3 ms·

there was a nexus 4 debacle? [EDIT: the HN headline has now been changed, so my comment seems a bit odd now, but the article headline, and the original HN head

there was a nexus 4 debacle? [EDIT: the HN headline has now been changed, so my comment seems a bit odd now, but the article headline, and the original HN headline, is/was "What Will Google Learn From the Nexus 4 Debacle?"]

thematt 14y ago
Did you try to buy one?
- 3825 14y ago
  I would love to buy one. To be honest, I was skeptical but I think I have become more resolved in getting a nexus 4 now that it is out of stock.
- snogglethorpe 14y ago
  Naw, the nexus 4 is way too big for my tastes. Still, lots of people were talking about it very approvingly and all it seemed to get was good press... I never got any sense of a "debacle". Apple Maps, now there's a debacle... :]
  - peeters 14y ago
    I would very much call their handling of its initial release a debacle...but one of those problems that every company would love to have. My experience: got on the notification list for the phone and started counting down the days. Go on at 00:01 GMT the day it's to be released; it's not for sale. Go on at 00:01 EST the day it's to be released; it's not for sale. Check again in the morning; nothing. I check at 11:35 EST (apparently 5 minutes after it arbitrarily goes on sale) and try for 20 solid minutes to buy one. Problem after problem after problem with the Play store (it pretty much fell over). When I finally get through, I notice my order has silently had the device removed from my cart, and realize it's sold out. I give up. 6 hours later I find out that people had randomly been getting success throughout the entire day, just by dumb luck. But now it's really really sold out. No communication from Google as to what was happening (still hasn't been any official word). Now I can't even count down the weeks, because honestly nobody has a clue when more inventory is coming. So yeah, just a monumental case of "let's shit on our customers because we have too many of them." I don't find this fun Google. Just let me order the damn thing and ship it to me when you've got it.
alanctgardner2 14y ago
As someone who ended up on the three-week backorder list, there was quite a debacle. Mostly around Google's inability to communicate, both internally and externally. Their staff is inconsistent at best about anything beyond toeing the party line, which is "they'll ship when they ship". Because they aren't communicating with backordered users, and they're not providing any way to pre-order, they've completely blown this holiday shopping season (just as the article predicts). The Apple way through this would be to berate us for being impatient, but at least they'd be talking. And they'd certainly be taking emails and cash now for phones later.
- jacquesm 14y ago
  > Mostly around Google's inability to communicate, both internally and externally. What else is new? Google communicates more on HN with its users than anywhere else... To the point where if you have a serious problem with google you are more likely to reach adequate support by posting a rant here than by going through the normal channels. Google just simply doesn't get support. I doubt they ever will. So you approach them like the weather: use what's good, ignore what's bad, forget about interacting with it in a way that will change it. Whatever falls out of the sky that is worth it for you you can use, but you can never count on it and you can't expect to complain when it does not work in a way that it will get resolved to your satisfaction.
- micampe 14y ago
  > The Apple way through this would be to berate us for being impatient, but at least they'd be talking. And they'd certainly be taking emails and cash now for phones later. When you order something from Apple you get charged only when it ships.
  - alanctgardner2 14y ago
    Yes, but you capture credit card information. Google has restricted their runway of guaranteed sales to the end of the month. Once they charge everyone on backorder's credit card, then they need to go through another cataclysmic round of sales. Rather than keeping the system open, giving realistic estimates and letting people hand over credit card details ahead of time.
davros 14y ago
Sold out immediately - not ideal but not a debacle. Missed black friday sales opportunity losing all momentum - that's pretty bad. But zero communication from Google and no additional product nearly a month after launch - that's a debacle. If phones don't start flowing very soon, they will also miss the christmas gift market. A real pity, such a well-priced quality phone could have really set a new benchmark.
laureny 14y ago
> there was a nexus 4 debacle? If the iPhone sells out on the day it's released, it's a triumph. If the same thing happens to a Google phone, it's a debacle.
- wtracy 14y ago
  The "debacle" is in the way the back orders were handled, not in the fact that it sold out in the first place.

thematt 14y ago

Did you try to buy one?

3825 14y ago
I would love to buy one. To be honest, I was skeptical but I think I have become more resolved in getting a nexus 4 now that it is out of stock.
snogglethorpe 14y ago
Naw, the nexus 4 is way too big for my tastes. Still, lots of people were talking about it very approvingly and all it seemed to get was good press... I never got any sense of a "debacle". Apple Maps, now there's a debacle... :]
- peeters 14y ago
  I would very much call their handling of its initial release a debacle...but one of those problems that every company would love to have. My experience: got on the notification list for the phone and started counting down the days. Go on at 00:01 GMT the day it's to be released; it's not for sale. Go on at 00:01 EST the day it's to be released; it's not for sale. Check again in the morning; nothing. I check at 11:35 EST (apparently 5 minutes after it arbitrarily goes on sale) and try for 20 solid minutes to buy one. Problem after problem after problem with the Play store (it pretty much fell over). When I finally get through, I notice my order has silently had the device removed from my cart, and realize it's sold out. I give up. 6 hours later I find out that people had randomly been getting success throughout the entire day, just by dumb luck. But now it's really really sold out. No communication from Google as to what was happening (still hasn't been any official word). Now I can't even count down the weeks, because honestly nobody has a clue when more inventory is coming. So yeah, just a monumental case of "let's shit on our customers because we have too many of them." I don't find this fun Google. Just let me order the damn thing and ship it to me when you've got it.

alanctgardner2 14y ago

As someone who ended up on the three-week backorder list, there was quite a debacle. Mostly around Google's inability to communicate, both internally and externally. Their staff is inconsistent at best about anything beyond toeing the party line, which is "they'll ship when they ship". Because they aren't communicating with backordered users, and they're not providing any way to pre-order, they've completely blown this holiday shopping season (just as the article predicts). The Apple way through this would be to berate us for being impatient, but at least they'd be talking. And they'd certainly be taking emails and cash now for phones later.

jacquesm 14y ago
> Mostly around Google's inability to communicate, both internally and externally. What else is new? Google communicates more on HN with its users than anywhere else... To the point where if you have a serious problem with google you are more likely to reach adequate support by posting a rant here than by going through the normal channels. Google just simply doesn't get support. I doubt they ever will. So you approach them like the weather: use what's good, ignore what's bad, forget about interacting with it in a way that will change it. Whatever falls out of the sky that is worth it for you you can use, but you can never count on it and you can't expect to complain when it does not work in a way that it will get resolved to your satisfaction.
micampe 14y ago
> The Apple way through this would be to berate us for being impatient, but at least they'd be talking. And they'd certainly be taking emails and cash now for phones later. When you order something from Apple you get charged only when it ships.
- alanctgardner2 14y ago
  Yes, but you capture credit card information. Google has restricted their runway of guaranteed sales to the end of the month. Once they charge everyone on backorder's credit card, then they need to go through another cataclysmic round of sales. Rather than keeping the system open, giving realistic estimates and letting people hand over credit card details ahead of time.

davros 14y ago

Sold out immediately - not ideal but not a debacle. Missed black friday sales opportunity losing all momentum - that's pretty bad. But zero communication from Google and no additional product nearly a month after launch - that's a debacle. If phones don't start flowing very soon, they will also miss the christmas gift market. A real pity, such a well-priced quality phone could have really set a new benchmark.

laureny 14y ago

> there was a nexus 4 debacle? If the iPhone sells out on the day it's released, it's a triumph. If the same thing happens to a Google phone, it's a debacle.

wtracy 14y ago
The "debacle" is in the way the back orders were handled, not in the fact that it sold out in the first place.