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

#91

Post by ralmidani » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:22 PM UTC

I used a Samsung Chromebook 2 (Exynos processor, 4GB RAM, 13 in. screen) as my primary laptop for a couple years. It was fast and quiet, but getting GNU/Linux running via Crouton meant jumping through hoops every time it powered off and back on.

I now use a Macbook, and really wonder why any developer would buy a Pixelbook vs. a Macbook. If you want to run GNU/Linux, you can install a VM, and otherwise you still have a functional OS.

Edit: I see the value proposition in $200-300 Chromebooks. I'm specifically puzzled by the Pixelbook, which starts at $999 (not much less expensive than a new Macbook Air).

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

#92

Post by nindalf » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:24 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…

They bought Android at a time when it had 0% market share. They changed direction significantly after the acquisition and grew from 0% to 80% over half a decade and then maintained that position. It was not a foregone conclusion that Android would be dominant after it was acquired. Also, it takes effort and skill to maintain your position in a competitive market, which they've managed for half a decade more.

People seriously underestimate how difficult it is to succeed and continue to succeed.

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

#93

Post by mikepurvis » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:24 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 bought Android 13 years ago, for a reported $50M. The kinds of hardware it runs on and its overall strategy have both evolved massively since then. I think at this point it's a big disingenuous to dismissively say that Android was just an acquisition.

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

#94

Post by jpm_sd » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:26 PM UTC

robocat wrote: post #87

Please build me a Linux laptop for software engineering, Google. For engineers only. No software support beyond ensuring the BIOS and the drivers work and are updated. I hate Dell, but I got a Dell XPS 15 because it was the only laptop I knew would: boot Linux reliably; last two Ubuntu LTS upgrades (4 years); have a high spec (i9 etc); and was reasonably priced (Apple tax was 50% higher for worse hardware). Is it imp…

I have used a few different system76 laptops with Ubuntu LTS pre-installed (you can opt-out of Pop!OS, whatever that is!). They've been just fine for my purposes.

https://system76.com/laptops

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

#95

Post by cletus » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:28 PM UTC

robocat wrote: post #87

Please build me a Linux laptop for software engineering, Google. For engineers only. No software support beyond ensuring the BIOS and the drivers work and are updated. I hate Dell, but I got a Dell XPS 15 because it was the only laptop I knew would: boot Linux reliably; last two Ubuntu LTS upgrades (4 years); have a high spec (i9 etc); and was reasonably priced (Apple tax was 50% higher for worse hardware). Is it imp…

I'm not sure I understand what your issue with the Dell is. I mean I have a Dell XPS 15. It's... fine, I guess.

As for the so-called "Apple tax", I just don't buy into this. I mean I miss the glory days of the 2011-2012 Macbook Airs. These were so cheaply priced they destroyed the competition because no one could produce a similar spec laptop at that price point. But then the numbers men decided dropping the average ASP for Macbooks was "bad" so they had to invent new features nobody needed or wanted to drive up the cost (Touchbar being the poster child) but for the hardware you get, it's actually pretty good. Or it was.

> Is it impossible to make a laptop better than Dell or Apple?

It's clearly not trivial.

> Google: how much goodwill would you receive through developer love?

Based on the bubble that is HN the answer is clearly "absolutely none". Just look at Chrome adding DDG as a search engine option. Where in that thread do you see people saying "this is great"? No, the top comments are littered with theories about how this is just an effort to avoid antitrust or other such ulterior motives.

I guarantee you that if Google produced the laptop that you and 22 other people would buy you'd hear nothing but complaints about it.

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

#96

Post by mav3rick » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:29 PM UTC

robocat wrote: post #87

Please build me a Linux laptop for software engineering, Google. For engineers only. No software support beyond ensuring the BIOS and the drivers work and are updated. I hate Dell, but I got a Dell XPS 15 because it was the only laptop I knew would: boot Linux reliably; last two Ubuntu LTS upgrades (4 years); have a high spec (i9 etc); and was reasonably priced (Apple tax was 50% higher for worse hardware). Is it imp…

Hey most Intel Chromebooks now support Crostini i.e. you can run native Linux programs . It runs in a VM under the hood and it's well integrated with the outside OS. Give it a shot.

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

#97

Post by izzydata » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:33 PM UTC

Who do I have to kill to get a Nexus 7 (2020) model?

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

#98

Post by scarface74 » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:35 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #59

scarface74 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> How would Android be called a successful strategy? The monopoly that Apple does not have on smartphones as a whole, and the consequent constraints on its ability to dictate the functionality of the mobile web, to capture mobile web and app advertising revenue, etc. That 's the success of Android.

Apple would never have had a monopoly selling $700 phones and Apple would never sell low margin $225 phones (the average selling price of Android phone). If anything MS would have been more successful.

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

#99

Post by danharaj » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:35 PM UTC

robocat wrote: post #87

Please build me a Linux laptop for software engineering, Google. For engineers only. No software support beyond ensuring the BIOS and the drivers work and are updated. I hate Dell, but I got a Dell XPS 15 because it was the only laptop I knew would: boot Linux reliably; last two Ubuntu LTS upgrades (4 years); have a high spec (i9 etc); and was reasonably priced (Apple tax was 50% higher for worse hardware). Is it imp…

I've had good luck with the HP zbook studio line. The latest g5 version is quite polished and high end.

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

#100

Post by snazz » Wed, Mar 13, 2019, 8:36 PM UTC

robocat wrote: post #87

Please build me a Linux laptop for software engineering, Google. For engineers only. No software support beyond ensuring the BIOS and the drivers work and are updated. I hate Dell, but I got a Dell XPS 15 because it was the only laptop I knew would: boot Linux reliably; last two Ubuntu LTS upgrades (4 years); have a high spec (i9 etc); and was reasonably priced (Apple tax was 50% higher for worse hardware). Is it imp…

Do you need a fast laptop? No one I know actually does (although I’m sure some people do). Text editing and web browsing don’t require much horsepower. In my opinion, compiling shouldn’t happen on a laptop in the first place: this is why one of my friends has a mega-sized server than he just runs builds and trains ML models on.

An old laptop will run any Linux distro flawlessly and be equally snappy (as in, low-latency disk reads, fast boot times, many applications open) as a current-gen one if you put in a fast SSD and max out the RAM.

I know that this topic is controversial, but it strikes me as odd how many people seem to equate software engineering with a monster laptop, when many of us get lots of work done on smaller, less beefy client devices, offloading the real heavy lifting to a machine that can handle it.