

The end of the road for the Nexus One - corbet
http://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/396670/fb69fa89d0ffd990/

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risotto
Another point with the N1 end is that it is the only phone running Android 2.2
(without hacked roms). This means that there are _no_ phones a customer can
buy to get Android 2.2 now.

Android is a great platform and I've been seeing more and more of them in the
hands of people in the wild. But it's still a battle to tame the cell phone
market as well as compete in the luxury smart phone category that Apple has
captured.

~~~
igorgue
People use Android phones without even knowing it has Android on it!, I think
that's the ultimate goal, like Linus says: The OS should be invisible to the
user.

~~~
rbranson
This is part of what makes Android marketing so challenging. You've got
Samsung, Motorola, HTC, etc adding their own flavor to the OS on top of
multiple handset vendors with a variety of devices. Nobody knows they run
"iOS" on their iPhone, but in order to make an informed comparison of Android
devices, they must be familiar with the OS.

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Tichy
Vodafone in Germany is supposed to sell N1, only they are out of stock and
have problems getting enough of them to satisfy orders. The Vodafone N1 might
not be as open as the Google N1, though :-(

The other day I had a crazy idea: what if some hardware maker would just
create a good phone and leave it to customers and vendors to decide what
operating system they want?

Most probably wouldn't bother, but it might make for a better feeling? For
example, I don't think many Mac users actually use Bootcamp to run Windows on
their Macs, but I suspect a lot of people felt more confident to switch to
Macs given they had the option to revert to Windows at any time.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
The UK Vodafone Nexus is (surprisingly, given my previous experience with
Vodafone) as open the ones bought direct from Google in the US.

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alain94040
_Promotion of the Nexus One was minimal and, seemingly, limited to Google's
advertising network_

Considering that it was featured on Google's home page like no product ever
before, I wouldn't call that _minimal_.

~~~
elblanco
Perhaps a better question is "if the N1 failed, being promoted on Google's ad
network, how good is Google's ad network?"

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ronaldj
I would've bought one if they released it for Verizon.

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dlsspy
I'm really happy with my Nexus One. It's a shame these aren't in more people's
hands.

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bd_at_rivenhill
_It is an expensive device - on the face of it, rather more so than a shiny
new iPhone 4, and it doesn't even come with a free case._

+1 for taking a cheap shot at Apple.

~~~
listic
I wonder, do phone users in the USA really fall for this trick of hiding most
of the price of handset into recurring payments? (so that an iPhone is
perceived to be a $199 phone instead of a $1000 phone which it really is)

When the carriers tried this scheme in Russia upon the introduction of iPhone,
it was a failure. Carriers developed different tiered plans, specifically for
the iPhone, but I guess this simple trickery just couldn't hide the fact that
it is a $1000 handset, and there just isn't that large market here for that.
(Mind you, I think the 6-figure sales were good, just not up to Apple's
expectations of selling millions of devices)

~~~
drivebyacct2
I both understand and don't understand your sentiment. I had two options.

Buy my phone outright for $600. Pay $10 + $30 a month for the line and data.
OR. Buy my phone for $200 and sell my soul to Verizon for 24 months. Pay $10 +
$30 a month for the line and data. I plan on being with Verizon for the
foreseeable future. Why would I not choose the subsidized phone?

~~~
stanleydrew
>Why would I not choose the subsidized phone?

Because there is an implicit cost to being in a contract. It restricts your
choices. I know you plan on being with Verizon for the forseeable future, but
things change quickly in the world of mobile devices. Also, people move for
jobs, school, family reasons, etc, and service quality isn't consistent even
on Verizon.

For some people it's worth $400 to avoid having their decisions restricted by
a contract.

~~~
glhaynes
But that's $400 of guaranteed cost vs. an early termination fee (usually
around $300, I think?) that you very likely won't have to pay.

~~~
detst
A termination fee that decreases with time. It makes no sense to pay full-
price for a phone in the USA.

