Top 5 Google Stories of 2017 (Premium)

Google had an interesting year of platform advances and hardware mishaps. Here are the top Google stories from 2017.
#1: Google v. hardware
In 2017, Google tried to establish itself as a credible hardware maker and a firm that could potentially rival Apple. Or maybe Amazon. OK, Microsoft.

Nope. Unfortunately, Google had many more hardware fails than successes in 2017, lending credence to the adage that "hardware is hard."

So let's step through the list. Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL? Fail. (So much so that I pulled Pixel out as a separate story.) Google Home Mini? Fail. Pixel Buds? Fail. Pixelbook? Surprise: This one is great, though it's too expensive. Google Home Max? Fail. Clips? Vaporware. The score, then, is 1-5-1. One success. Five fails. And one promised product that never shipped in 2017.

So Google has a lot of work to do before it can establish itself as a credible hardware maker. Except for one thing: The firm's biggest successes in hardware, I think, came not from individual devices but rather from its integration of discrete hardware components that run AI and machine learning right on the device. This effort has been so successful, in fact, that I recommend that Google offer these capabilities to third-party device makers that know what they're doing. This is the kind of hardware that Google can excel at.
#2: Pixelgate
The first-generation Pixel handsets were nothing special, and were correctly seen as iPhone ripoffs. For 2017, Google took another step backward, sadly, and released [a set of Pixel 2 handsets that each had their own unique problems.

And my God, were there problems. So many, in fact, that I dubbed them Pixelgate. So many, in fact, that I could never recommend the Pixel 2 XL I purchased, so I cut my review short.

Even given Google's other hardware fails this year, the Pixel 2 lineup is a notable embarrassment. And these phones aren't even "made" by Google; they're just Nexus phones with a new brand. Shame on you Google. Either do better than this, or just stop.
#3: Chromebook and Android
As you may recall, Google announced in mid-2016 that it would bring Android apps and the Google Play Store to Chromebook. This was quite exciting, and I predicted that this combination would pose a serious threat to Windows and the PC.

But then we spent the second half of 2016 and all of 2017 waiting for a Chromebook revolution that never came. Until it did, tepidly, with the release of the excellent but expensive Pixelbook. This was the first Chromebook to ship with Android app support in non-beta form.

So we exit 2017 much as we entered it: Waiting. Waiting for Chromebooks with Android support to actually make a difference. I'm still bullish on this one. But my God. It's taking forever.
#4: Google Assistant and Google Home
Released in late 2016, the Google Assistant-powered Google Home appliance had a lot of catching up to do if it was ever going to threaten Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo devices.

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