
Google quits selling tablets - lando2319
https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/01/google-quits-selling-tablets/
======
__sr__
Good riddance! It’s not like they have actively been developing Android to
support tablets. In fact, it is the other way around. The older versions had
better support for tablets. Even Nexus 9 was a half hearted attempt at best —
and the rest is history. Google’s lack of interest in nowhere more evident
than their own apps — many of them were just scaled versions of phone apps.
And if Google is not bothering to optimise their apps for tablets, what
motivation do third party developers have?

Strictly speaking, Android tablets never even competed in the same arena as
the iPad. Samsung is an exception, but they don’t control the ecosystem —
which makes things much harder for them — even if we ignore their atrocious
software.

~~~
dalbasal
In a lot of cases a scaled (or just small) phone app is good enough. But...
overall.. I think the tablet category is just not a very big one. I had an
iPad and an old 7" nexus. When they died, I didn't replace.

Phones got bigger and better. We got better at thumb typing and comfortable
holding screens close. Reading on a tablet for example, is not _that_
different to a phone these days and a (cheap) dedicated reader is better
still. Meanwhile, laptops kept getting more mobile. The space between my phone
and my laptop is just not that big. I found that I only ever charged it before
flights, for movies which is great on tablets. But even that.. laptops and
phones work good too.

Otherwise, my tablets were often battery-dead and I most tablets i come across
in friends living rooms are dead. They don't get much use. When a laptop or
phone died, I need a new one tomorrow. The tablet... no urgency.

Tablets are fun and cool. People like them. I'm not sure they use them as much
as they expected to. It's a less extreme version of smart watches. Fun.
Likeable. Not essential for most people.

The problem is that the android and iOS monoliths (especially sofwarists) will
always put the phones first. If we had a less centralised ecosystem, tablets
would have their own specialists.

~~~
__sr__
I guess that varies from person to person. My iPad Pro, for example, is my
most used personal device. I prefer it over my phone whenever possible. In
fact, I like phones small - it’s a pain to pull out a brick every time I want
to talk.

It’s a matter of personal taste, I guess.

~~~
doingmything
Do people stilll talk on phones?

Serious question. I think I do about 99% of my communication via text or other
messaging

~~~
stryk
I see this question asked a lot on almost all tech-centric places on the 'net.
I think it's a decent example of the "thought bubble" that happens in tech
circles both online and off. Where is it that these people asking the question
actually _go_ - in real life - that they _don 't_ see many people talking via
voice on their phones? I ask because almost everywhere I go or practically
have ever gone since cell phones became ubiquitous, up to and including this
very morning, I come across multiple instances of people talking on their
phones.

------
sliken
I loved my nexus-7, and the 2nd gen nexus-7 even more. Inexpensive, pure
android, decent hardware spec, and a usefully larger display than a phone.

Anyone know of a current table that avoids the adware, crapware, and 3d
contact managers where each card flies around in 3D? I just want android with
the current security updates and 7-9" display.

~~~
shasheene
Samsung Chromebook Plus satisfies my needs for a tablet: mainly media
consumption (web browsing, YouTube, reading long articles, and watching
movies).

1\. Incredibly nice screen

2\. Gets security updates (ChromeOS devices are great for this compared to the
dumpster fire that is Android security)

3\. Haven't had any issues with Android support (I use mainly apps like
RBDigital, Instapaper, Wikipedia)

4\. Works well for movies (I watch in laptop mode using stock media player)

5\. No bloatware

6\. Really good battery life.

It also has a stylus which works well, but I've returned to paper exercise
books for note taking.

I can't recommend the device enough.

My biggest gripe is I need to carry a USBC->USBA adapter to be able to charge
my phone, or connect USB drives. They're cheap, but it's a bit annoying.

~~~
Bud
Current iPad trounces the Samsung in all these categories (except Android
support, of course), though, and costs less too. And has a better aspect
ratio. And is much lighter.

~~~
_emacsomancer_
> is much lighter

presumably because of (lack of) keyboard.

~~~
Bud
It's lighter even if you include Apple's (very nice) keyboard. And has a
higher build quality.

~~~
diffeomorphism
Its $100+ keyboard? And that is still missing the $100 pencil. And you get a
smaller screen.

If you want a 12 inch screen with keyboard and pen this starts at $850.
Suprise, double the price gives you something marginally nicer.

~~~
_emacsomancer_
> double the price gives you something marginally nicer.

But then you have use an iOS walled garden.

------
zdw
The mid level tablet market died in a race to the bottom.

Looking on aliexpress or taobao, you'll find dozens upon dozens of cheap
tablets with CPU's from allwinner or rockchip, a few gigs of ram/flash and a
not that great 8-10" screen for <$100. At higher price points you can get a
chromebook with a keyboard and arguable more functionality.

Completing against these are a few Samsung models that have their highly
customized variant of Android, and Apple holding the premium ground with
iOS/HW quality/price/performance, and MS selling the Surface with Windows for
similar prices.

The best we can hope for is for low end tablets to improve over the next few
years.

~~~
drak0n1c
Apple's newest full form-factor iPad is only $300, and often is available on
sale for ~$270. I think that's made a big difference.

~~~
the_snooze
I picked up one of those iPads at ~$270 with an academic discount, and it's a
solid machine. Great battery life, good screen, enough space for a couple
Netflix movies on flights. It doesn't feel cheap or compromised at all.

~~~
snuxoll
I just bought one for my five year old, it's a pretty damned impressive device
- she loves drawing on my 12.9" iPad Pro and having Apple Pencil support
across the whole product line means she can do so on a less expensive device
(the 12.9" Pro is already beastly enough, I cannot bear to put a case on it).
With some fairly large games loaded up we've still got roughly 40% of the
storage free, and with app offloading in iOS 11 I don't really have to worry
about space like I do on her now defunct Fire HD 7.

With that being said, I couldn't downgrade to the 9.7" iPad from the Pro
models, I didn't think the non-laminated screen would be too much of a deal
but it really does make a huge difference.

~~~
ghaff
The 12.9"iPad Pro is one of the few pricey electronic devices I've found
myself buying and then not really using. I had a lot of ambitions for using it
for instructional-type drawing but I didn't really get that going. And it's
just too big and heavy to use generally. And I say this as someone who really
likes its smaller sibling, especially when I'm traveling.

But the big iPad now just sits on a stand in the kitchen where I use it for
recipes and the odd video. It's pretty underutilized.

~~~
snuxoll
The 12.9” is rather large, I certainly use it less than I anticipated because
of it since it’s not particularly friendly to hold for expected periods. When
I eventually upgrade I might consider getting the 10.5” model as a result -
though I enjoy the larger screen still for certain activities like reading
replica newspaper and magazine subscriptions.

~~~
ghaff
I like the 10.5" more for most purposes although, as you say, every now and
then the larger screen is useful. If it's just flowing text I'm reading, I
actually prefer the Kindle Paperwhite but the iPad is sufficiently more
versatile that that's what I almost always bring when traveling.

------
derefr
> Cheap Kindle tablets from Amazon have proliferated somewhat, presumably as
> distractions for kids who would otherwise get fingerprints all over mom’s
> new phone, or for ultra-compact time-wasting on airplanes.

Why does everybody think of only consumer-electronics uses for a $40 tablet? I
think it would be quite obvious what the real use for these is: IoT control
surfaces (the “smart fridge” upgrade), POS systems, inventory kiosks, etc.
Embedded systems, in other words.

And, heck, for $40 apiece, you can embed them into every desk in your office
as a personalizeable dashboard. Or hand them out with preloaded maps on them
to every participant in a missing-persons search.

In fact, for $40, you could just set the display to a single colour and call
it a cheaper alternative to a smart lightbulb. :P

~~~
akhilcacharya
I agree completely! I've been thinking about why the rise of the ultra-cheap
Fire tablets haven't created a new maker revolution so to speak. They can be
had for cheaper than the RPi for Black Friday with a built in screen!

~~~
djrogers
Well it’s not as if Amazon lets you hack around around on them or side load
apps - you’re stuck with the Amazon store unless you try a dodgy exploit based
unlocking method - which leaves you with a questionable tablet.

~~~
dawnerd
Exactly. And they sneakily auto update before you realize it. My older one
apparently can’t be rooted now and because they pump new ones out there’s no
one really caring about the old ones. Hard to complain for the price but ya
know still sucks. They make great gifts at least.

------
013a
Microsoft seems like the only company that understands tablets right now. They
should be more like computers, not more like phones.

There's also a pretty great argument that given all of our phones are absolute
powerhouses nowadays, phones should also be less like phones and more like
computers. I'm hopeful Microsoft can also move to spur on this change; maybe
soon the market will be ready for the return of Windows Phone.

~~~
esturk
It's only a matter of time for the convergence of phones and Dex like docking
functionality. I'm actually surprised Google isn't exploring this area more
because it will really kick up the versality of phones. I guess Google doesn't
want phones to cannabalize their Chromebook marketshare.

~~~
imtringued
Phones aren't built for active cooling. Google maps turns my phone into a
blowtorch after 30 minutes of usage.

~~~
esturk
The dock can have cooling capabilities which is something that haven't been
attempted yet. It can be similar to Laptop Cooling Pads. Just like when I put
my phone in front of the air ventilation with AC on, it doesn't get hot even
with mapping on.

------
bhauer
I am not surprised. What we think of today when we say "tablet" is a first-
class computing device and I am of the opinion few people want a plurality of
such devices in their life. This is due to what I call the "yet another
application platform dilemma." At some saturation point, few people want the
mental burden of adding the care and feeding of another device to their life.
Few people want to manage numerous devices each of which requires installation
and configuration of applications, processing of notifications they've seen
elsewhere, and irksome routine updates.

Multi-device living is exhausting when each device is a first-class
application platform that (out of necessity) assumes it may be your exclusive
piece of technology.

A few years back, I argued [1] that we have forgotten an alternative
definition of tablet, a device category that—were it executed well, and with
today's capabilities—would be sufficiently compelling that I would buy several
for my household:

> _In the early 2000s, Microsoft experimented with mobile display panels in a
> tablet form factor called "Smart Displays." ... Smart Displays provided
> access to your desktop computer via Wi-Fi. With their poorly executed
> hardware, short-sighted licensing limitations in Windows XP, immaturity of
> the RDP protocol, high prices, and essentially no marketing, Smart Displays
> were a certain failure from the start._

> _But theirs was a trajectory for tablets that has since been lost to
> history. They existed to bring your singular computing environment to you,
> wherever you were, in a convenient form factor._

That singular computing platform with multiple views model is what I have
wanted essentially my whole life. I've called it "PAO" (Personal Application
Omnipresence) [2] for the last several years. I believe it's a model that
could be highly compelling if executed broadly by a tech titan willing to try
something different.

[1] [http://tiamat.tsotech.com/why-tablet-sales-are-
falling](http://tiamat.tsotech.com/why-tablet-sales-are-falling)

[2] [http://tiamat.tsotech.com/pao](http://tiamat.tsotech.com/pao)

~~~
jeroenhd
FINALLY, someone who had the same idea as me. I've actively looked for ways to
do something like this and even considered setting something like this up in a
quick and dirty way (by abusing X forwarding over the internet across devices;
probably the closest I'll get to making this system work without modifying
every program on my computer).

The sheer inefficiency of getting my email on my phone, laptop, PC and tablet
across several apps without any of them communicating between them is driving
me mad.

I have an overpowered gaming machine in my room and a slow, old Samsung tablet
near my bed. If I want to read something in bed, I'll have to suffer through
the slow Chrome browser with all of its lag and lack of hardware accelerated
decoding while there's a machine with incredible graphical power available
_right there_. I'd love to turn my tablet into a thin client for my PC, but
that requires a mix of slow or unstable remote desktop apps.

In my mind, this concept would also have other devices help with the workload.
For example, when my server is busy running compilers, my laptop can kick in
and help out with some of the work by doing the Javascript for my tablet. This
makes the work more complicated, but combines the power of my collection of
personal devices into a single platform.

I really hope someone or some company can help the world move this way. It's
been done before in part back when thin clients were the latest hit and after
the last few years, responsive design has been normalized to the point
combined systems like these have a real chance of becoming the next thing in
computing.

Sadly, I fear the moment this becomes popular the general population will just
pick a cloud-based solution so they don't need to set up an application
server, which gives companies like Amazon and Google even more power and data
then they already have.

------
Benjamin_Dobell
This is somewhat strange. I thought tablets killed the PC market. My wife is a
primary school teacher and it's very difficult to teach children to use a
mouse because they all have tablets at home.

I know _Android_ tablets haven't been selling well, but that's because people
like me have been desperately waiting for a decent device to be released.
iPads are absolutely everywhere.

What's the proposed alternative for media consumption? In particular reading,
but even watching videos and playing "board" games etc.

~~~
sundvor
Set them up with Fortnite and that won't be a problem much longer.

(You'll have plenty of new ones, though!)

~~~
yjftsjthsd-h
The new solitaire? When mice first became a thing, games were useful to teach
the motor skills; I suppose there's no reason it wouldn't work again:)

------
makecheck
For me the tablet form factor was killed not by apps but ironically the non-
apps: web browsing went from _perfection_ to _trash_ once sites tried to
detect touch screens and “improve their experiences”.

Pinch-and-zoom with normal sites goes a _long way_ and should have been the
preferred tablet web model.

~~~
qrbLPHiKpiux
Reddit is trying to force me into downloading their app and constantly
switches to the mobile interface. I always have to request desktop site, as I
really like the desktop format, using pinch and zoom.

~~~
chapium
Same here, their requests are getting more and more intrusive. I'm about to
abandon the platform. The desktop site works so well on mobile, I'm not sure
why they want to move away from that.

------
giancarlostoro
My favorite tablet ever made is discontinued and I never got to buy it[0] and
it had a design that made complete sense to me. It is the only tablet where
the speakers are facing you and they're on the top and bottom (idk any other
tablet doing this...) and they're really loud. My fiance has one because I
recommended it to her, and her parents got it for her as a graduation present.

It has it's funky moments, but I'm upset they never renewed it. It was slick
and no nonsense. It's a gaming tablet, but a tablet is a tablet. Dear Nvidia,
bring back the Nvidia Shield Tablet and market it better. Market it for
everyone, not just 'gamers' and you could make a killing off it, if you QA it
enough.

I love Android and want a serious tablet, but instead I have an iPad. I just
don't understand why nobody makes a decent (more competitive like the Shield)
Android Tablet.

[0]: [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/tablet/](https://www.nvidia.com/en-
us/shield/tablet/)

~~~
freehunter
>the speakers are facing you and they're on the top and bottom

This drives me crazy on my iPad. My phone came out in 2016 and has stereo
speakers. My iPad came out in 2017 and despite being massive in comparison
with tons of available space (and weirdly, a headphone jack) it only has one
speaker.

Yet I never watch movies on my phone and I do it all the time on my iPad,
where it makes way more sense to have stereo speakers. Get your shit together
Apple.

~~~
wlesieutre
The iPad Mini (2012) and iPad Air (2013) and all iPads since have stereo
speakers on either side of the bottom edge. They're laid out for portrait
though, since Apple treats that as the standard orientation. Not ideal for
watching movies.

The Pro versions have four speakers in the corners and adjust which pair are
left vs right depending on whether you're in portrait or landscape.

~~~
freehunter
Plus Apple’s official case (Smart Cover) only allows you to prop it up in
landscape mode, not portrait mode.

~~~
wlesieutre
Especially with split screen modes making landscape more powerful I have to
wonder if they’ll change their tune and go for a landscape-first approach in
the next redesign. Ditching the home button in favor of FaceID seems like it
would be the right moment to move the camera and other sensors to the long
edge opposite the keyboard connection.

------
kelnos
> _... few people see any reason to upgrade a device that was originally sold
> for its simplicity and ease of use, not its specs. I, for one, have been
> using the third-gen (1st Retina) iPad since its release approximately 500
> years ago and have never felt any compulsion whatsoever to get a new one._

This seems a little weird to me. Don't tablets age in a similar way that
smartphones age? As in, the battery gets weaker over time (sure, often you can
replace); OS updates, being designed for current hardware, cause slowdowns;
apps written for the latest-and-greatest assume more resources and higher
specs, etc.? I guess if all you use your tablet for is watching videos on
YouTube, and don't care about OS updates (which you should, if you care about
security at all), then maybe it's ok.

I think a more plausible reason for sales numbers falling is that people just
don't need or want tablets as much as they thought they did, especially with
smartphone screens getting larger with every generation.

~~~
FussyZeus
Anecdotal: my iPads have _never_ aged the way my iPhones do. As to the
reasons, I suspect the primary is just where and how it's used: I beat the
piss out of my iphones, dropping them, using them out of good areas, on the
go, in the car, while eating, etc. where my iPads have a comparatively nice
existence largely in my home. The most strenuous environment I use my tablets
in is my porch.

But yeah, I just recently upgraded from an Air to the iPad Pro, mostly for the
bigger screen and pencil. I had no reason to replace the current one other
than having no reason to have two; 5 years on, it was kicking just as hard as
ever.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
My iPad Air has slown down to be almost unusable. It is ancient, and I’m
guessing it’s the battery + software throttle going on, but it is still very
reminiscent of an aging iPhone.

~~~
MBCook
I’m not sure the throttling stuff really happens on the iPad. That was a check
they added to the phones because of the unexpected shutdown issues, I don’t
think that’s ever been much of a problem on the iPads because of their giant
batteries.

However there is a known issue where for some reason iOS can start to get
extremely slow. Restoring from backup or doing a fresh install sometimes makes
a device WAY faster. Not unlike Windows back in the 95 days.

We solve reports of this when people were doing battery replacements. They go
into Apple, get a new battery, and their phone wasn’t any faster. Then they’d
do a fresh install and everything was fine. We also saw people give it a try
before the battery replacement program was announced and have the same
results.

Basically, the batteries and the only reason iOS can get insanely slow.
There’s obviously some kind of rail bug that can destroy performance. But a
fresh install fixes it.

~~~
tinus_hn
Typically this happens if you run out of storage space. I don’t really know
why but if you have less than about a gigabyte of free space everything
becomes really slow.

------
duxup
My Chromebook that runs Android apps has replaced any need for a tablet for
me. It is lighter than my bug laptop but still can get a lot done and if I
want I fold it into tablet mode and I'm set.

~~~
limeblack
This is not a serious solution at the time I tried this several months ago.

Most of the apps I downloaded for Android were not optimized well for a
Chromebook with text/window sizing, prevented resizing of the windows and were
downright buggy(not registering presses and sometimes would even crash.)

~~~
duxup
What model did you try?

I'm using a Chromebook Plus, outside of the very first release when it
supported apps, I haven't had any issues.

------
foobaw
I used to work on Tablets with Google. Tablets have higher margins so it's a
very attractive business for OEMs but compatibility was definitely an issue.

Tons of Android apps weren't developed with screen compatibility in mind so QA
was a nightmare (Sending massive emails to app developers asking them to fix
their apps).

------
nafizh
With the new low cost Ipad, Apple will absolutely kill any and all
competition. I am a graduate student, bought the new ipad with 290$ + 90$
pencil from my university book store. My life has totally changed. All my
notes, and research now happens in the ipad. The writing is so smooth it feels
like I have been doing it all along, and I won't ever need to go back to pen
and paper. It is a mind blowing combination of hardware and software. And with
the cost down, now within many people's reach who never thought of owning one.

~~~
hliyan
$329 + $99 unless you're a student...

Question: can it do handwriting recognition?

~~~
tomduncalf
Both Apple Notes and Notability make handwriting searchable. There are
handwriting to text apps available on the App Store too, haven’t personally
tried one.

------
dschuler
The problem is that people just don't buy a lot of tablets compared to
smartphones. This is true of iPhones and iPads also. If you take a look at the
most recent annual SEC report for Apple [0], you can see that Apple sold 5
iPhones for every iPad in 2017, and the number of iPads sold has dropped for
the two years prior to that. It doesn't matter if Google/Nvidia/Samsung could
or couldn't make a good Android tablet when people just don't buy many of
them, unfortunately.

That said, I still have the Nexus 9 I got at Google I/O 2015, which didn't
really live up to expectations despite costing as much as an iPad a the time.
The rubberized plastic has begun to wear off, the display has started to show
a small air bubble (!) in the top corner, and the flash speed is so slow that
you can actually watch Chrome animate a new tab open. Not to mention Android
7.1 is the latest update for that device. I don't think Google tried to make a
tablet that people would really want, so a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy
there.

I say this as a full-time Android developer, so maybe my expectations are a
bit high, but who knows...

[0]
[https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/0000320193170...](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019317000070/a10-k20179302017.htm)

~~~
ksec
But iPad has a much longer replacement cycle. There are roughly 350M iPad
still in use , and as a device usage number it is still growing. So I don't
think tablet is dead, it is being used in places and usage we never thought
before.

------
sunstone
A lot of tablet opinions on here. Mine is not yet represented (after 6 hours)
so here it is.

Yes I had the Nexus 7's, too slow and too small. The tablet you want is an 8
inch tablet for reading books, storing music and play lists (VLC of course),
and browsing the web or reading books lying on your sofa.

The best tablet at the moment that fits the bill is the ASUS ZenPad S 8.0
Z580C-B1-BK for $275 USD (newegg.com). Why? The screen is excellent at
2048x1536 pixels. Speed is fast enough to keep you happy. 2G of RAM and 32G of
storage with option of SD card to max out for your music and movies. (Asus has
a lot of cheaper tablets with low resolution screens so be careful to get the
right one.)

If you go for this tablet be sure to google to find out how to increase the
Android version. It's a bit tricky but doable and worth it.

------
jxdxbx
In think 8” tablets are a good form factor for content consumption (ebooks,
movies, some games) but Android tablets always fall short even then. You need
a good screen, especially for text. The 2015 iPad Mini 4 is still much better
than any similarly-sized Android tablet.

~~~
m-p-3
To be honest most of the time I used my tablet was for reading stuff online. I
sold it and bought a Kobo eReader instead. I push articles I want to read
later to Pocket and read them there instead.

My only wish would be to see a decent eReader with an email/calendar client to
read my work emails on it and see my schedule. I looked at the reMarkable but
despite its impressive annotation capabilities, it doesn't have anything else
I would find useful at work.

~~~
jxdxbx
I use a 12.9” iPad Pro for most tablet purposes which is superior for me for
everything except ebooks. It’s perfect for comics and PDFs and many games and
it’s my laptop replacement when I travel (as an Old I prefer a real desktop
computer, not a laptop, for day to day work).

I agree that an ereader is ideal when compared with a small tablet; the Kobo
Aura One is the perfect size and aspect ratio (7.9”, 4x3) for me but it
doesn’t sync sideloaded books, and is a bit slow, and has no hardware buttons.
But it does have Pocket as you mentioned which is pretty nice. A few reading-
focused apps would indeed be welcome on ereaders.

Overall Android had an advantage over iOS at first in its support for multiple
phone sizes. But this just doesn’t scale well to tablets. You need separate
human-designed tablet apps just like you can’t hope to have automatic layouts
that scale between phones and desktops. I think Apple’s support for different
sizes of screen is actually better than Android’s now, with different compact
and normal portrait and landscape modes. The ironic thing is that a decent
iPad layout for an iPhone app doesn’t need to take longer than an afternoon.

------
tracker1
If there was a decent tablet made in the last 4-5 years that cost less than
$250, I'd probably get it... my last one was the Nvidia Shield Tablet, which
was nice, if a bit heavy, and the battery quickly stopped taking a charge... I
haven't even turned it on in over a year. Before that was the Nexus 7, which
was great, until OS updates made it run like a dog.

In the end, the shield has had better support than most, but that era of
battery tech was just really bad. I don't want an iThing.

~~~
leadingthenet
“I don't want an iThing.”

Your loss, because it’s exactly the device which would address your
complaints.

~~~
tracker1
As a developer, I just don't like the Apple experience all around. I do use
macos on my desktop and laptop is a rmbp. The iPod/Pad/Phone is just too
locked down for my taste.

------
erikb
Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 (the latter one being a mini tablet) were the best mobile
devices I ever had. They worked well together and on their own. Combined with
a real laptop and smart tv I really had all the sizes I could ever want to
have.

The problem, I think, is not that nobody wants tablets but that there simply
isn't a good one to buy anymore.

~~~
tracker1
It was almost as bad or worse than phones... updates were less frequent and
today it's hard to tell what's new or old anymore... On Amazon I see
everything from Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 etc. And nothing seems to have anything
newer than Marshmallow on it.

Google started selling "premium" devices, leaving thier middle/value segment
behind, and Amazon's Fire devices are at the low end running 2012 spec
hardware. It's hard to be enthusiastic about it.

------
IloveHN84
They were defeated at their own game... Android was out of control the moment
they allowed manufacturers to modify the OS, producing products that are no
longer upgradable after buying them (the low end sector is seen as buy and
throw).

------
assblaster
I have a Pixelbook and I love it, more useful than a tablet because of the
attached keyboard, and it still has a touch screen.

I think hybrid tablet computers will be the way forward versus clunky tablets
which are useful mostly for large format reading.

------
Abishek_Muthian
So ChromeOS with android apps it is, hopefully Google improves the android
capabilities of ChromeOS; but I wonder whether the android on chromeOS will
ever be nearly equal to a standalone version.

As of now Google NaCL severly limits background services (for good?) of
android apps, so you are required to keep it in foreground (above browser) for
long operations.

It's possible that, even threads are limited; as I noticed that some android
apps which are heavily multi-threaded slows down on the Chromebook 11 N7
(Acer).

Maybe this is Chromebook hardware specific, can anyone with a Pixelbook
comment how good the android app performance is on their hardware?

------
fencepost
I'll probably be picking up a new 10" tablet in the next couple of months, but
it'll be for use as an ebook reader for computer books and for use as a second
monitor
([https://www.splashtop.com/wiredxdisplay](https://www.splashtop.com/wiredxdisplay))
when I'm away from my desk.

It may not be the same as an external 14" monitor, but it'll be a lot more
portable.

------
John_KZ
A lot of comments here, but almost none of them are based on reality. Apples
has ~20% of the market share, and amazon another ~10%. That leaves the entire
70% of the tablet market occupied by Android devices. I know HN has an unusual
fondness for Apple's products but Apple products are not doing any damage to
Google or Android, only to their buyers pockets.

------
usernameforgot
These days when I'm not at my desk I carry a Samsung Tab A 10" tablet, a small
Logitech bluetooth keyboard, and do all my coding in Termux. Basically my
ideal hardware format, just wish I could get a bigger screen and maybe some
more CPU.

The idea that this kind of device should have a built-in keyboard is strange
to me. It's stuck to the screen!

------
nashashmi
I don't like the name of this article. "Quits" is akin to giving up.

It should have been "Google no longer promotes Android tablets" and the larger
reason for this is that they have a competing product called Google Chromebook
Tablet which will eventually run Android apps natively and with a plethora of
features.

------
joering2
Interesting thread but am I the only one here that still enjoys JooJoo tablet
some 8 years later? Sure they didnt ship too many units but os is based on
linux so all sorts of updates are welcome. Furthermore the batery on this
thing is insane- some 6 days without charging!

------
transfire
The idea that the tablet is dead is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. It is
probably the most useful form-factor there is -- at least ultimately. But it
hasn't come to full fruition yet. Stylus writing is really necessary, and
lighter weights will be a big deal. Ultimately the tablet will be ubiquitous,
and therefore must necessarily become dirt cheap. There is little to no profit
margin. Revenue will have to come from software. Which makes it really
disappointing that Google has bowed out as they are probably in the best
position to pull that off. But instead it looks like Amazon is going to own
the tablet market too, generating revenue via eBooks.

~~~
ahartmetz
Maybe we can declare laptops as tablets with integrated stand, extra powerful
hardware, built-in keyboard for efficient text input, and a much larger, less
regulated app ecosystem with much more featureful apps. Tablets are pretty
dumb really, IMO. That has been my opinion since the beginning of the tablet
hype. The only way for them to actually take over was for them to gain most
features of "regular" computers - maybe in unexpected ways. It could have
happened if Steve Jobs hadn't died so early.

Smartphones are very different - you can carry them in your pocket and that is
a huge deal. All the compromises make sense there.

~~~
fragmede
While there are "flip" style laptops, most of them are not. Try typing on a
laptop (and its keyboard) while standing/walking around and without a table or
any surface to rest the laptop on.

It's really cumbersome.

The solutions are to hunt and peck type with both thumbs, or use one hand to
hold the laptop and type with one hand, both of which are pretty dumb really,
IMO. (Especially on a 15" laptop.)

------
yason
To me it makes sense. Tablets don't seem so hugely popular and they've become
a commodity ages ago. Anecdotally, I've had a few and they all were left
sitting in a drawer somewhere pretty soon. While I have my phone for quick
lookups, a Chromebook for lightweight web browsing and long battery life, and
laptops for "serious" computing (i.e. work, other programming, some gaming),
I've never found much use for a tablet. And whatever use I had I could easily
have done with one of the earliest tablets I had. No reason to buy a new
tablet really, and not much of a reason to buy a tablet at all.

~~~
eksemplar
I guess I’m an oddity, I can’t remeber the last time I went to HN or reddit on
something other than my iPad. But I have an iPhone SE so maybe it’s just
because I have a small screen phone that I rarely browse the web in it.

~~~
fauigerzigerk
You must be keeping work and HN/Reddit admirably seperate then :)

~~~
eksemplar
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything on HN that was related to my job.

------
orbitingpluto
What I want to know is why new exercise equipment is running Android 2.2
Froyo.

I had to reboot a brand new stair climber with an Android interface today.
Software kept crashing whenever I tried to select an exercise profile.

------
skybrian
Apparently some newer Chromebooks run Android and have a tablet mode. Maybe
that means dedicated tablets aren't needed anymore?

~~~
deltron3030
Seems so. If you think about it, having smartphones, smaller tablets (<= 7")
running the same OS as 10/13" tablets didn't make sense in first place,
because they're just used differently. This also reflects in UI design, it
makes more sense to group a 10" tablet into a small laptop category, instead
of grouping them with 5 ~ 7" phones or small tablets half the width.

From a holistic perspective, regarding UI frameworks and the developer
experience in general, grouping by screen real estate vs. device category
could make the entire organization of things much simpler, improving the
developer experience by a lot.

Apple might do the same, turning their iPads into their new non pro laptop
line down the road. They already ditched the "mini" versions of their tablets
a while ago, and their UI framework switched from device category adaptability
to adaptability based on screen real estate. (e.g. a phone app could just be a
sidebar, and a tablet app the main content area on a 16:10 screen).

------
hyperpallium
Phones have become tablets. The trend continues.

We had to go via small phones, to adapt to touchscreens. Change in behaviour
is the adoption barrier.

------
dkobia
I have a Huawei Mediapad M3. Lovely tablet that I use more than my iPad.
Huawei is on a roll with hardware.

------
jimjimjim
everytime there is a tablet article on hn i feel the need to ask if there is a
replacement tablet at least as good as the nexus 7.

mine is physically looking a bit rough these days and i'm worried what I can
do if it finally breaks.

7inch tablets are the perfect size for reading ebooks on a train or in bed.

~~~
Macha
The old answer was the 8" Nvidia shield, which like the Nexus 7 is just better
than most current android tablets. unfortunately that is also discontinued
now.

------
lalos
Is somebody keeping track of all the projects that Google quits? Back in the
day we had this infographic [https://www.wordstream.com/articles/retired-
google-projects](https://www.wordstream.com/articles/retired-google-projects)

~~~
Shank
Gwern tracks Google's services, but not necessarily cancelled hardware:
[http://www.gwern.net/Google-shutdowns](http://www.gwern.net/Google-shutdowns)

------
em3rgent0rdr
Google ditching another endeavor is not news, given its history.

------
PeterMikhailov
I LOVE my tablet.

Badly titled article.

Google is not "giving up on tablets".

You feel shame now.

------
flippyhead
I didn't even know they sold tablets.

------
techsin101
Time for fuschia os

------
mike_kamau
Such a shame.

------
bitmapbrother
The news simply suggests Google isn't selling tablets anymore on their store.
Their last tablet was the Pixel C which was discontinued on December 28, 2017
so this news isn't exactly surprising. This does not mean, however, that
Android tablet are going away. You're still going to see tablets from Samsung,
Huawei, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, etc.

[https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-
held...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held-by-
tablet-vendors/)

------
qop
Android tablets were awful software on great hardware. Or decent hardware.
Sometimes great.

I hope that if fuchsia becomes the next Google mobile device os, that they
take special care to not fragment it into a million pieces within the first
few years.

Actually, I don't really care what they do after this year. I'm gonna switch
to iphone+ipad mini, and Google can go fuck themselves, which they usually do
anyways.

------
JVIDEL
People are still using tablets?

~~~
amelius
Nope, [https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/25/tablets-are-
dead/?guccount...](https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/25/tablets-are-
dead/?guccounter=1)

~~~
JVIDEL
I don't get the downvotes

------
pjmlp
All tablets worth using are using Windows 10.

Microsoft might have lost the mobile OS war, but outside US they won the
tablets and convertibles one.

------
mortdeus
Im just happy that tablets are finally dead. You have a super supped up
desktop computer at home sitting on your desk, and you have a relatively
supped up smart phone sitting in your pocket when you cant be sitting at your
desk.

Where does tablets fit into this scenario?

It doesn't. All tablets do is make app developers think they can somehow make
app experiences you can only achieve on the desktop, somehow attainable on the
go.

 _sorry for the bad grammar. kinda tipsy_

~~~
wepple
I don’t want to read a book or watch a few YouTube clips or browse twitter
whilst sitting at my desk in my office, nor do I want to poke at a tiny
screen.

Tablets are thriving, just not android tablets.

~~~
izacus
Even Android tablets are still selling very well. Just not the 500$ models
competing with iPads. People buy 200$ Chinese models because they provide the
same experience for most tablet use cases.

~~~
GalacticDomin8r
Yep pretty hard to beat my Lenovo Tab 2 10 for my purpose and have used
tablets daily for years. M

