Android/G1 bling written first/only...

[RegGuheert]

The following post (http://androidcommunity.com/forums/63437-post7.html) by PixelHenge got me to thinking:
well ya, i know.. so ok, its difficult to implemet.. ok, i get that, google... but why dose every other platform have these features then? I know i kind of imagine it went like this

"ok guys, we'er about to launch android, are you done?"
"yup"
"oh, wait, crap, we forgot to add maps to the new streetview bling"
"oh ya"
"well, never mind, just throw something on there, it doesnt have to be usefull cause you know, as long as you can find 'pizza' who cares? this is america, who uses maps?"
"oh, well i might..."
"too bad, time to launch it"
"oh, ok then.. heres a version of maps from 10 years ago"
"ya, use that"

...Bolding was mine. Basically, I'm coming to the conclusion that Google decided, either consciously (or unconsciously :rolleyes:) to develop all the cool stuff for Android and leave out more basic/necessary stuff. Here are a few examples:

- Android/G1 has a compass and StreetView but no reasonable navigation application.
- Android/G1 has great syncing capability with Google online apps, but they didn't improve Contacts, etc.
- Android/G1 has physical keyboard but no built-in virtual keyboard.
- Android/G1 has huge selection of applications in the market and NO PLACE TO PUT most of them on the phone.
- Android/G1 has a mechanically-zoomed fairly-high-resolution camera than is somewhat unique in its ability to quickly scan barcodes, but the idea of using it as a, well, camera, is somewhat of an afterthought.
- Android/G1 has a cool OS which can manage many apps by sleeping/closing them at will, but they haven't included a way for the user to close applications. (Did they assume that NO application would EVER misbehave?)

So WHY would Google do this? Here are a few theories:

- Google is full of extremely-talented prima donnas who are ONLY willing to work on the fun bleeding-edge applications. Everything else can be left for others to write since no one at Google is interested in such grunt work.
- Google intentionally left many holes in their work so that Android Market developers would have a very open field in which to work.
- Google decided to design for the "corner case" applications in order to properly prove out both the hardware and software platforms, knowing that any lesser applications would then be possible and could be back-filled later.
- Google decided to design only the "sexy" apps, knowing that is all that would be needed to sell phones.
- Market schedule pressure on the Android platform coming from the iPhone 3G meant that the platform HAD to be released before Christmas, causing many cuts in the list of intended applications to be made.
- Some combination of all of the above. (Very likely, IMO!)

Anyway that's what I'm seeing. I really love this phone, knowing that these things will all fill in over time. I'm just musing about why this came about with Android and the G1...

Thoughts?

Reg

[bizarro_stormy]

maybe they were just so focused on bringing cool ideas to us that they overlooked some potentially necessary ones. -- I'm sure a lot of these issues will be fixed/improved soon

[Stanovoy]

I think you should've added a poll to this thread.

Personally, I think the prima donna theory is more likely. If you look at every single product of Google, there are two things in common: 1. the features they have are all very cool and often revolutionary; 2. they all lack some of the most basic features.

Take the several-year old Gmail for example. It is incredibly brilliant to figure out how to do something that complex so consistently across all browsers. Its SPAM filter works better than anything else out there today. In addition, the threading it uses greatly redefined the landscape of email services.

On the other hand, its email organization is extremely poor. It only allows the most basic of all filtering mechanisms. But the worst of all is you cannot modify email senders' names. When you add them to your contact list and give them a name of your choosing, Gmail simply ignores it. In fact, it prefers to display the raw email address over any recognizable name that you have already provided.

Also, take Google Talk for example. Simple to use, universal accessibility, high consistency across multiple signed in locations, etc. Yet, it can't even do something as basic as locking yourself into a certain status, such as idle or away. It also doesn't allow you to assign custom status messages for different statuses.

I think Google is rather lucky to be where they are today. They just happened to innovate at the right time and in the right area. The company has historically proven its inability to build a truly usable application. Android is their latest proof. Innovation can only take a company so far. At some point, when the innovations become ahead of their time, the lack of usability will catch on. Unless those Googlers can get off their high horses, they will go down in flames just like the Concord.

[trinybwoy]

i love this thread, keep the thoughts flowing!

I believe, just like all their products, this OS is in beta, SERIOUS beta.
anyone could use the phone for 3days and pick out the glariningly lacking features.

I highly doubt this OS was even tested on a real device, there is no way.
They mostly likey used the OS on emultors on super fast PCs and were pleased with the performance; then about a week before publicly announcing a release date, they slapped the OS onto all the phones and sent them on their merry way.

I assume we the public are Google's R&D team, lol, no need for them to spend money on a team of their own; so im guessing Google probablly has the biggest R&D team of any company, "1.5 million" of us haha.

[Reeg]

Agreed. 110%.