OK Google, Why Should We Trust You to Make Hardware? (Premium)

You’ve probably heard the oft-spouted phrase, “hardware is hard.” Well, it’s true. Just ask Google.

The world’s smartest company in October announced a slew of new hardware products. And from what I can tell, it then spent every waking moment of the intervening time learning about, and trying to fix, problems with that hardware. Seriously: Is there a single new Google hardware product that doesn’t have issues?

Actually, it’s not new Google hardware, now is it? Problems with the Nexus 5X are apparently so common that Google is no longer able to offer customers with refurbished replacement units. So it is, instead, offering them a paltry $100 Google Store credit so they can buy a new phone. That $100 is a small fraction of the price of even the cheapest new phone it offers, of course. Customers are, shall we say, not too impressed.

But let’s focus on the present, shall we?

Ultimately, this is about trust. Trust is something that is earned, over time, and it could fade away quickly, because it needs to be maintained. You don’t it automatically by slapping a Google “G” logo on some product that—let’s be honest here—someone else actually designed and made. You need to really work for it.

As I’m sure you know, trust is one of those themes that comes up here on Thurrott.com again and again. Because it’s important. And because a bad technology bet won’t just break the bank, it could break your sanity. And your heart. Just ask a recovering Windows phone—or Media Center, or Zune—fan how their seven-step program is going. It’s not pretty.

So let’s step through Google’s 2017 hardware announcements. This makes for some sobering reading.

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. The problems with the Pixel 2 lineup—in particular the Pixel 2 XL are legion and I assume they need no further discussion here. I’m using a Pixel 2 XL, and I really like it. But I don’t trust it, and I can’t recommend it to others.

Home Mini. I think the Home Mini is a smart idea, just as it was a few years ago when Amazon released it as the Echo Dot. But despite its diminutive size, he Home Menu has succumbed to a number of issues, already including a microphone that records you when it says it’s not a high volume bug that actually reboots the device while you’re using.

Pixel Buds. Google’s Babbelfish-like demo of the Pixel Buds headphones was awe-inspiring, but the reviews have been brutal. As with Apple’s over-hyped Air Pods, these things deliver terrible sound, and I ended up canceling my preorder.

Pixelbook. Curiously, the new only new Google product that doesn’t have any reliability issues that we know of is the Pixelbook. I have a few theories about that, the key one being that there are so few sales we’ve just not heard about any issues. On that note, the device’s unfairly high price is, of course, its biggest issue, regardless.

Google Home Max. Thus far, Google Home Max is vaporware and one wonders if it will be delayed past the holidays, as was the case with its inspiration, the Apple HomePod.

Clips. Another vaporware announcement, this fun-looking but privacy-worrying camera accessory shows no sign of being released. But hey, there’s a wait list.

The score? Three failures. One potential win. Two vaporware announcements. (That, yes, could ship any day now, I know.)

Oh, Google.

Whether Google should even make hardware is a debate for the ages, and it’s very similar to the conversation we could have about Microsoft, too. In both cases, the firms are carting out that old Alan Kay gem—“people who are really serious about software should make their own hardware”—to justify these products. But as I noted previously, I think the computer scientists at both Google and Microsoft will have more to offer with lower-level components than with actual devices that ship to customers.

Which begs the question: Isn’t Google, as the platform maker, better off contributing with that kind of hardware? That is, shouldn’t customer components like the Pixel Visual Core image processing chipset be made available to all Android OEMs? Wouldn’t that be better for the platform and thus for everyone?

It’s an idea. And given how terribly Google has performed with its own devices, it’s perhaps a great idea.