A Google Tablet: Why the Android Community Needs It

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/A-Google-Tablet-10-Reasons-Why-the-Android-Community-Needs-It-570865/

by vmyy99 • 14 years ago

7 6 14 years ago

rogerbinns• 14 years ago

Not mentioned is the critical issue of pricing. Every manufacturer can and has made an expensive tablet. There are a boatload that are more expensive than Apple's offerings.

The widely held belief is that Amazon's $200 effort is sold a few dollars below cost. It is also fairly cheesy hardware and construction.

If Google make a cheap tablet it is also going to be a mediocre tablet. The pundits all write as though what will be produced with be both cheap and good quality/featured. I'll bet a cheap/mediocre device would actually end up benefiting Amazon (better "ecosystem" for the same price) and Apple (may as well spend $100 or so more and get quality).

It would be more interesting if Google had a range of 3 tablets in price and quality/functionality since the conversation then becomes which Google tablet to buy.

lukifer2• 14 years ago

Android doesn't need a Google tablet, it needs a great tablet, regardless of who makes it. And I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Android tablets aren't terrible. They're fast, usable, and some of them have real advantages over iPads. But they miss the point of the iPad market: making computing fun. In the hands of regular people, Android tablets feel heavy, clunky, techy, okay-I-guess. If they were significantly cheaper, people might not care, and buy the most affordable movie/game thing for the kids. But they're the same price, and often more.

And of course, that's aside from the mess that is the ecosystem. I don't think apps are a big deal to regular people, but games are, and so are books, movies and music. These things exist on Android, but both the selection and the experience can't compare to iTunes (which in my mind, should be a relatively low bar).

No one wants them to put out a really good tablet more than me. But the tablet market is incredibly different from the phone market, and neither Google nor its hardware partners seem to be chasing the right things.

bookwormAT• 14 years ago

I disagree here: There is nothing heavy, clunky or techy about Samsung's Galaxy Tab series. The devices are slim, light, durable and they look stunning. Android 4.0 also makes much more sense as a tablet operating system than iOS. IMHO of course.

The reason they do no sell any of these things is simply that consumers need a good reason why they should not buy the default that everyone else is buying.

The iPad has the mindshare of both consumers and developers, and making a tablet that is thinner than the ipad doesn't convince anyone to switch. Well, price does.

lukifer2• 14 years ago

Disclaimer: I've not held every Android tablet in my hands, so my opinion is based on general impressions of many non-Apple tablets. And I'm only talking about the bigger tablets; in the 7" space, Androids compete more with e-readers than the iPad.

I just checked, and I had no idea that the 10" Tabs beat the iPad on weight. If it wasn't for the fact that I prefer 4:3, I'd be strongly tempted. And credit where it's deserved: Android 3+ is much better at tailoring the environment to a tablet rather than being a modified smartphone OS.

Nonetheless, I can't really picture my mom using a Tab. That may be an unfair assumption, but that's part of my point: the Android ecosystem is not creating the right impression with its target market of people who are sick of their computing experience being computer-y. (And of course, the price issue is also huge for a luxury item like a tablet.)

nixle• 14 years ago

Kindle Fire <3

BlackShirt• 14 years ago

IMO, the issue is not the tablets themselves but the apps.

The thing Google should focus on, is promoting good apps, they're are currently doing some promoting (e.g. staff picks, top developer), but a developer's choice when it comes to this type of promoting is limited to hope. What they need is something like the Apple's approval system, but not to the extreme of "the app is either approved or denied". The developer can pay a fee to get his app reviewed (UX, performance, ...etc) and when "approved", it gets a symbol (check mark, star, whatever) and put on a category of "promoted" apps. This will probably encourage more developers to put more effort, and more users to trust more the quality of promoted apps.

A Google Tablet: Why the Android Community Needs It

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