Op-Ed by Thedroidguy
Since early August 2010 when I was invited by Samsung Mobile to an overseas unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, I fell in love with the device. I had been carrying an iPad since its launch, at first to grab onto the hype and then because it’s a lot easier to stand in a press conference holding a tablet than a laptop. I vowed, as soon as I got a Galaxy Tab I would sell the iPad on Craigslist. (I sold it a couple of weeks ago).
Fast-forward to today and a trusted friend and colleague, Eric Zeman of Information Week and his own Phonescoop.com reported that the Galaxy Tab had to halve its production, and that credible analysts are saying projections are way off. Despite sweeping the CTIA Hot for the Holiday Awards and everyone reporting on it over and over again, it may not do what I personally hope it will. Is the Galaxy Tab the best Android tablet available right now, absolutely. Next month, who knows?
Herein lies the problem referenced in the headline. Just the other night while listening to the very popular Android Show on Radio Android, Scotty Brown and Taylor Wimberly talked back and forth about the Galaxy Tab with pretty darn favorable comments. Based on Scotty’s perceptions of the Galaxy Tab a couple months back, he was admittedly more impressed than he thought he would be. Where’s the problem then?
The problem is two fold. First off, once a manufacturer has their “next big thing” pushed out to retail, they are just weeks away from clearing the next “big thing” through the FCC. Brown and Wimberly along with several other Android sites (Android Spin and Thedroidguy included) have very aggressive journalists writing for them. We try our hardest to weed out the rumors but we often find at the heart of every great rumor is an actual story. Take both the Motorola Olympus and the Samsung Developer Phone, both of these devices are definitely real. Both were originally leaked at Androidandme and it looks like with all of Wimberly’s hard work they are going to come to fruition. Question for you, except for the die hard Android enthusiasts who will pay full price for a phone, who in their right mind is going to buy even the newest “Droid” offering when the Olympus is right around the corner.
Wimberly about summed it up on the Android Show, telling us not to buy the Galaxy Tab because 2011 is the year of the tablet and while the Galaxy Tab is a great device there are more tablets coming out loaded with even more features because technology changes at a blink of an eye.
So the basis for this story is a complete and utter moral and business dilemma. As many of you know I contribute to AndroidSPIN every chance I get but also own my own brand. Like Wimberly and many others I do this full time. It’s the bread and butter and puts food on the table. So as hypocritical as it is I will tell you beyond a doubt that whenever I get ninja pics, leaks and substantial rumors, I am going to report them. Why? For two reasons, one as journalists we have an obligation to report to our audience the news in whatever fashion it comes. The other is because good meaty stories about brand new devices drive traffic. Plain and simple, it does.
So what is the root of this problem? Certainly not the Android websites out there. We’re not in factories and development labs coming up with this stuff. It’s the popularity of technology, the early early early adopters, the tech enthusiasts, YOU! Watching my twitter feed on HOME, which is a luxury at times, it can be disheartening to see some of these people who just can’t afford to drop off-contract prices on devices every month. If I was in the position to have to buy something off contract every time it came out, I’d go broke. I’ve passed on some good pieces of technology, as I’m sure you have as well.
Wimberly does an amazing job of researching his rumors. AndroidSPIN does an fantastic job of getting substantial leaks and rumors. Most of us do a great job of reporting the news. In fact I can’t go through the archives here at AndroidSPIN and find a single time that AndroidSPIN has been wrong about a leak.
So here’s what gets me. Here’s the purpose of this piece. Fragmentation bothers us all, from journalists to enthusiasts to John the Android-toting doctor or Spyder the Android-toting radio personality. Seeing all the hype for a new device and finding out that it didn’t perform the way we expected, are we, the Android media partially to blame?
Comment any way you like!
About the Author
I dont think anyone is to blame, especially the reporters. The biggest problem I see is the sheer amount of devices coming to retail and with little or no time in between. How can a device have enough time to build up the hype when the next big thing is about to be announced?? its one thing to have a bit of competition between manufacturers but when the likes of HTC or Motorola and others are releasing so many devices right after one another, it makes it very hard to choose or get excited about just one.
If I just recieved an HTC Desire Z and I hear news or a better querty being released just after the new year, ive then lost all the excitement of my new device!
I believe the “Root Cause” are people like yourself and other Bloggers, calling what some of you do Journalism is a stretch to put it nicely. You pointing out the obvious, that’s it’s about the numbers whether it’s website hits or twitter followers, some of you are all about the numbers and not the facts. And frankly I don’t see this changing.
It shouldn’t change. It would bring the whole idea of “open” down to a few crumbs if Google began dictating what OS version manufacturers should use and how they’re allowed to modify it. Granted, it causes a lot of manufacturers and service providers to do dumb things, but that’s the nature of it and even with that fact it tops any “closed” system any day. Functionality is king, and the openness of Android lets that happen.
We all can only to the best we can. We dig into the farthest reaches of the web and try to get answers from our contacts. As much as we would like all new devices and rumors to be true, or have been told that they are, sometimes things don’t pan out when the OEM’s and Carriers do what ever it is they will do. I enjoying seeing and reading about the latest and greatest to come. As accurate as they can be at the time. Its a tough game and a tough business. 6 months to a year after you buy the latest and greatest device you are easily outdated and behind the times. It is very frustrating for us and the consumer. I’m not sure we are adding to the fragmentation at all. The carriers and OEM’s are doing it. They are so focused on moving out the next big thing instead of equally working with what they have out already. Especially in an economy like the one we have been in.
Hopefully no one is interpreting this piece wrong as I think both Scotty and Taylor are great “reporters” and said so above. I even said in the same piece I’d by a fool not to be hypocritical about the exact same issue. The issue in my piece has nothing to do with substantiating rumors. Android and Me often gets things right and early. Both the “Terminator” aka “Olympus” and the Samsung Developer phone right. They even got the tab right way back when. This isn’t about the integrity in the rumors, these arent rumors they are leaks.
I also agree with Neversuited… The problem also lies in manufacturers and carriers cannibalizing their own selves. Motorola for instance released 7 devices at CTIA most running 2.1. Their holiday season flagship seems to be the Droid Pro which not many people (aside from myself) seem really excited about. They are more interested in the “transform”/”olympus” perhaps one thing that could help all is if the CEA moved CES to the fall as opposed to Q1 that would drive the industry to make all their big announcements ahead of the holiday season.
Just a thought
Have you seen Tab’s price?!?
It’s a consumer behavior issue.
I find it stupid when people talk about Android fragmentation. Look at the iPhone – there’s four iPhones (and 4 major OS versions) and two of them don’t even have half the features and can’t use so many apps in the app store. That’s 2/4 phones in a completely /controlled/ and /closed/ environment that are “fragmented”. Imagine an uncontrolled and open environment – things can really get “fragmented” there.
And this whole fragmentation business is stupid to me in the first place. It’s an OS that can land on nearly any and every device – just like Linux or Windows. And if we look at Linux and Windows, they’re /clearly/ “fragmented”, but no one says it because its a computer – we expect it. It’s sad that Apple came out first and created this “phones are not like computers” vision. They should be exactly the same, and if you want that to happen, this so-called “fragmentation” is bound to happen.
I find it stupid when people talk about Android fragmentation. Look at the iPhone – there’s four iPhones (and 4 major OS versions) and two of them don’t even have half the features and can’t use so many apps in the app store. That’s 2/4 phones in a completely /controlled/ and /closed/ environment that are “fragmented”. Imagine an uncontrolled and open environment – things can really get “fragmented” there.
And this whole fragmentation business is stupid to me in the first place. It’s an OS that can land on nearly any and every device – just like Linux or Windows. And if we look at Linux and Windows, they’re /clearly/ “fragmented”, but no one says it because its a computer – we expect it. It’s sad that Apple came out first and created this “phones are not like computers” vision. They should be exactly the same, and if you want that to happen, this so-called “fragmentation” is bound to happen.
I am going to have to agree with neversuited. I just got my G1 back in April. And as much as I love the phone, I am looking at all the new devices coming out and wanting to buy each one in turn. First the Cliq, then the Vibrant, then the G2, and now the device of the day is the MT4G. I can’t afford the cost off contract of the original MT3G, let alone any of the newest devices.
That said, I still love the sheer number of roms I can run on my G1. I guess that will have to get me by till 4/2012.
1) The Galaxy Tab is the best of the tablets, but it’s way too expensive.
2) Please stop using the “f” word. There is no such thing here. Apple fans buy a new phone when they want new features. The fact that we don’t necessarily need to is NOT a negative. Steve. Jobs is a megalomaniac that thinks that the world would be a better place if only he could dictate what we buy, and how we program. This “phone” thing, in my hand right now, is actually a general purpose computer, and as such, is far more standardized than most.
The biggest problem for Android is not the number of devices, it is the fact that most of them are LOCKED by manufacturers’ and service providers’ modifications of the OS.
To boot, it seems common for Android manufacturers to end-of-life relatively new hardware and to stop providing drivers to allow it to be upgraded to current OS versions, even though the hardware is perfectly capable of supporting the new OS versions.
This is what’s causing the fragmentation.
And there is no need for fanboys to constantly attack iOS. The fact is, that Apple has supported 3 and 4 year old hardware with new updates, albeit omitting features which are not supported by the old hardware.
I was tremendously excited by Android and replaced my old iPhones with Samsung Galaxy S variants. But I have been sorely disappointed to find out that virtually every Android phone is locked by the manufacturer and consumers can be left without upgrade options on almost new hardware. Yes, there are the great ROMs on XDA, but there isn’t much these developers can do without drivers. And since I bought my Androids, I have been experiencing WM deja-vu, where I spend my weekends flashing and reflashing ROMs. At some point, I just want the damned phone to just work, and the manufacturers to be responsible for timely upgrades. And I don’t think I am the only one.
I still like the Android idea, but I personally would not buy another Android phone unless it is an Android Experience device.