Very true. The thing is though, the "specific hardware package" probably goes back way before any public release of even the emulator. We can't know how many betas the hardware went through before the G1, just counting HTC.
I'm still very curious about the history of Android before the Google acquisition. It emerged out of the larger Linux/Java movement, that Motorola had already embraced. Intellectually, you'd probably also trace it back to Danger, and the Sidekick, which ties it into J2ME roots. (The above narrative is the reason I embraced Android immediately on hearing it suggested. Linux/Java was a mess, showing no signs of consolidating into anything useful, and I thought I'd be doing J2ME ports for the rest of my life. I just assumed Nokia would win the smartphone war). Of course that is true of Apple too, (bringing the thread a bit back to topic from my tangent). And it seems in character for Apple to have kept tinkering with iPhone like hardware since the dawn of time. I am finding it harder to speculate on Android's future though. I'm expecting it to become a powerful, if not dominant platform in the Tablet space, and in the larger Touch Screen device market. I'd love a cheap Android netbook. The display rack at Google IO of all the Android devices on the market was really impressive. And since then hardware has been coming out so fast I have had to admit I won't be able to know everything about all Android devices. It used to be I could feel I knew everything I needed to know about all Smartphones! You can see why Apple feels threatened. But they will probably keep leading the consumer into new markets, with Android right behind it. I love my iPad. I can't wait to buy a large form factor Android device as soon I see one that seems worth the price. Meanwhile Android will also enter new markets that Apple can try to follow in. Anyway to answer the original question of the thread, I'm not at all surpised that there aren't more good Android tablets out. Apple does have a nice economy of scale thing going to keep prices down, but so do lots of manufacturers. It is very good at marketing, and also predicting what users will pay for. They make lots of mistakes, they still keep getting the server side wrong. (Trying to watch their last keynote was real hard for me, the video kept failing on my PC, and Quicktime could not remember my last position). In terms of major Android product launches, HTC was the only manufacturer until Motorola launched the Droid. (At least in the US market). Sony Ericsson seems to be doing very well in some international markets. I was dissapointed by the first Samsung phones I got ahold of, but I'm really looking forward to trying their Sprint 4G device. I think Samsung has a real opportunity with Android, they have always been very strong with their CDMA phones, they seem a natural fit to release a ton of cheap Android devices across the CDMA market. But anyway, that all happened pretty recently, and that was putting Android a phones. It was made for phones! Now that the iPad has succeeded, everyone is adjusting their numbers up in terms of Tablet development, I bet. There are lots of people who will buy any Apple product, but there are also plenty who won't buy any Apple product, and can't wait to see what their favorite brand has to offer. My 2 cents, -MK On Jun 30, 12:54 am, Al Sutton <[email protected]> wrote: > The figure I stated for the iPhone and Android didn't include time before the > public release of hardware, so 20ish months if you want to be 100% precise, > but you get the idea. > > App development is one thing, but we're talking about a specific hardware > package here (i.e. an iPad alternative), so the important thing is the > timeline for the evolution of the hardware because without the right > components in the right package with a good set of drivers you won't have a > "android tablet nearly as good as ipad" as the OP wondered about. > > Al. > -- > > * Looking for Android Apps? - Tryhttp://andappstore.com/* > > ====== > Funky Android Limited is registered in England & Wales with the company > number 6741909. > > The views expressed in this email are those of the author and not necessarily > those of Funky Android Limited, it's associates, or it's subsidiaries. > > On 30 Jun 2010, at 01:50, Matt Kanninen wrote: > > > > > Al, why only 18 months into Android, what happened 18 months ago? That > > would seem to about match the wiki page for the release of 1.1 > > " > > 1.1 > > Released 9 February 2009 > > " > > > does 18 match up with the AOSP, the first public drop, or the G1, or > > something? > > > But I figure I'm like 30 months into Android app development, if I did > > my math right. Those of us that started with the first public > > Android emulator, started around here: > > >http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/20071112_android_challen... > > > " > > November 12, 2007 > > " > > > -MK > > > On Jun 29, 11:42 am, Al Sutton <[email protected]> wrote: > >> There are a few good Android tablets around (Dell Streak, Huawei S7, Cisco > >> Cius). > > >> It took apple 3 years to come up with the iPad after the iPhone, we're > >> still only 18 months in to Android :). > > >> Al. > >> -- > > >> * Looking for Android Apps? - Tryhttp://andappstore.com/* > > >> ====== > >> Funky Android Limited is registered in England & Wales with the company > >> number 6741909. > > >> The views expressed in this email are those of the author and not > >> necessarily those of Funky Android Limited, it's associates, or it's > >> subsidiaries. > > >> On 29 Jun 2010, at 19:35, a genius wrote: > > >>> On Jun 27, 8:52 pm, HeHe <[email protected]> wrote: > >>>> why is there no android tablet nearly as good as ipad? > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Android Discuss" 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 > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. 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