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They never figured out how to build on the Nexus 7's success and momentum

by sylens 7y ago

billsix 7y ago
As an Android user, I liked my Nexus 7 at the time, but I received security updates for a year or two max, and then never bought an Android tablet again because of it.
- henryfjordan 7y ago
  Google is pretty good about announcing security update support up front so you can make that decision at least. I think the Nexus/Pixel phones are generally 2 years of updates, 3 for security. Maybe a little short if you're optimistic about how long you'll keep the device but that's better than most manufacturers being late or inconsistent about updates.
  - pgeorgi 7y ago
    To be fair, this policy (pre-planning and announcing update timeframes) only really started after Nexus 7 for Google Android devices.
- neilv 7y ago
  Would you like to help polish GNU/Linux with mainline kernel and open source drivers on that Nexus 7? If it's a 2013 WiFi version (a mostly great device): https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Google_Nexus_7_2013_(asus-flo) https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Google_Nexus_7_2013_(asus...
- askvictor 7y ago
  There was also the fact it's memory (I think it was flash memory) got really slow after a year or two. Like unusably slow. That's probably how they got it so cheap, to try to showcase and build momentum, but after two years (from both hardware and software POV), it's useless. I still have some iPad 2's floating around, which have the same issue, albeit on a longer scale. Can no longer update the OS, most new apps won't install as they target a different OS, it _seems_ to be getting more sluggish over time (though there was a clear performance drop between two of the major OS versions - I think it was 6 to 7). It's a shame as it's still a useful and nice piece of hardware.
notatoad 7y ago
There's plenty of clever people at google, i'm sure at least one of them figured out that people will buy things if they're both good and cheap. Google made a decision to stop selling cheap tablets.
simula67 7y ago
I think it was just to showcase Android on tablets.
robin_reala 7y ago
My company at the time gave every staff member a Nexus 7. There was a ~50% failure rate after a year. Not a bad machine apart from that, but it soured me on Google hardware for the next half s decade.
- CannisterFlux 7y ago
  Not on the same scale but I had my Nexus 7 replaced twice due to failure while under warranty, then the 3rd time it failed shortly after the warranty ran out. They all failed the same way, just refused to charge any more.

They never figured out how to build on the Nexus 7's success and momentum

by sylens 7y ago

They never figured out how to build on the Nexus 7's success and momentum

As an Android user, I liked my Nexus 7 at the time, but I received security updates for a year or two max, and then never bought an Android tablet again because of it.

henryfjordan 7y ago
Google is pretty good about announcing security update support up front so you can make that decision at least. I think the Nexus/Pixel phones are generally 2 years of updates, 3 for security. Maybe a little short if you're optimistic about how long you'll keep the device but that's better than most manufacturers being late or inconsistent about updates.
- pgeorgi 7y ago
  To be fair, this policy (pre-planning and announcing update timeframes) only really started after Nexus 7 for Google Android devices.
neilv 7y ago
Would you like to help polish GNU/Linux with mainline kernel and open source drivers on that Nexus 7? If it's a 2013 WiFi version (a mostly great device): https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Google_Nexus_7_2013_(asus-flo) https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Google_Nexus_7_2013_(asus...
askvictor 7y ago
There was also the fact it's memory (I think it was flash memory) got really slow after a year or two. Like unusably slow. That's probably how they got it so cheap, to try to showcase and build momentum, but after two years (from both hardware and software POV), it's useless. I still have some iPad 2's floating around, which have the same issue, albeit on a longer scale. Can no longer update the OS, most new apps won't install as they target a different OS, it _seems_ to be getting more sluggish over time (though there was a clear performance drop between two of the major OS versions - I think it was 6 to 7). It's a shame as it's still a useful and nice piece of hardware.

notatoad 7y ago

There's plenty of clever people at google, i'm sure at least one of them figured out that people will buy things if they're both good and cheap. Google made a decision to stop selling cheap tablets.

simula67 7y ago

I think it was just to showcase Android on tablets.

robin_reala 7y ago

My company at the time gave every staff member a Nexus 7. There was a ~50% failure rate after a year. Not a bad machine apart from that, but it soured me on Google hardware for the next half s decade.

CannisterFlux 7y ago
Not on the same scale but I had my Nexus 7 replaced twice due to failure while under warranty, then the 3rd time it failed shortly after the warranty ran out. They all failed the same way, just refused to charge any more.