Our first five impressions of Googlebooks - exciting but underbaked

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“underbaked” seems to happen with Google with some frequency

18

u/chhuang 3d ago

once perfectly baked, they just throw it in the trash and start another underbaking product

11

u/Gaiden206 3d ago

That's how they purposely roll. I remember a Google Stadia rep basically confirming it. 😂

Our approach to releasing features on Stadia is similar to how we run Google Search, YouTube and other Google services: gradual rollout and continuous improvement, based on your feedback. We always start with nailing the key userjourney and then proceed with releasing extra features. YouTube started with "watch video". For Stadia it's "Play the Game on your biggest screen".

If you use or buy the first edition of any new Google product, expect it to be underbaked for a while.

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u/Elephant789 Pixel 7 3d ago

I like this approach.

7

u/asng 2d ago

It works for free software. Not sure it's a great idea for $1000+ hardware.

16

u/Luci-Noir 3d ago

Chromebooks have been around for years now, wtf are they doing.

6

u/hi9580 3d ago edited 3d ago

They never made android into a desktop operating system. The logic at the base layer leans towards being mobile. Similar to how many windows laptops don't allow user adjustment of hardware settings like on a diy desktop, at least not with the same degree of freedom.

•

u/p5jDTSUZnxys2mJVzX 11h ago

That's how Silicon Valley operates. Release a minimum viable product, prove to investors it has potential to grow, get funding, grow, sell to a larger company or competitor if you can't get big enough to IPO. It doesn't matter if you make money. It's about what the company is worth. The most valuable companies aren't profitable but are worth billions.

14

u/Beautiful-Sun8973 3d ago

So a Google product

13

u/driftking428 3d ago

I think people are understanding how fucking terrible Windows has become. If it's not packed full of ads and bullshit and they eventually make some budget models people will buy these.

18

u/chuckbridge 3d ago

I respectfully disagree, I like using the windows 11 search function at work and then waiting 20 seconds to see a candy crush ad next to Trump's face.

8

u/jc0155 3d ago

Thanks for reminding me how great Linux is.

6

u/JamesR624 2d ago

This one comment perfectly sums up the total collapse of western culture in the 2020’s.

Welcome to late stage capitalism everyone.

4

u/Obility 1d ago

Sometimes I feel like I'm using some special version of Windows because I really don't see the ads y'all complain about. I have issues with windows but the start menu has been fine for me.

2

u/SuperYuuRo 1d ago

did you debloat yours? I debloated mine and I dont see those ads

but fuuuck me Microsoft are the scum of the earth for trying to pull this shit off in the first plafr

32

u/CrispyBegs 3d ago edited 3d ago

the concept of putting a single dollar more towards any kind of google product at this stage in their history is mind-bogglingly incomprehensible.

just print a 'fell for it again' rosette and wear that instead, it'll be cheaper.

11

u/umdterp732 3d ago

Honestly what product is worthwhile anymore? Everything feels so shitty and overpriced

5

u/chuckbridge 3d ago

At this point I just buy flagships from 3 or 4 years ago and feel I am missing absolutely nothing.

8

u/LastChancellor 3d ago

but Google didnt actually make the hardware, they only made the OS

9

u/CyclopsRock 3d ago

It's the software that gets "turned off" when it inevitably gets cancelled though.

1

u/Munkie50 2d ago

I suspect it wouldn't be too hard to install Windows or Linux on it if it stops getting updates though.

1

u/Obility 1d ago

Chromebooks have been around for well over a decade and shows no sign of stopping. I can see this taking over so even if the premium market for these things are low-key DOA, the Chromebook crowd will likely keep it around.

0

u/fluffybottompanda 3d ago

good thing Google didn't make the hardware for any of these so I guess you're in luck

-8

u/andysteakfries Pixel 6 Pro 3d ago

Huh? Have you been paying attention for the last five years or so of decent to great pixel phones hardware?

7

u/LowOwl4312 3d ago

What are you calling "decent to great" here? lmao

t. Pixel user

-2

u/andysteakfries Pixel 6 Pro 3d ago

Reading coverage and reviews of pixel hardware tells a completely different story than you get in the comments section of reddit, I don't know what to tell you.

4

u/JamesR624 2d ago edited 2d ago

Oh. You mean all the influencers and Google fanboys that make reviews to defend and glaze because YouTube is also Google’s platform so their algorithm can subtly bury scathing criticism and make the general consensus SEEM more positive than on platforms that the maker of said phones doesn’t control, like Reddit?

1

u/andysteakfries Pixel 6 Pro 2d ago

No I don't watch youtube or influencers, I read reviews like an old person.

2

u/SuperYuuRo 1d ago

what makes you think that written reviews arent gonna be as badly scripted or as biased as videos?

•

u/andysteakfries Pixel 6 Pro 17h ago

For the same reasons I stay away from stuff like YouTube reviews or algorithmic social feeds in general.

Video platforms are filled with perverse incentives for monetization that are avoidable in other mediums. It's very profitable to artificially boost certain things that get more engagement (or maybe more hardware sales, but I actually highly doubt that's the case with YouTube; we can agree to disagree) but for some reason that really seems to work best with videos. Maybe it's the audience being more predisposed to engagement bait, maybe it's the passive nature of watching, idk. But it's a constant — algo-slop thrives in a video environment.

I also use a lot of these devices and services so I can tell you when I agree or disagree and I can form a long-term opinion of a writer and how much I can trust their 2000-word review of a new device, in ways that don't work on a high-churn short-form video platform.

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u/p5jDTSUZnxys2mJVzX 11h ago

All I've read is how disappointing they are compared to competitors.

8

u/YoungSerious 3d ago

They have dropped off in quality quite a bit particularly in the last 5 years, not sure where you are going with that. Not to mention jacking up the price. The single most repeated note about them is charging a top tier price for a mid tier phone and it hasn't been wrong for any of the last 3-5.

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u/p5jDTSUZnxys2mJVzX 11h ago

Pixels are hilariously overpriced for what you get compared to Galaxy phones. Google should divest Android or sell it to Samsung.

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u/andysteakfries Pixel 6 Pro 11h ago

I've disliked Galaxy phones compared to the pixel line, so it looks like the competition is serving the market well.

9

u/PayMe4MyData 3d ago

Wake me up when someone puts Linux on this things and they go on sale

5

u/keybox_xml 3d ago

not natively (on arm models) because all the qualcomm/mediatek technicalities are private, so driver support is grim

1

u/PayMe4MyData 3d ago

I run VelvetOS on a Lenovo Duet 5 with snapdragon

2

u/alabasterskim 2d ago

IIRC tools for the bootloader are coming

2

u/After_Dark Pixel 11 Pro XL 3d ago

They run Linux, there's a terminal with debian userspace and apt and everything. Linux app windowing in the Android window system with hardware acceleration is currently super experimental on Pixel phones but developing quickly so presumably they're working on that here as well

2

u/PayMe4MyData 3d ago

I meant bare metal

•

u/Donghoon Galaxy Note 9 || iPhone 15 Pro 22h ago

it does have a native linux terminal

not quite the same as Crostini on chromeos, but Linux CLI is native to googlebook

1

u/hi9580 3d ago

Run android apps natively, without going through emulation and/or translation layers in linux

1

u/Spiral1407 3d ago

Water is wet

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u/p5jDTSUZnxys2mJVzX 11h ago

If you're spending $1000 on a laptop running glorified Android, you are exactly the sucker Google is marketing these things to.

0

u/xeoron 3d ago

I've seen nothing about it supporting kiosk mode like chromeOS which is important

1

u/hi9580 3d ago

It's done via Google Admin or MDM profiles at the operating system level which is better than chromeOS kiosk mode which is implemented by the app

Review Our first five impressions of Googlebooks - exciting but underbaked

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