Ex-Google Manager Criticizes Android
Bitter and somewhat justified, Ulf Washbusch (we bet he never heard the end of it in high school) has decided to criticize Google Android and the phone on which it will be making its debut. You see, Ulf is now the ex-Google Mobile Product Manager who now works in MySpace’s mobile product operations. We think Ulf is just embarrassing himself like telling a girlfriend who just dumped you, “Well, your cooking stinks and I never liked the way you dressed, anyway,” when he says:
It’s funny - but the first time I heard about Android was about 2.5 years ago, when Eric Schmidt told me about the device at Stanford after I got a job offer from Google (yet before I accepted it!). Since then I have seen many iterations of the software. The software. Not the device itself, because sadly it hasn’t changed in many years. The reason many people see the phone as ugly and old-fashioned is simply… because it IS! It’s a design unchanged for at least two years, without iterations on it besides color schemas (it’s now available in Zune-brown along with white and black) and the silly ‘with Google’ description on the back. Don’t ask me what ‘with Google’ means. I didn’t understand it back then and still don’t understand it today.
Well then, it seems someone wasn’t happy with his department during his tenure at Google. We see his point - the phone could have been a little sexier. We take that back, it could have been a hellofalot sexier, but there isn’t much to be done at this point. Apparently, this guy is not stopping just at his blog when his Facebook status read, “Ulf is disappointed but not surprised about the ‘G1′. Where’s the cheap data plan? Where do I plug in my headphones? No video player? How do I get contacts in it?”
Be careful, MySpace, you’ve a feisty one on your hands! That’s right, pour gasoline on the bridge, light match, and watch it burn. Burn!
I think the google phone is tits.
Ulf must have got his ass beat in highschool every. day.
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i have to agree with ulf!!!
the htc is like 4x thicker than an iphone, with the open keyboard like double the size….
no one that has really used or owned and iphone would touch that thin, much less own it…
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Well he definitly is disgruntled but what he is saying is true. While I’m a TMO subscriber I am not too pleased with the design at all. Come on, look at the HTC Diamond, Touch HD, Experia etc. etc. They could have hit a home run but I think they really failed in this department, unfortunately.
To me, by the looks of the design, Ulf might just be right about he design being old. They probably choose it a long time ago when it would have been the coolest design out there but with delays and with design changes being too late I presume, we have the G1, ugly as she is but with a new OS.
Too bad TMO, with Sprint on board too I think you’ll have your work cut out for you and better come out with version 2 REAL SOON!
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I agree. It’s like the dating world when people console each other by saying, “It’s what’s on the inside that counts.” Well, we all know the truth and it’s no different for the G1. Android has so much potential and all that, but the G1 seems to be handicapping its OS. For shame.
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Am I the only one who thinks thinness is the most overrated quality ever?
But I was wondering about this phone- I mean, HTC’s other phones do look so much better, even though I do think this phone has an interesting unique look to it, it isn’t exactly the sleekest thing on the block either.
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Okay, all points taken - but, at the end of the day, what do you want in a phone? Useable functionality, or super-sexy looks? Yes, I know, the iPhone manages both. But along comes this, the Android, with one of the most clever concepts to date (open, open, open!), and suddenly, I can see past the “glamour” of Apple’s ubiquitous fashion-statement. I am well aware that the G1 device is no “stunner” by any means, but then again, neither is my Curve - but it works, and that’s what I want and need. My disclaimer is that, yes, I have a G1 on order, and I’m not sure how well it will go over until I have to live with it day-to-day. But (looks aside), it’s a chance I am most certainly willing to take.
P.S. - what’s up with thickness? Much rather be able to change out a bad battery in my own house…..
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Dang, that guy is a douche bag!
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It’s not like comparing it to someone you’re dating. You know why? Because it’s a freaking PHONE!!! Not a person, a phone. A tool.
It just boggles my mind that people have become so dang spoiled.
Is the phone as good looking as others out there? No, but honestly, who really gives a shit? If you do (and that’s a general “you”), I think you’ve got bigger problems in life.
Please everyone, let’s put things in perspective. It’s a phone.
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LOL @ all the iFans rushing to agree with “Ulf”.
clown shoes.
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did anyone else think it’s funny this myspace exec keeps his facebook profile updated?
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billy: I have two things to say. One, there is no Santa Claus. Yes, that means mom lied. Two, “clown shoes” is not a sentence, so you don’t punctuate it as if it were one. Don’t worry though, you’ll learn all about “sentences” next year, in the third grade, with bobby, danny, petey, and mikey. Cheers little man.
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Sure, it’s a phone and not a person, but I’d like to see one gadget fanatic who isn’t, in the least bit, particular about the looks of their toys. You’re on a gadget site, not a self-improvement blog asking its readers to look deep inside themselves and appreciate what matters in life - not what’s on the surface. How many gadgets succeeded based solely on looks… and how many that had so much promise and potential failed because it was just plain ugly?
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I keep hearing everyone say “who cares what it looks like, it’s just a phone” well I hate to rain on your parade but when 80% of all new phones come out that are much better looking that is the problem. Yes, it’s a phone. If you really want to subscribe to your own theory then why even bother buying this “phone”?
What it really means, at least for TMO, is that sales won’t be as good as they could be and that is bad because depending on sales who knows where Android will go in the future. They have ONE oppotunity to “show the world” what they have and yes, while the OS look cool and functional, for most it will come down to the looks because if you don’t know by know “slim and sexy” is what sells. Don’t believe me, how many iPhones have sold? DO you really think it’s because of the OS?
Just to reiterate I am not bashing Android, just the phone design itself.
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Everyone else except honestmike has no understanding that you don’t need a phone as a fashion statement or to get into some chick’s pants. Enjoy your AIDS, faggots.
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Every word he said is TRUE.
TRUE
TRUE
TRUE
…and TRUE.
The phone looks old and could have been a dshillion times better.
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It’s an “ugly betty” fo sho. Quit tripping about punctuation, sentence structure and misspelling. It’s not that deep kid. What ever happened to Galvatron?
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Bitter much, Ulf?
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Yeah wheres galvatron
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The design is definitely bland and everything he said in his blog is true. People flocked to the iPhone for it’s looks then realized it’s shortcomings later. This one should have been sexier. Aesthetics is huge in this market. And although I can’t complain about the data plan pricing, the lack of headphone jack, video recording and synch feature (I’m sure that’s coming soon) is a lot to leave out.
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That guys IS a douche.
Notice all he can do is criticize the DEVICE itself… so far, there hasn’t been one disparaging word about the OS itself.
Whereas on the flip side… you got the iPhone, a great device, but people complain about missing components within the OPERATING SYSTEM (cut and paste, blah blah blah) and most WinMo haters hate WinMo OS, not the devices.
None of us have held a G1. engadget and BGR both have blogs stating that the device is actually nicer in person than in the pictures. So I will reserve judgement until I can actually hold one.
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Oh right, aesthetics matter so much… so please explain the Blackjack and half the Blackberries out there. Please, they look like Texax Instrument TI-85 calculators… but that’s not stopping half the chumps I know from jumping on the RIM bandwagon… because in the case of Blackberry, function rules over form.
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Oh right, aesthetics matter so much… so please explain the Blackjack and half the Blackberries out there. Please, they look like Texax Instrument TI-85 calculators… but that’s not stopping half the chumps I know from jumping on the RIM bandwagon… because in the case of Blackberry, function rules over form.
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I must agree with Ulf that it does not have the best looking design ever. And he does criticize the OS by saying where’s the recording video and what not. That said, I think HTC tried something new that did not clique but the Android OS eventually will be a HUGE competitor since it is open from ear to ear. Practically every subscriber, like Windows Mobile, is going to offer one. That is the route Apple should’ve taken instead of it’s exclusivity. They should’ve provided the OS to manufacturers so they could make the products. Sure the phone is a thing of beauty but look at how many windows mobile phones are out there simply because every manufacturer can use it. Most of them are aesthetically as pleasing, if not more than the iphone so I’m sure the Android OS will be heading in that direction soon enough. I believe that as great as RIM and Apple are at making products in house, the whole idea of limiting your OS and not giving it room to expand is what is going to stunt their market share growth. Because, honestly at the end of the day how many people are going to switch their service to AT&T just to get the newest iphone every time…then switch back if they don’t like the service or the phone anymore. Android, however, will avoid this problem as it gets ported to Sprint, AT&T and Verizon, so like Windows Mobile, you can get it on any carrier you wish.
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What most people don’t understand is that all of these devices are a REACTION to the iPhone. Before the iPhone, manufacturers were completely at the mercy of carriers, modifying or cutting out features according to each carrier’s whim. Allowing iTunes and visual voicemail were things that only AT&T agreed to… as well as allowing Apple to decide what the feature set would be.
The exclusivity deal, ALLOWED the iPhone to be what it is. I can see in the near future, however, it being a detriment in the long term. They should have allowed the exclusivity deal to expire in 2-3 years rather than reupping it.
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The truth of the matter for all the “looks don’t matter crowd” is this: As a company, to be competitive (read, to earn a profit) you have to at least TRY and be more ingenius than the next guy. So while the exterior of the phone doesn’t improve/hamper the capability of the personal communication device, it’s really going to turn off a large part of the consumer base that doesn’t give two $hits about what it can do. Two words: SEX SELLS. If you’re not sexy, you won’t sell much. regardless of how geek-tastic your open platform is. Savvy?
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