I would guess that all the negative reactions from developers during ADC2 has left a bad taste in Google's mouth. I was really amazed how angry and caustic a large number of developers got during this contest. In the end, I think it was counter productive and a waste of developer and Google resources. A much better use was giving away devices to the thousands of developers who qualified in the seeding program.
If you look at what a contest such as ADC can do, it really alienates virtually anyone who participates or in the case of ADC2, those that couldn't participate because of the limitations and rules of the contest. How many developers came away satisfied with the ADC? Probably 30. The rest, which numbered in the thousands, were left feeling like losers. That's the problem with contests such as ADC. There are a few winners and lots and lots of losers. On the other hand, giving away thousands of Droid and Nexus One devices made many people feel good about Google and the developer programs in general. There were still a lot of whiny ones who were disgruntled because they didn't receive their device exactly two weeks after being notified, but the vast majority were happily surprised and delighted by the gift. Ask yourself, which would you rather have: A one in 10,000 chance of winning some large bit of money that requires three months of hard work to participate or a guarantee of receiving $500 (in the form of a device) for work already done. To me, there is no choice here, I'll take the sure thing any day. -John Coryat -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
