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Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

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Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#701

Post by fma »

joezydeco wrote: post #126

“Google is now the seller of record of this phone,” And who is the servicer of broken phones? Is there a warranty? Can I get a customer service agent on a real voice line? Given Google's track record of hardware they could have answers for all of this and I still wouldn't own one.

I had an issue with my Chromecast and felt it was defective...yes, that little $25 device. I called up the support line, got an American (at least, someone with an American accent) and went through a few steps. I didn't have to twist their arm to send me a replacement or anything. It was resolved within 10 minutes (though I recall there was a wait).

I would hope they have the same support, or better, for their more expensive hardware.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#702

Post by vic20forever »

lumenwrites wrote: post #331

It blows my mind that there's not a single positive top level comment yet. Seriously, guys, what's up with the culture of entitlement and complaining? We're hackers, let's get fucking excited about the new cool gadgets! This phone is awesome . How about, before nitpicking and criticizing, we take a moment to appreciate and celebrate the new technology developed by our colleagues?

Okay, I'll appreciate and celebrate it, but at $649 with only 2 years of feature updates, I'm not going to buy it. I just don't make enough to afford shelling out this much money every two years.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#703

Post by hesarenu »

stouset wrote: post #694
julianpye wrote: post #354

Last week we tried to launch an Android-first app at a major startup conference with 5000 visitors. 95% of the visitors (startups, entrepreneurs, investors, executives) had iPhones. We later confirmed this by looking at the network stats and couldn't believe it. In a country where Android statistically has 80% marketshare. The Android users loved the product, but we failed because we couldn't generate word-of-mouth.…

Out of curiosity, why Android-first? Pretty much all the data indicated that iOS users will readily pay for apps and content, while far fewer Android owners do. Attribute this to whatever reason you want, but it seems foolish to chase after a market that costs more to develop for (due to fragmentation), more to maintain for (due to ancient versions of Android), and won't actually net you as much revenue.

You need to target based on you end customers. In my country more then 90% users are on Android. So going Android first is no brainer. We recently launched a App using react native, getting positive reviews.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#704

Post by coldtea »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #532
reacharavindh wrote: post #525

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is a matter of personal taste. I personally don't like the material design. I enjoy the thin typography and design of iOS, and finding myself enjoying the experience of "Messages" in iOS at the moment. The "tapback" feature letting me heart/thumbs up some message is elegantly done IMO. And the knowledge that the receiver is also getting it the way I intended is great.

Design is not a matter of personal taste. It either achieves the goals of the designer or it doesn't. It can be evaluated on a purely objective basis. You're talking about style, which is about expression more than outcomes, and is received in a very personal way. When someone reacts so negatively to material design that they won't use it, that is a failure. There's no matter of opinion there. The purpose of the desi…

>Design is not a matter of personal taste. It either achieves the goals of the designer or it doesn't. It can be evaluated on a purely objective basis.

No it cannot. First, because nobody cares about the goals of the designer -- it's all about the goals and satisfaction of the users.

(E.g. if the designer is in love with themselves and find everything they do great, then any crap design they've made that they're fine with, can be said to "satisfy their goals" and by this logic is "objectively good").

If you meant "satisfies the designer's stated goals when it comes to actual use" (e.g. make the UI intuitive, convenient, powerful, etc") then notice how all those words are still subjective, and the various hard objective design laws (Fitts law, etc) are not enough to cover the entirety of a design.

And of course all those are about the UX. A design can have great UX but still look like crap in the aesthetics department -- and this is also quite subjective.

>When someone reacts so negatively to material design that they won't use it, that is a failure. There's no matter of opinion there.

That's (someone's rejection) is the definition of subjective though.

So much for "design success is objective". If you meant "refusal to use can be objectively measured" sure, but that doesn't say much about the design.

Said person could be a bizarro outlier that prefers some way worse design for example.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#705

Post by coldtea »

r00fus wrote: post #566
erikpukinskis wrote: post #532

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Design is not a matter of personal taste. It either achieves the goals of the designer or it doesn't. It can be evaluated on a purely objective basis. You're talking about style, which is about expression more than outcomes, and is received in a very personal way. When someone reacts so negatively to material design that they won't use it, that is a failure. There's no matter of opinion there. The purpose of the desi…

Sounds like you're describing Art more than Design. I would agree that I don't prefer Material design. It feels, to me, too much of a lowest-common-denominator. While I wouldn't use it, if I feel frustrated or find usage unpalatable, that to me is an indicator of inferior design.

>Sounds like you're describing Art more than Design.

And even at that, parent goes for a controversial, "if it fits the goals of the artist it is fine" view of art, which is hardly some universally accepted standard for art.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#706

Post by sjwright »

jolux wrote: post #547
richev wrote: post #508

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy to do != easy to discover

How is it not easy to discover? You flip the switch, the phone buzzes and shows you what happened. It's one of the few buttons on the phone, it's not like it's hard to find. Not to mention contextually it's right next to the volume buttons which is where it should be.

(Not to mention that the mute switch has been consistently implemented on 100% of iPhones since the first model in 2007...)

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#707

Post by zippergz »

Paul-ish wrote: post #316
zippergz wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even when price is no concern to me, I am pretty picky about the exact arrangements. Which seats at the concert? Which restaurant, what reservation time? Which airline and seat on the plane (for the also common travel example)? Etc. Yeah, I'm busy, and I book this kind of stuff all the time. But I don't trust an automated system to arrange things the way I like them. With a human assistant, they quickly learn my pref…

I think Google would love to learn, then serve, your preferences in all these areas. I would find that creepy though.

I'm less worried about the creepy factor, and more about the nuance that I think would be hard to encapsulate in a user profile. There are a lot of complex factors that go into a decision. It can't be boiled down to "I always want to fly United, and I must have an aisle seat." Or "Italian is my favorite kind of food." There are a ton of other factors that go into the decisions, and those factors may change day to day. One day I might choose a different airline than usual because they have a nonstop flight. The next day, I might decide to stick with my primary airline despite two connections because I need the miles. When I choose restaurants, I often like to skim the yelp reviews -- not choosing solely on star rating or cuisine, but on the comments. I don't know how a virtual assistant could navigate this kind of stuff, even with tons of data about me.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#708

Post by hesarenu »

archiepeach wrote: post #186
pasbesoin wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't heard/read about this aspect, yet. Pixels are more locked down?

One of the things that makes a phone developer-friendly is how accessible it is from a price perspective, i.e. not a £599 price tag.

In India you can get a Marshmallow devices for low as $100. Performance is acceptable for the price.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#710

Post by vic20forever »

pcurve wrote: post #668
LandoCalrissian wrote: post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's really weak.

It's weak but i think it's probably there to cover their ass. In reality, support will probably continue for much longer period.

Nexus 5:

- First released: October 31, 2013

- Last feature update: Marshmallow: October 5, 2015

- Last security update:

According to Google[1]: Nexus devices get security patches for at least 3 years from when the device first became available, or at least 18 months from when the Google Store last sold the device, whichever is longer.

So, worst case scenario: October 2016 is the last security patch. We might get more, depending on when the Google Store last sold the Nexus 5, but I don't know when that was.

[1] https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705#nexus_device...

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