
Motorola Xoom a huge disappointment - zdw
http://www.xmlaficionado.com/2011/03/motorola-xoom-huge-disappointment.html
======
nlogn
Rather short and lacking in details for a "review" isn't this? Anandtech and
Engadget have already reviewed the Xoom in more detail and I have to say, this
reads very much like someone wanting to validate their own opinion instead of
offering a fair critique. I have observed the iPhone 3gs/3g (I have little
experience with the 4) lagging significantly when many apps are installed (not
just running, but merely installed) so UI lag is not something unique to
Android.

The power button placement and heavy weight seem to be, admittedly, poor
decisions. As far as battery life goes, this review is very inconsistent with
Anandtech's review which states that the Xoom's battery life is comparable
with the iPad[1]. Not sure what exactly he is complaining about wrt widgets; I
have several widgets working well on my phone and I'm sure they're fully
compatible with Honeycomb. It is a shame that neither Flash or the micro-sd
card slot are functional at release. I can only hope Motorola is working to
remedy both of those issues.

[1] [http://www.anandtech.com/show/4191/motorola-xoom-review-
firs...](http://www.anandtech.com/show/4191/motorola-xoom-review-first-
honeycomb-tablet-arrives/14)

~~~
kylec
I agree 100% on the power button placement. I stopped by the Verizon store
today to try it out and it literally took me several minutes to figure out how
to turn it on. Of course, once you know where it is isn't not an issue, but
it's not the best first impression. I imagine most people will fumble around
the sides for a few seconds before they just give up and move on to the iPad.

------
ekidd
Scoble keeps making the "only 16 apps" claim, but it's absolutely false. To be
fair, there are currently 16 _featured_ tablet apps in the Market. But if you
search for "HD", "THD" or "Tablet", you'll find a great many more, including a
Hacker News reader that I'm currently working on. :-)

What's my take on the Xoom, as an owner and developer?

\- The weight and size don't bother me at all, but I've got big hands. I can
hold it for hours when reading. The power button, however, is definitely
weird.

\- Honeycomb and the Google apps are just amazing. I love the application
switcher, the notification system, the tabbed browser, the Google Calendar
client, the large, interactive widgets, etc.

\- There _is_ a shortage of good tablet apps. To be fair, this will be true of
any two-week-old tablet platform that tries to compete with the iPad. If we
want a two-player tablet market, _somebody's_ got to go through the "no apps"
stage.

\- The lack of Flash and Netflix is _painful_ , because it means there's very
little video content to consume on the Xoom. And the Xoom would be a killer
device for watching video. Flash will be fixed Real Soon Now, and Netflix is
making very vague noises.

All in all, I love my Xoom, and I enjoy writing software for it. I think that
once Flash arrives, and more apps become available, that the inevitable 87
Android tablets launched in 2011 will stand a decent chance at making up some
ground against the iPad. And this would be a good thing; even for iPad
owners—Apple needs credible competition. And the Xoom is definitely a more
credible device than the Android 1.5 phones ever were.

~~~
swilliams
How are you supposed to know to search for "HD", etc? What makes the iOS store
easy is that there are completely separate tabs for iPhone and iPad apps. And
when you do search, it displays results for both in separate boxes on the
results screen. These things make it incredibly easy to find iPad specific
apps.

If the android market does these things, that's awesome, I legitimately don't
know.

~~~
sp332
The Motorola Droid has slightly more pixels than other Android phones. This
led to a bunch of apps coming out in a "Droid" edition which put those extra
pixels to good use. The new tablets have 1280 x 800, 1024 x 768, 1024 x 600
etc. resolutions, so should each one have its own tab?

~~~
swilliams
That's an interesting problem then.

If tablets are going to be a big part of the Android ecosystem, then I would
still argue that they would need some kind of special section in the market.

Would the market app be able to read your devices resolution and then denote
which apps are optimized for that? I have an older Android phone (Sprint HTC
Hero) with a smaller resolution, can I see/install tablet apps from the
market? If yes, that's a bad experience, if no, then it would seem that they
can do some sort of detection.

I'm just spitballing here, so this might not even be half baked.

~~~
nuclear_eclipse
> _Would the market app be able to read your devices resolution and then
> denote which apps are optimized for that? I have an older Android phone
> (Sprint HTC Hero) with a smaller resolution, can I see/install tablet apps
> from the market? If yes, that's a bad experience, if no, then it would seem
> that they can do some sort of detection._

The Android Market already has the ability to hide or filter apps based on the
capabilities of your device (eg, features, OS version, etc), and the feature
requirements defined by the applications' manifests. If your device doesn't
have an accelerometer, you aren't shown any applications that require use of
the accelerometers. [1]

For your specific example, you won't see any apps made for Honeycomb on your
phone's market just for the simple reason that you aren't running Honeycomb.
As for resolution, any application can (and should) be designed with multiple
screen resolutions in mind, and the Android API's give developers ample help
with this task. [2]

So in all honesty, you shouldn't even have to distinguish between a "tablet
app" versus a "phone app"; developers should be making apps that have both
segments in mind.

[1]: [http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/market-
filters.h...](http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/market-filters.html)

[2]:
[http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support...](http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html)

------
btipling
Ultimately everyone who wants a tablet will have to make a private decision of
what they want for themselves. I have both an iPad (well I got it for my three
year old daughter) and a Galaxy Tab and I have to say I love them both and
they both have been life changing. If you get a Xoom, I doubt you'll be
disappointed, because going from not having a tablet to getting one is going
to be an amazing experience. I don't imagine the Xoom is being marketed to
people who already have an iPad so there you go. Get an iPad for the many
(wonderful) apps and media or get an android tablet because despite the many
flaws in Android, it is a kick ass operating system and because you can
actually purchase kindle, nook and epub titles directly from the e-reader
apps. Listen to all the pundits and reviews, and then make a thoughtful
decision and be happy with the one you made.

Steve Jobs and John Gruber might not see it this way, but despite that there
is some truth in the 'copy cat' nature of Android, it is a good thing that iOS
has competition. It's not just lackluster competition either, Android is
awesome.

Nuff' said.

~~~
tuhin
I seriously think that Android is the best thing to happen to iOS. Despite the
design flaws, fragmentation, issues and every other bug, Android is the
nearest thing to a competitor that iOS has. Yes, I am aware there is something
called Windows Mobile 7. The very fragmentation and ubiquity of Android is its
strength. While for US, I do not know how the economics work, but for a
country like India, not everyone can or would afford to buy a phone for Rs.
30,000 (~USD 666.7). What Android is great at is tapping THAT market who are
looking for a better than average experience with mobile. I mean if every one
was going for the premium buyer who would make good experiences for the not so
affluent. I have an iPhone, an MBP and will now be spending on the iPad 2. But
then I look around and feel so happy that my friends, my juniors from college
can afford a decent enough phone without sacrificing on the joys of modern
technology and design in mobile OS.

~~~
maguay
What does the average unlocked Android device cost there? In Thailand, most
Android phones are still USD $400+. Oddly enough, last-gen Blackberry devices
are the most popular smartphones (semi-smartphone) here since they're often
USD $150-$200 unlocked. The HTC tattoo is cheaper, as are a couple others, but
for the most part, Android is nearly as premium as iOS here.

~~~
sankara
Starts at about $150; decent ones are about $300.
([http://www.flipkart.com/android-all-
mobiles?query=android...](http://www.flipkart.com/android-all-
mobiles?query=android&sort=price_asc)).

~~~
maguay
Neat; I'll have to check and see if prices are down here or not. Haven't
checked in several months.

------
TomOfTTB
More than the iPad 2 I think the price cut on the iPad 1 Hurts the xoom.
Because while the specs might be better on the Xoom you can't deny that the
cheapest iPad is now half the price of the cheapest xoom.

I think we're now to the point where other hardware manufactures have to
decide whether they want to cede this market to Apple. If they don't they're
going to have to take some short-term losses to keep up. That means cutting
the hardware price to the point where you're not making a profit but where
your prices are at least competitive with Apple.

If they aren't willing to do that their only strategy is to wait and hope
Apple slips up.

~~~
InclinedPlane
You might have said the same thing about the Altair or, ironically, the Apple
II a few decades ago.

This is still early days in the market, nobody has a lock on it. How old was
the mobile MP3 player industry when Apple introduced the iPod?

the iPad is a good device, for now. But it's not the end-all-be-all of
tablets, it's just generation 1.5. In 5 years the iPad2 will look as limited
and outdated as a flip-phone does today. Apple will need to continue
innovating in order to maintain the advantage they have right now. They may
very well do so, but it's silly to imagine that this horse race is won, it's
only just started.

~~~
ekanes
Your second sentence disputes your first.

> This is still early days in the market, nobody has a lock on it. How old was
> the mobile MP3 player industry when Apple introduced the iPod?

And now that there is an iPod, how many credible challengers have we seen?
None, really. So Apple _is_ able to lock down a market. The question is
whether or not the competition is catching up or falling farther behind.
Android is a great platform in principle, but the high price of hardware may
be a barrier to entry for _mainstream_ buyers.

~~~
InclinedPlane
You make the mistake of thinking that the iPad is the iPod of tablet
computers. While MP3 players require only a minimal featureset this is not the
case for tablet computers, there is still a lot of room left and a lot of
market left. Apple could lock down this market, but the market has not even
fully developed yet so it's silly to imagine that they have done so yet.

See also: the mobile smart phone market.

------
vladok
I genuinely wonder why companies can't get this right. I know Apple is good at
what they do, but if you can't play in this game, why bother?

I understand, on one hand, if you're making a budget knock off at 2/3rd the
price. Then the lack of polish is forgivable from a business standpoint - the
price is your biggest mover.

But if you're competing with the iPad for top of the line why even bother? Why
bother overpromising on battery, when the first reviews will prove that false.
How does a corporation even assume they will have any success in the market
with this type of strategy?

~~~
johnthedebs
I think they know that a lot of people will buy something based on specs
alone. Many people will look at the numbers and believe they're getting
something great, without realizing that the experience will be pretty lousy.

I'm certain the Android tablets will get better quickly, as the phones seem to
be, but it obviously just isn't there yet. At this point it seems like
Motorola wanted to capitalize on all the uninformed consumers, and those who
don't want to buy an Apple product.

~~~
r00fus
> I think they know that a lot of people will buy something based on specs
> alone.

Really? I don't know anyone besides geeks and neo-philiacs (ie, folks like me)
that behave that way.

Most folks (ie, the mass-market) treat tech like they'd treat appliances or
cars or other stuff they don't fully understand. They ask folks who do know,
visit review sites, and play with what's on the showroom floors.

When there is a _large_ contingent of these that infer that the iPad is the
best, the mass market buys it (as sales numbers show).

~~~
rimantas
Well, there is a funny and sad at the same time case: cameras. My impression
is that for a large portion of population the only thing that matters is
megapixels.

~~~
danudey
That's because for most of the population, they don't understand photography.
They have to make some kind of comparison, and megapixels are the easiest - a
linear number that presumably indicates more of whatever the camera is doing.

------
joe_the_user
I lamely predicted the iPad's failure when it first came out.

But now the same factors make me imagine the iPad might stay the top selling
longer than the iPhone.

Tablets are an awkward, difficult form. They have lots of ergonomic and UI
problems. But if Apple has somewhat solved these problems, duplicating its
solutions could turn out to be harder than throwing features and hardware at
the problem.

A too-heavy tablet is a much worse problem than a too-heavy laptop or even a
too-heavy phone. And similarly for all the other trade-offs. UI problems

------
jrockway
I'm surprised that a self-proclaimed "XML Aficionado" would complain about
something being too heavy.

------
mikesaraf
The argument about 16 available apps is shoddy at best. The release SDK for
Honeycomb has only been out for about a week; It's being compared to a
platform that has been around for over a year now. The only iPad apps that
were available when it launched were by the few lucky companies that got pre-
release access to its SDK. In 3 months the number of available honeycomb apps
will be a different story and in 6 months it will be a non-issue.

~~~
ryannielsen
Shoddy at best? iPad 2 ships on the 11th, with an enormous portfolio of apps.
Do you think that's worth nothing?

I'm betting the average consumer cares about four things:

\- How the product feels in the store. (Is it solid and how responsive is it?)

\- What they can do with it. (What apps can I run?)

\- Who's recommending the product. (What does the NYT say? What do my friends
say?)

\- Price. (Can I afford this?)

On which of those things does Xoom beat iPad or iPad 2? Who will walk into a
store and see the Xoom next to an iPad or iPad 2 and say: I'm gonna buy the
Xoom, even though it costs more, doesn't run the apps my friends are talking
about, and isn't recommended by anyone I know! Hell, I'll go out on a limb and
just guess, since I've held neither a Xoom or iPad 2, that the iPad 2 feels
better in my hands. Past performance being a future predictor, I bet Apple
nailed that experience.

So, given that, is the argument that there's only 16 apps shoddy? By your
post, it's an argument that there's no unique content for Honeycomb for the
next 6 months – that there's no unique content vs. iPad _or_ iPad 2 for the
next 6 months. And don't forget that those 6 months are not a vacuum of
development for either Apple or 3rd party devs. Apple's likely to announce a
new iOS release, and there will be tens of thousands of new, unique apps
posted to the iOS App Store.

I think that's a pretty solid argument against Xoom, especially since Xoom
loses on every other factor (I think consumers care about) right off the bat.

~~~
mhw
I agree with your list, but I think the 'What can I do with it?' question is
more like 'What's the potential for me being able to do new things with this
in the future?' - apps, and the likelihood of more of them being available in
the future, translate into people valuing the device for more than just what
it will do when they first get it out of the box.

With iOS there's a reasonable expectation that the consumer will be able to
choose from a growing selection of applications in the future, based on the
past performance of the App Store and Apple's marketing around it. This
translates into extra value, in that the device has the potential to increase
in capability over time.

I think you could argue the case that the Android platform could also be
perceived this way by consumers, although I suspect the mainstream consumer is
maybe less certain of the future availability of applications on Android.
(That's based on the limited marketing of Android, and specifically of it as a
platform for apps, that I've seen in the UK, so may be different in other
markets.)

But I do think it places the other platforms (HP's WebOS, RIM's QNX) at a
distinct disadvantage. I think many consumers will consider them to be worse
value purely because they don't expect they'll be able to choose from a
growing selection of applications in the future.

------
briancooley
I don't understand why anyone would call the XOOM heavy in comparison to the
iPad. The comparisons I have seen list them both at 730g.

I have them both, and I would say that the XOOM is more comfortable to hold.
The two big factors are the texture of the back and the fact that I so often
hold them in portrait mode. The widescreen form factor of the XOOM makes it
easier to handle in portrait mode.

------
SeanDav
To argue about the price/features of the Xoom vs iPad is to miss the point (in
my opinion). The point is: Do you want to drink the Apple Kool-Aid or have
similar functionality but much more freedom with Andriod.

Personally I just won't buy Apple, no matter how much I recognize how good
Apple are. I just do not want to be locked into 1 company.

~~~
flyosity
I imagine your feelings run deep enough re: vendor lock-in that you certainly
don't own a PS3, Xbox 360 or Wii, right? If you really don't want to be tied
to one vendor and you're not also thinking about the biggest "locked-in"
platforms on the planet then you're being hypocritical.

~~~
dagw
The difference, at least for me is that games and gaming isn't really that
important, it's a fun indulgence and not much more. If I can't play a certain
game or use a certain controller on my PS3, then, so what. If on the other
hand my productivity is hampered by the fact that I can't open a specific
document, do a particular task or connect a particular peripheral to something
I hope to use as a general purpose computing then that is a real problem. So
it's not so much vendor lock-in as such, as vendor lock in that adversely
affects me and gets in my way.

