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This is a great read. I hope that Google succeeds in reigning in the ISP's by offering a phone that always has the best version of Android and therefore makes the other want to at least play catch up to match the Nexus.
By the way. I have a rooted G1 and I'm running Eclair with Google voice navagation.
My thoughts on this is that Google needs to get the other members of the Open Handset Alliance to sort themselves out. If they want to be part of the Android experience they need to support it with fast updates so that we can all have the same experience. Maybe Google needs to lay down a minimum spec for each x.0 release so that everyone moves forward together. Sure people on older devices may be upset that they are getting left behind, but that was going to happen anyway, the way that mobile tech is advancing.
I'm sure the Linux fans won't be happy with the comparison, but this reminds me very much of "Linux on the desktop" - everyone gets way too many options for the source of the OS, the UI, the source of applications, and so on. You end up with a system that looks clunky, is tough to maintain, and has a whole pile of hodgepodge applications that all sorta do what you want, but now quite.
And to annoy even further, this is exactly why I made the move to OS X and iPhone - I'd rather have just a few options for my OS, each of them developed by experts in the field, and know that anything made for the OS will work well. Applications are easy to install, anything that wants to hook into the system knows exactly where those hooks are, and I don't burn any brain cells trying to figure out where the system preferences are for a particular app.
John, I appreciate your articles and you usually have one of the best perspectives IMHO of authors on this site, but I'm gonna have to partially disagree with you here.
I think that fragmentation merely has the potential to screw up the market. The statement that "it needs to be tightly controlled to remain consistent" is, itself, true. But the implication that consistency is necessary for success is a bit untrue.
The majority of users have yet to grasp that Android is a platform like Blackberry and not a phone like the iPhone. I had to explain to several people that my G1 runs the same software as the Droid (just an older version). Forget Sense, Blur, Rachael and whatever else there is.
Most people simply take whatever looks good and are happy with it.
There's two important parts that do need to be consolidated, though. For one, the developer experience. Google can speed through fifteen updates to Android a year. Small app companies can't. Google needs to make that process easier for them. Keep them updated to new developments. None of this dropping 2.0 source code and SDK a couple weeks before the Droid hits. The Market is what ties everything together. If the Market is the same (or similar enough), then users who don't realize that their Sense phone is just as Android as their friends Rachael phone won't care. This same logic extends to keeping manufacturers up-to-date enough to move their updated UIs out the door.
The other important part is the Google Experience brand. There's off-shoots of Android that can lag a version behind without major consequence (though Sense phones still being at 1.5 while we're on the brink of 2.1 is unacceptable), but the Google Experience phones need to be unified. If the Nexus One is a Google Experience phone (and I'm certain it is), then it needs to be running whatever the Droid is running. Whether that means the Nexus One gets 2.0 or the Droid gets a quick update to 2.1. And as many other Google Experience phones as possible, too. I realize the G1 has its own memory issues, but the MT3G has no such problems.
The Google Experience brand will be the flagship for Android. The other brands stick with their "with Google" subtitle and quietly build up Android's marketshare and app opportunities. Some users will know, others won't. Doesn't matter.
I think you're right that some other companies are dropping the ball on this, but I think that Google has made more than a few mistakes with Android, too. The process leading up to 1.6 was fairly open. We knew a lot of what was coming before it got there. Devs (whether UI or app) need to know what's coming. Well in advance. They didn't with 2.0, and 2.1 isn't much better. And the leaks are showing 2.1 to add more than just a little polish.
Honestly, I think that whatever backroom deals there were that kept the Droid so hush-hush created more of a problem than a lack of control.
Either open up or shut down, but both at the same time is destined to confuse people.
@OCEntertainment: Yeah, I didn't mean to exonerate Google here, because as you mentioned, even plain vanilla Android devices are fragmented. That's all Google.
That said, Google is notorious for being internally uncommunicative, and the dev periods for the Droid and Nexus One almost certainly overlapped. Im see this more as an admission of fault, or an attempt to right the ship. And there really isn't a graceful way to transition from the old Android model--the one that Google came up with a few years ago, before we had a strong precedent for the benefits of platform control--and a completely new one.
So Google didn't know that carriers don't push updates even though they're supposed to?
The only phone I've ever owned that got a firmware update was the iPhone. My old Curve was stuck on 4.2 for ages, in no small part because RIM sat on their ass (though T-Mobile wasn't exactly prodding them along).
"Smartphone software is finicky and complicated, and so is the experience of using it. It needs to be tightly controlled to remain consistent, and because apps are the most important part of a smartphone platform nowadays, consistency is life or death."
Interesting how this argument is diametrically opposed when it needs to be to counter or support claims to the contrary.
Tight-knit ecosystem? Open it up so all can party and play!
Haight-Ashbury free-for-all? Close it up, the contact buzz is too much!
@LangleyAlcyone: Because you have to go to one of the extremes, right? You can't have an ecosystem that both allows developers flexibility and keeps a leash on them, right?
I just wish the price would come down on the Hero, even for the friends and family or SERO plan, it's still 280 bucks, and then you have to wait a couple of months to get the $100 rebate back. With the Droid, you can get it for 100 bucks and don't have to wait for the rebate if you get it at Best Buy. I suppose that Sprint doesn't recoup as much money from higher monthly costs, so they need to charge more in the upfront costs, but it's hard to justify throwing down almost 300 bucks on a phone when my Touch still does just fine.
So I was considering upgrading my Sprint phone to something running Android this Christmas, but I wanted to wait for 2.0. Now that I see I have to wait this long, it barely even makes sense for me to stay with Sprint. Is upgrading to the current version really this hard?
@ForestFire0: If you're willing to get your toes wet (and if you post here you just might be) then custom brews of 1.6 have significant features of 2.0 squeezed in and you can have instant gratification. Consider too that you can still use out-of-box 1.6 as a type of GPS navigation (responsibly, natch), just not with fancy flythrough graphics and vocal turn-by-turn.
On the other hand, over the next six months there will be new Android phones on various carriers - some of them with better hardware, some of them running the latest official release. Decisions, decisions...
@Killjoy: Well, with all the talk of Google phones from Google made by HTC, I have a good idea what I'll be choosing for my next phone. But all this talk of instant gratification and doing-it-myself is pretty enticing.
@jon.athan: Well, my contract with Sprint is up pretty soon and the only reason I choose it in the first place was because it was the only carrier with service at my home, where I no longer live. And if Sprint doesn't have the phone I want, why can't I look around?
@fallenturtle: That's more than the G1/MT3G owners have gotten. And we run stock Android. Granted, the G1 had that memory issue, but the MT3G? Seriously?
I get closer and closer to rooting this thing everyday.
@OCEntertainment: This might sound stupid, but I don't know a whole lot about T Mo stuff, are they still selling the G1 or has it been phased out since MT3G came out?
@Calijoefornia: I believe they still sell the G1 alongside the MT3G (they keep both as one has a keyboard and the other doesn't). Though I think they're pushing the CLIQ a bit harder than either of them just because it's the newest and they need to get it out the door.
@eeJonathan: Well it seems Google's been more than a little stingy with the 2.0 update. The source code didn't even drop until either pretty close to or after the day the Droid was released.
I don't think any exclusive deal was made public, but it seems that at least for a while the Droid is the only device running 2.0. In fact, perhaps this deal is the reason the Hero has to wait so long. Unfortunately, it's all speculation from here.
Anyone have any recommendations for a low end (cheapish) digital camera that takes quick pictures?
Useless information/rant follows if you're bored (all I have is free time at the moment):
My mom has one that is ready to snap photos just a few seconds after it's turned on, but requires nearly 15 seconds to take another. I borrowed that one because my wife's camera takes 10-15 seconds to power up, and also takes too long in between photos (I have gone through different modes and settings). Then, my camcorder takes decent photos as quickly as you can take them, but there is no flash and it's something I don't want to always carry with me.
I never realized how slow they were until I tried taking spur-of-the-moment pictures of my baby ("I formed babby").
I hate this need for splash screen startups, or automatic picture review after one is taken (I also don't like how people, especially my wife, feel they need to review every single photo immediately after. You were just there!), and know I don't need a 30 megapixel camera with three displays and YouTube, Facebook, or other built-in fad support.
@madog: They may not literally take 10-15 seconds, but when you're trying to take pictures of a babys smile or something, 7 seconds can feel like an eternity; and the moment may be gone by then.
I also don't know anything about cameras so I don't know if they specifically rate that or have categories for a digital camera that works as fast as one from 15 years ago that took pics as fast as you could wind the film.
Any information about it would be greatly appreciated!
@madog: i bought the kodak easy share m1033 for like 130 bucks if not less.
really good for snapshots and keeping in your pocket. i like it. i keep it in my car. has a good battery life. if i need it i got a usb car adapter so it will charge on the drive to the event. it holds up pretty good. takes good photos.
@madog: oh! and it does start up fairly quickly around 3 seconds. and if you are taking regular snapshots, no long exposure and all that bull. its pretty instant.
@madog: There are a couple options but specifically I'd look at the Canon SD 1200 IS. It's got the digic IV processor, a fast lens, and it runs around $150 right now. Not too fancy in the spec department (3x zoom range, 10mp, SD movie ability) but it's a solid little camera.
@Gene @LatimerAnaxibia @che-che @FigNinja: Thanks for the info guys! I appreciate it. I'll definitely check out that site/forum and that Canon/Kodak. And yes, while $30 for one would be awesome, I'd expect to pay around $150 for a decent one these days.
With all of the different models out there with bonus novelty features and smile recognition and volume knobs that go to 11, it can be confusing to find a decent, simple camera that does what it's supposed to well.
(tried to promote all replies in case this multi-reply doesn't work as I'd imagine it to. Hopefully others find this useful too!)
@madog: Canon A1100. On sale for $129 if you look around. Amazing photos. I bought 10 for a photo class I teach to school kids and I've been blown away by the results.
10:05 PM
10:35 PM
And what's the damn fascination with analogue clocks that mobile phone designers have? HTC has it right with Sense.
09:12 PM
12/16/09
By the way. I have a rooted G1 and I'm running Eclair with Google voice navagation.
Root your phone at your own risk folks!!!
[forum.xda-developers.com]
12/16/09
All the hard work to make shitty WinMo less shitty.
12/16/09
12/16/09
And to annoy even further, this is exactly why I made the move to OS X and iPhone - I'd rather have just a few options for my OS, each of them developed by experts in the field, and know that anything made for the OS will work well. Applications are easy to install, anything that wants to hook into the system knows exactly where those hooks are, and I don't burn any brain cells trying to figure out where the system preferences are for a particular app.
12/16/09
I think that fragmentation merely has the potential to screw up the market. The statement that "it needs to be tightly controlled to remain consistent" is, itself, true. But the implication that consistency is necessary for success is a bit untrue.
The majority of users have yet to grasp that Android is a platform like Blackberry and not a phone like the iPhone. I had to explain to several people that my G1 runs the same software as the Droid (just an older version). Forget Sense, Blur, Rachael and whatever else there is.
Most people simply take whatever looks good and are happy with it.
There's two important parts that do need to be consolidated, though. For one, the developer experience. Google can speed through fifteen updates to Android a year. Small app companies can't. Google needs to make that process easier for them. Keep them updated to new developments. None of this dropping 2.0 source code and SDK a couple weeks before the Droid hits. The Market is what ties everything together. If the Market is the same (or similar enough), then users who don't realize that their Sense phone is just as Android as their friends Rachael phone won't care. This same logic extends to keeping manufacturers up-to-date enough to move their updated UIs out the door.
The other important part is the Google Experience brand. There's off-shoots of Android that can lag a version behind without major consequence (though Sense phones still being at 1.5 while we're on the brink of 2.1 is unacceptable), but the Google Experience phones need to be unified. If the Nexus One is a Google Experience phone (and I'm certain it is), then it needs to be running whatever the Droid is running. Whether that means the Nexus One gets 2.0 or the Droid gets a quick update to 2.1. And as many other Google Experience phones as possible, too. I realize the G1 has its own memory issues, but the MT3G has no such problems.
The Google Experience brand will be the flagship for Android. The other brands stick with their "with Google" subtitle and quietly build up Android's marketshare and app opportunities. Some users will know, others won't. Doesn't matter.
I think you're right that some other companies are dropping the ball on this, but I think that Google has made more than a few mistakes with Android, too. The process leading up to 1.6 was fairly open. We knew a lot of what was coming before it got there. Devs (whether UI or app) need to know what's coming. Well in advance. They didn't with 2.0, and 2.1 isn't much better. And the leaks are showing 2.1 to add more than just a little polish.
Honestly, I think that whatever backroom deals there were that kept the Droid so hush-hush created more of a problem than a lack of control.
Either open up or shut down, but both at the same time is destined to confuse people.
12/16/09
That said, Google is notorious for being internally uncommunicative, and the dev periods for the Droid and Nexus One almost certainly overlapped. Im see this more as an admission of fault, or an attempt to right the ship. And there really isn't a graceful way to transition from the old Android model--the one that Google came up with a few years ago, before we had a strong precedent for the benefits of platform control--and a completely new one.
12/16/09
The only phone I've ever owned that got a firmware update was the iPhone. My old Curve was stuck on 4.2 for ages, in no small part because RIM sat on their ass (though T-Mobile wasn't exactly prodding them along).
12/16/09
12/16/09
12/16/09
Interesting how this argument is diametrically opposed when it needs to be to counter or support claims to the contrary.
Tight-knit ecosystem? Open it up so all can party and play!
Haight-Ashbury free-for-all? Close it up, the contact buzz is too much!
12/16/09
12/14/09
12/14/09
12/14/09
12/14/09
12/14/09
12/11/09
12/14/09
12/11/09
12/11/09
On the other hand, over the next six months there will be new Android phones on various carriers - some of them with better hardware, some of them running the latest official release. Decisions, decisions...
12/13/09
@jon.athan: Well, my contract with Sprint is up pretty soon and the only reason I choose it in the first place was because it was the only carrier with service at my home, where I no longer live. And if Sprint doesn't have the phone I want, why can't I look around?
12/11/09
12/11/09
I get closer and closer to rooting this thing everyday.
12/11/09
12/11/09
12/12/09
Why would it take so long to update the phones?
12/12/09
I don't think any exclusive deal was made public, but it seems that at least for a while the Droid is the only device running 2.0. In fact, perhaps this deal is the reason the Hero has to wait so long. Unfortunately, it's all speculation from here.
12/11/09
Useless information/rant follows if you're bored (all I have is free time at the moment):
My mom has one that is ready to snap photos just a few seconds after it's turned on, but requires nearly 15 seconds to take another. I borrowed that one because my wife's camera takes 10-15 seconds to power up, and also takes too long in between photos (I have gone through different modes and settings). Then, my camcorder takes decent photos as quickly as you can take them, but there is no flash and it's something I don't want to always carry with me.
I never realized how slow they were until I tried taking spur-of-the-moment pictures of my baby ("I formed babby").
I hate this need for splash screen startups, or automatic picture review after one is taken (I also don't like how people, especially my wife, feel they need to review every single photo immediately after. You were just there!), and know I don't need a 30 megapixel camera with three displays and YouTube, Facebook, or other built-in fad support.
12/11/09
I also don't know anything about cameras so I don't know if they specifically rate that or have categories for a digital camera that works as fast as one from 15 years ago that took pics as fast as you could wind the film.
Any information about it would be greatly appreciated!
12/11/09
[www.dpreview.com]
They often give list how long all those things take for a given camera. The forums are really helpful, too.
12/11/09
really good for snapshots and keeping in your pocket. i like it. i keep it in my car. has a good battery life. if i need it i got a usb car adapter so it will charge on the drive to the event. it holds up pretty good. takes good photos.
is that cheap enough.
12/11/09
12/11/09
12/11/09
12/12/09
With all of the different models out there with bonus novelty features and smile recognition and volume knobs that go to 11, it can be confusing to find a decent, simple camera that does what it's supposed to well.
(tried to promote all replies in case this multi-reply doesn't work as I'd imagine it to. Hopefully others find this useful too!)
12/12/09