04-09-2011, 08:00 AM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 498
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Is Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) a Failure?
"You can blame the high price. Or that it's heavier and thicker than the iPad 2. Or the lack of 4G at launch. Whatever the reason, according to Deutsche Bank, Motorola has sold only 100,000 Xooms since it and Verizon Wireless debuted the first Android 3.0 (a.k.a. Honeycomb) tablet in late February. Meanwhile, a DigiTimes report claims that Apple sold 2.6 million iPad 2 tablets in the month of March. Yes, all of the above factors come into play, but it's also very possible that consumers just aren't excited about Honeycomb." 
An estimated 2.6 million iPad 2 devices were sold in March 2011, while Motorola's Xoom has sold about 100,000 devices in total. LAPTOP cites a handful of possible reasons why this has happened, but the bottom line seems to be that Honeycomb just doesn't match the simplicity of the iPad 2, in other words, it's too hard for the mythical 'average user' to figure out. One Xoom user was quoted as saying “I honestly found it one of the most painful experiences of any ‘modern’ device I’ve used in literally years. Terrible is my only adjective.” Google has started working with vendors on customizations, to address some of the concerns (or shortcomings), but did state that vendors are free to tweak as (much as) needed. Of course, the inevitable statistic about available apps has re-surfaced, with Honeycomb offering about 50 apps, while the iPad 2 number is around 65,000 and even the PlayBook number is about 3,000. It's catch-22, as software developers won't write software (or port existing code) to Honeycomb if they don't see a market, and the market won't develop if there is a lack of quality apps. So, is Honeycomb a failure? I'd say no, but it has disappointed so far - users expected more at launch.
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"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." Albert Einstein
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04-09-2011, 02:24 PM
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Contributing Editor-in-Training
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 63
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The one issue that really stuck out to me at least is the cost. Why to expensive. Needed to be cheaper than an ipad. If a manufacturer can't do that, why even bother. ipad rules for that market so in order to compete it has to be cheaper and offer more. I have the XDA Honeycomb hack for my Nook and did not find it all that hard to figure out. That could be me though being an IT'er! I will say this is still early on for Honeycomb so things will probably change quickly. I do not have a ipad and recognize what Apple has accomplished in a short period of time.
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Not that I am always right, I'm just never wrong.
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04-09-2011, 04:39 PM
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Editorial Contributor
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,411
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Not an Android guy at all, but I really hope that consumers aren't solely cost driven. Hopefully things don't have to be cheaper AND deliver more. If you can, what a coup, but what is wrong with paying for value. Whether the Xoom is a better value proposition is a different discussion, but does your Honeycomb Nook have a USB host port, twin cameras with flash, HDMI out, Bluetooth, eCompass, GPS, etc? If you don't care, that's fine, but the Xoom isn't overpriced JUST because it costs more than a hacked Nook or an iPad.
You get similar arguments between Windows Slates and iPads, and it is typical to compare a fully loaded Slate to the cheapest iPad, when similarly configured devices are comparable in price. At that point it becomes a matter of user requirements, which I hope involves more than cheapest.
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04-09-2011, 10:10 PM
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Contributing Editor-in-Training
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 63
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"Not an Android guy at all, but I really hope that consumers aren't solely cost driven. Hopefully things don't have to be cheaper AND deliver more."
Isn't that what drives technology, cheaper, faster, smaller and better? And, I am not Android guy either.
"Whether the Xoom is a better value proposition is a different discussion, but does your Honeycomb Nook have a USB host port, twin cameras with flash, HDMI out, Bluetooth, eCompass, GPS, etc? If you don't care, that's fine, but the Xoom isn't overpriced JUST because it costs more than a hacked Nook or an iPad"
You are right! I do not care about having every feature in every device that I own. Seems to work for Apple at this point in time. That will probably change in due time. The reason I put Android on the Nook was to see what it was about.
And guess what, it saved me a small fortune. We can argue about spending on the Nook, however, I have a good reason for it which I will not get into here.
"At that point it becomes a matter of user requirements, which I hope involves more than cheapest."
Why not? Nothing wrong in saving a buck from time to time knowing these devices are obsolete in no time. That is my requirement, maybe not yours.
So, we disagree, which is fine. I have no issues with that. However, if the Xoom isn't selling what is the cause? The only other thing is maybe marketing? Like Lee Iaccoca said that you can build the best mouse trap and if you can't market it what good is it. (paraphrased)
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Not that I am always right, I'm just never wrong.
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04-09-2011, 11:35 PM
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Editorial Contributor
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,411
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Quote:
Originally Posted by g35a
Isn't that what drives technology, cheaper, faster, smaller and better?
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Sure, but cheaper, faster, smaller, at the expense of capability is not better. Maybe no one needs all the high end features but then Apple wouldn't/shouldn't be selling $700-$800 iPads either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by g35a
"At that point it becomes a matter of user requirements, which I hope involves more than cheapest."
Why not?
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Because if you have no requirements other than cheapest, you have no requirements. You can find a significantly cheaper Android tablet than even a hacked Nook Color. Apple shouldn't sell anything but the $499 model because all the others are obviously overpriced. Additional features are apparently irrelevent.
So yea, it probably is marketing. Not a small part of that explaining why the Xoom or the Slate or what-have-you aren't comparatively overpriced when you compare products with like features, or what you don't get when you go cheap.
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Sometimes you are the anteater, sometimes you are the ant.
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04-10-2011, 02:38 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 52
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Device bonding
The Xoom has nothing for me to love; from the first moment I watched the initial video of the HTC Flyer I was in love with it . . . Of course, I have an HTC Inspire which has made me quite aware of the smoooooth fasssst, beautiful HTC Sense UI.
I 'spect many users, or would-be tab users, may wait to bond with a tab prior to making an investment. Of course, the suspense of new tabs on the horizon is exciting, and we may be just waitin' around to see our options prior to choosing.
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hummingbirdhill
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04-10-2011, 06:34 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 498
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I had a chance to noodle around with a Xoom yesterday at Best Buy, after twiddling my thumbs for ten minutes while a kid played a game (with great enthusiasm). Also played with a Galaxy Tab. First impressions are that the Xoom (Honeycomb) was fast, but that the functionality seemed missing (at least out-of-the-box). I had a better first impression of the Galaxy Tab. My main interest was looking at how the various browsers display pages (for web sites that I've created) - and neither browser was particularly good at displaying my "stuff," although I'm guessing that they are both based on WebKit, as is Safari. Maybe my coding is at fault. It was like viewing sites using Internet Explorer V6 or V7. CSS wasn't handled properly, etc.
Anyway, I'm by no means an Android expert, but it seems like the iPad is better thought-out, and more immediately useful. Again, in fifteen minutes of play vs. a year with iPads. If this is apparent to me, a lifelong IT geeky guy, ma and pa average consumer are going to be even more baffled. So, let's hope that the various hw/sw teams tweak the UI and improve the user experience. I've done UI testing with/for Google in the past, so I'm sure that this is happening already.
So personally I think that while it's not a failure, the first release was rushed.
Next up for me, the PlayBook ...
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"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." Albert Einstein
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