 4) Third most popular cloud platform is a bit disingenuous; it's like saying Apple Maps is a top mapping platform: sure, you're kind of right, but the gap at the top is fairly wide. (You might even make the case that the best p…

Google Photos ?

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#42

Post by freehunter » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 6:03 PM UTC

howard941 wrote: post #39

freehunter wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I figured they would do with Motorola, especially with the move to Alphabet. On the other hand, if it's under another brand name people may not associate it with "first party". When the Nexus line came out, one of the big selling features was "Android straight from Google themselves". If it was from Motorola, it'd be "Android straight from Google themselves because Google owns Motorola so hopefully their…

Does Alphabet still own any visible bits of Motorola? My phone claims to be Motorola, by Lenovo, complete with broken Bluetooth LE support....

Alphabet sold Motorola to Lenovo a few years ago after doing really nothing productive with them.

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#43

Post by remir » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 6:06 PM UTC

In the grand scheme of things, I think it is a good thing that Google, or any other big tech company, isn't dominating every product category.

Think about it: Google is dominating search and online advertising, they have the most popular web browser in the world, the most used mobile OS in the world, they have Youtube, Maps, Gmail, Chromebooks.

Now imagine if they also ruled messaging, social media, had the most used laptops and tablet in the world, were dominating on cloud, etc...

I cannot see that as being a good thing for consumer.

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#44

Post by trhway » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 6:08 PM UTC

eikenberry wrote: post #40

s3r3nity wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not an Apple fan-person by any means, but Steve Jobs had a Product philosophy that stuck with me many years after he described it: You can't start with a cool technology and build a product / user experience around it; you have to start with a vision of a coherent user experience, and build the technology around _that_. I think that's my biggest frustration with Google: they have interesting and really cool tech…

I think Google is bad at taking this advice because their original big success was a cool technology that they built a product / user experience around (their search tech).

> their original big success was a cool technology that they built a product / user experience around (their search tech).

i think it is other way around - they significantly improved existing pain point of bad web search user experience by applying and implementing what in its core is citation analysis that had long been used in academia. The other successes also seem to start with a task or need at hand not with a cool tech - while Android may have started as a vision, its purchase was a result of the need for mobile OS, Youtube guy wanted a place to publish videos, Chrome originating from Webkit is definitely not a cool tech, more like Google didn't have enough strength/balls to go with Mozilla while having pressing need for a browser to control, Maps and GMail were significant improvement upon existing user experience, while in contrast Google Wave for example was cool tech for completely new, from scratch user experience.

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#45

Post by abrowne » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 6:13 PM UTC

Any impact on Fuchsia, I wonder? Or a much more short-term change?

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#46

Post by akhilcacharya » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

rtkwe wrote: post #38

akhilcacharya wrote: post #33

The way I see it the only good pieces of Google Hardware are the Chromecasts (which are absolutely amazing devices, might be near perfection in terms of simplicity and price) and the Google Home (though that's still 2nd in the smart speaker market). Everything else is either niche (Google WiFi, which I forgot existed even as a techie) or a hanger on (Nest).

The Pixel/Nexus phones have been my only phone for the last several years. I'd put them on the good list too just for giving a good phone without having to use Samsung's OS and avoid their attempt to force Bixby on the world.

I loved my Nexus 5... but the pixels have been incredibly disappointing in all respects save for the camera.

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#47

Post by c256 » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 6:30 PM UTC

drdeadringer wrote: post #23

I may be soon in the market for a new Android tablet. Does anybody have suggestions?

Wait.

As near as I can tell from the outside, there aren’t any good Android tablet options, and the problems are baked into the OS at a fairly deep level — deep enough that OEMs can’t really address them, and Google hasn’t shown any recent signs of being to do so either. (For example, read any review of the Pixel Slate).

If you already have a software/app/etc niche you like, I hear the new Samsung tablets are decent (not ‘good’) and not too expensive.

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#48

Post by scarface74 » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 6:32 PM UTC

xrd wrote: post #14

burtonator wrote: post #3

Google can't seem to do anything right anymore. They're last place in cloud. They don't have a good search API product to compete with Algolia/Elasticsearch. They can't release new products. Can't build new hardware. The only things they have going for them are Youtube, Google (the search engine), Android, Chrome,... Basically everything they did 10 years ago. Even Android + Youtube were acquisitions. Another good ex…

So, Google makes (specifically subcontracts out) the Pixel (but it is their branded device). It definitely is not the most popular Android phone out there. Google makes the Pixelbook. It is definitely not the "best" laptop when you consider less expensive alternatives, and it is not the best seller. But, Android would be called a successful strategy. And, Chromebooks would be called a successful strategy. What I'm tr…

How would Android be called a successful strategy? It came out during the Oracle trial that Android has only made Google $38 billion during its entire existence - less than what the iPhone has made Apple during its last quarter.

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#49

Post by Marsymars » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 6:32 PM UTC

rtkwe wrote: post #38

akhilcacharya wrote: post #33

The way I see it the only good pieces of Google Hardware are the Chromecasts (which are absolutely amazing devices, might be near perfection in terms of simplicity and price) and the Google Home (though that's still 2nd in the smart speaker market). Everything else is either niche (Google WiFi, which I forgot existed even as a techie) or a hanger on (Nest).

The Pixel/Nexus phones have been my only phone for the last several years. I'd put them on the good list too just for giving a good phone without having to use Samsung's OS and avoid their attempt to force Bixby on the world.

I do wish they'd give their Nexus/Pixel devices some longer support periods though.

The Lumia 950 was released at the same time as the Nexus 5X, and despite Windows 10 Mobile being dead, is receiving security updates for a full year longer than the Nexus.

Re: Google Hardware makes cuts to laptop and tablet development, cancels products

#50

Post by Marsymars » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 6:35 PM UTC

drdeadringer wrote: post #23

I may be soon in the market for a new Android tablet. Does anybody have suggestions?

I gave up and got an iPad.

I have a Fire HD 10 tablet that I use for international travel without personal data, but Fire OS is pretty unpleasant and I was hoping to replace it with a new Pixel laptop from Google. Not sure what I'll being doing about that now. (Also, I expect the number of people cross-shopping Fire tablets and Pixelbooks is vanishingly small.)