Poised, Powerful, … Pixel? (Premium)

There’s often a curious disconnect between my understanding of Google and the way it presents itself to the public. And so it is with Pixel: I’ve owned almost every Pixel handset model ever made, and I have certainly had my share of issues with many of them. And yet the Pixel portion of this past week’s Google I/O keynote had an almost triumphant air to it, with Google showing a future in which Pixel not just co-exists but excels. Is this really happening?

OK, we can’t really answer that question until the Pixel-branded products that Google just announced appear in the real world. And that won’t even start until July or August, and some of the devices it announced, like the Pixel Tablet, won’t ship until next year. But it’s still worth discussing how Pixel has matured, I think, and whether the expanded product lineup---and the growing ecosystem of products and services that complement them---can be successful.

Taking a step back, we should first consider that ecosystem. I think about---and write about---ecosystems a lot because, well, ecosystems matter. For example, back when Nokia had joined the Windows Phone platform, and ahead of its bailout by Microsoft, I was as impressed by the ecosystem of hardware accessories, unique apps, and services that Nokia brought to the table as I was by the phones themselves. Today, you can see a similar approach at Apple, with the iPhone and other products, at Samsung, with its Galaxy family of products, and elsewhere.

Google has, to date, been slower to pad out the Pixel ecosystem, such as it is. But the situation has improved in recent years, with Google moving beyond handsets with Pixel-branded laptops and tablets and earbuds, complimentary services like Google Fi, Google One, and the various Pixel Pass subscriptions, and its Nest-branded smart home products. And this ecosystem is about to take another leap forward based on what Google announced at I/O 2022, including hardware products like the affordable Pixel 6a and the ANC-capable Pixel Buds Pro, advances in its Nest smart home products, and Google’s many services, like YouTube, Translate, Maps, Workspace/Meet and much more, and improvements to Android like the new wallet and driver’s license capabilities.

Put another way, Google is today offering a fairly complete ecosystem that can compete, on paper, with what Apple and Samsung offer their customers. And that ecosystem is expanding, and improving, based on the recent announcements. It looks good to me.

How you react to that assessment, or the Google I/O 2022 announcements specifically, will depend on your perspective. I found the I/O keynote to be very interesting and almost exciting, but others came away unimpressed by some of the vaguer promises---to be fair, Google did curiously highlight some products that won’t ship anytime soon---and influenced by the memory of past broken promises.

I’m not naïve, and my own issues with various Pixel products are well...