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Google quits selling tablets

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Re: Google quits selling tablets

#91

Post by freedomben »

paulie_a wrote: post #88
shasheene wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung Chromebook Plus satisfies my needs for a tablet: mainly media consumption (web browsing, YouTube, reading long articles, and watching movies). 1. Incredibly nice screen 2. Gets security updates (ChromeOS devices are great for this compared to the dumpster fire that is Android security) 3. Haven't had any issues with Android support (I use mainly apps like RBDigital, Instapaper, Wikipedia) 4. Works well for mo…

2-5 seems surpring. Samsung rarely supports their products and constantly shits all over them with custom crapware.

That's one of the benefits of Chromebooks: there isn't really any way to install the custom crapware. On Android they are obviously not limited there and (ab)use it to a great extent. It's really too bad, because I love their hardware. Can't stand the software tho, so I buy elsewhere.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#92

Post by shasheene »

Bud wrote: post #75
shasheene wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung Chromebook Plus satisfies my needs for a tablet: mainly media consumption (web browsing, YouTube, reading long articles, and watching movies). 1. Incredibly nice screen 2. Gets security updates (ChromeOS devices are great for this compared to the dumpster fire that is Android security) 3. Haven't had any issues with Android support (I use mainly apps like RBDigital, Instapaper, Wikipedia) 4. Works well for mo…

Current iPad trounces the Samsung in all these categories (except Android support, of course), though, and costs less too. And has a better aspect ratio. And is much lighter.

I initially bought it only for laptop-mode (web-browsing and Google Docs). The keyboard and touchpad are pretty great. The tablet-mode has just been a convenient bonus for reading when laying down.

While I think it has the perfect form-factor for a laptop (thin, light and great battery life), it's not the perfect general-use laptop as it can't run arbitrary x86 applications natively, nor has high specs. (I hope Project Crostini will make it a suitable for some light dev work though). Its touchpad is great, and so is the Chromebook-style keyboard (small tweak I'd make would be a double-width backspace key, but I for sure prefer no Super key and no F1 to F12 row).

It may not the perfect tablet because as you say, iPad is lighter, and the ergonomics of a hinged hybrid will always be slightly worse with a keyboard on the back. But it does a really good job.

While arguably imperfect in isolation, together as a single unibody aluminum device, it is the best device I have ever used. For what it is, it's very very cheap, you're right it may be slightly more expensive than an iPad (and the price hasn't really fell since it came out a while ago).

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#93

Post by jbigelow76 »

esturk wrote: post #79
013a wrote: post #58

Microsoft seems like the only company that understands tablets right now. They should be more like computers, not more like phones. There's also a pretty great argument that given all of our phones are absolute powerhouses nowadays, phones should also be less like phones and more like computers. I'm hopeful Microsoft can also move to spur on this change; maybe soon the market will be ready for the return of Windows P…

It's only a matter of time for the convergence of phones and Dex like docking functionality. I'm actually surprised Google isn't exploring this area more because it will really kick up the versality of phones. I guess Google doesn't want phones to cannabalize their Chromebook marketshare.

I guess Google doesn't want phones to cannabalize their Chromebook marketshare.

Android, Chrome, and ChromeOS exist as channels for Google to deliver its services, they are not profit centers in and of themselves (no license fee for Android, Chrome is a free download, ChromeOS runs on the cheapest hardware out there). Google would have no qualms about gutting the ChromeOS market if whatever replaced it offered a better opportunity to get their services in front of more eyeballs.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#94

Post by MBCook »

zik wrote: post #74
Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #41

This is somewhat strange. I thought tablets killed the PC market. My wife is a primary school teacher and it's very difficult to teach children to use a mouse because they all have tablets at home. I know Android tablets haven't been selling well, but that's because people like me have been desperately waiting for a decent device to be released. iPads are absolutely everywhere. What's the proposed alternative for med…

Apple sued the heck out every other tablet company to help cement their lead. It worked. What's annoying is that history will remember Apple as having "invented" the tablet. Prior to apple they were a sufficiently big thing that even Microsoft had a Tablet PC standard. Sure, capacitive touch screens were a big step forward and made tablets truly usable. But it's not like Apple invented them either although they were…

I’d love to see a link substantiating that claim.

Apple his owned the high end of the tablet market since the day the iPad came out.

As of earlier this year, the price of a fantastic brand new iPad is down to $300.

Android tablets never seemed to get anywhere. My impression, having never use them, was that the software wasn’t quite ready at the start and by the time it was it was too late.

Amazon attacked the low-end with cheap and subsidized tablets, taking up anything Apple didn’t.

The only thing that seems to be left are the $80 things that you can buy at pharmacies and other places. Sure they run Android, but the version is ancient and the hardware is garbage.

So basically only Amazon and Apple seem to be left at any volume.

Windows tablets obviously never took off, despite the fact Microsoft has been trying forever. The only “success” they have is convertibles, which are really Windows computers with detachable keyboard. No one seems to use them as tablets from what I’ve seen.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#95

Post by shasheene »

komali2 wrote: post #48
shasheene wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung Chromebook Plus satisfies my needs for a tablet: mainly media consumption (web browsing, YouTube, reading long articles, and watching movies). 1. Incredibly nice screen 2. Gets security updates (ChromeOS devices are great for this compared to the dumpster fire that is Android security) 3. Haven't had any issues with Android support (I use mainly apps like RBDigital, Instapaper, Wikipedia) 4. Works well for mo…

>It also has a stylus which works well, but I've returned to paper exercise books for note taking. So, I'm very curious about this. Were you taking written notes on electronic devices? What apps and devices have you tried? I ask because a couple years ago I tried using a surface for taking notes when I got into a coding bootcamp and it was a mind blowing experience for me - finally, infinite paper space. Swapping bet…

I've played with using Google Keep (both the Chrome app and the Android app), Squid and Kami.

I haven't played around with any other devices' styluses.

I switched back to pen and paper because I usually want to continue to use my device with full-screen content while taking notes.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#96

Post by MBCook »

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.

I’m guessing it would absolutely never happened, but I would happily pay money for the ability to have my PS4 stream games to my Switch. Like the Vita.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#97

Post by paulie_a »

freedomben wrote: post #91
paulie_a wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2-5 seems surpring. Samsung rarely supports their products and constantly shits all over them with custom crapware.

That's one of the benefits of Chromebooks: there isn't really any way to install the custom crapware. On Android they are obviously not limited there and (ab)use it to a great extent. It's really too bad, because I love their hardware. Can't stand the software tho, so I buy elsewhere.

I love their hardware but I will never buy it again. It's disappointing that Google won't be making tables anymore. i really liked my Nexus 7. But Samsung is junk software wise in my opinion.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#98

Post by toast0 »

paulie_a wrote: post #88
shasheene wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung Chromebook Plus satisfies my needs for a tablet: mainly media consumption (web browsing, YouTube, reading long articles, and watching movies). 1. Incredibly nice screen 2. Gets security updates (ChromeOS devices are great for this compared to the dumpster fire that is Android security) 3. Haven't had any issues with Android support (I use mainly apps like RBDigital, Instapaper, Wikipedia) 4. Works well for mo…

2-5 seems surpring. Samsung rarely supports their products and constantly shits all over them with custom crapware.

Chromebooks have no room for manufacturer involvement with the software. Afaik, assuming based on public references, if you want to make a Chromebook, you use Google's reference design for the motherboard, pick a compatible CPU, design your own keyboard (but use a Google approved controller instead of a normal one), design your own case and pick a display, put everything together, use Google's firmware and use Google's ChromeOS build. OS updates come automatically from Google.

Perhaps it's slightly less rigid than it seems, but I've seen several Chromebooks and they all seem exactly the same. There's not even a manufacturer logo on boot.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#99

Post by eric-hu »

bitmapbrother wrote: post #87
013a wrote: post #58

Microsoft seems like the only company that understands tablets right now. They should be more like computers, not more like phones. There's also a pretty great argument that given all of our phones are absolute powerhouses nowadays, phones should also be less like phones and more like computers. I'm hopeful Microsoft can also move to spur on this change; maybe soon the market will be ready for the return of Windows P…

Microsoft understands tablets? According to this chart their tablets don't even register. https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held...

Am I missing something? The table for that chat shows only 3 companies and Microsoft isn't among them. That doesn't mean Microsoft tablet sales are insignificant in comparison.

Re: Google quits selling tablets

#100

Post by MBCook »

ovao wrote: post #24
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…

I think you’d be amazed how much faster a new iPad, the $300 one, is. Much like the iPhone 4 the first retina iPad was a bit slow at times because it had trouble dealing with all those pixels. The Air and Air two were each significant advances over that. Another big part of that is just how much more RAM they have these days.
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