So Gizmodo has the scoop on more details for the upcoming Nexus One phone from Google/HTC. My favorite quote:
“They’re not going to save us from the ‘making money off of hardware’ culture we’ve got right now, so this is basically just another Android handset, albeit a really good one”
Which is exactly what I said [a few weeks ago](http://jcieplinski.posterous.com/googles-nexus-one). Nexus One is just another Android phone. It’s not some revolution in handheld computing, a break from the tyranny of the big TelCos. It’s not even a Google branded phone. It’s just another phone made by HTC and sold through T-Mobile. You can order it unsubsidized through Google’s web site (for $580), but even then it appears that Google wants to make sure you know it’s an HTC phone, not a Google one. And even then, if you’re in the US, the only carrier you’ll be able to use it on is T-Mobile.
So another Android phone it is, one that will probably do a lot more to hurt Droid sales than iPhone sales.
The pattern remains:
- a new Android phone is rumored.
- It immediately is pronounced the “iPhone Killer”.
- It gets rave reviews from “people in the know”, long before it’s actually released.
- It gets released, with much fanfare but few sales.
- Apple has a record quarter for iPhone sales and increases its market share lead
- The next Android phone is rumored.
- Rinse.
- Repeat.
Meanwhile, everyone who bought the last Android phone is stuck with an older version of the operating system, which is missing features and can’t be upgraded until the carrier allows it. Good luck, Droid users, waiting for Verizon to approve an OS upgrade on your phone. There are a lot of Windows Mobile users who’d like to sell you a bridge or two.
It’s no wonder Verizon rose the price for canceling the contract early. (T-Mobile appears poised to do the same with Nexus One.) It’s as if they are admitting that buyer’s remorse is virtually guaranteed.
I used to think that Google was up to something clever with Android, but now I’m starting to agree with [Daniel Eran Dilger](http://www.roughlydrafted.com). Android is just a mess.
It’s hard to believe a company that hires nothing but PhDs could make so many painfully obvious mistakes in its business plan for Android. The entire strategy seems to be “copy every wrong move Microsoft has made in the last ten years.”
Unless Google doesn’t really want to make phones, or even maintain an OS for phones. Maybe they really do just want to kill off Microsoft and then get out of the phone business altogether, since Microsoft is the only company in mobile phones that discourages Google services.
One thought that keeps coming back to me: all of Apple’s success this decade isn’t as easy as Jobs makes it look. Three years after the announcement of the original iPhone, and not one serious competitor has arisen from all the great tech companies worldwide. That’s astounding to me. Palm made a great OS and a nice couple of phones, but doesn’t have the financial backing to make a big push in the market. RIM is smart enough after a couple of poor attempts at copying to stick with it’s core customer base and not try to compete with the iPhone directly. Everyone else is still floundering in some way or other.
