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Comment by gjsman-1000 | Hacker News Reader

Well, there was the Pixel C in 2015. It was Android based and went nowhere.

Then there was the Pixel Slate in 2018. It was Chrome OS based, and also went nowhere. If you bought a Pixel Slate, a new Google tablet has been five years in the making.

Except that the Pixel Tablet isn't really a replacement. It's back to Android, and this time, no keyboard or pen options in sight.

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Google has no long-term strategy for tablets. Best I can tell, every few years some product owners get together to once again do Google's Big Push For Tablets For Real This Time We Swear and the initiative goes until they get their promotions and then it's forgotten until the next round a few years later.

If you buy this tablet and like it, don't expect a successor. They'll release something completely unrelated in a few years, it might be running Chrome OS, it might have a keyboard accessory, it might have a pen accessory, it might have absolutely abysmal performance[1]. It's a complete grab bag.

And this applies to basically all Google products and services.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOh6d_r63Bw

> Best I can tell, every few years some product owners get together to once again do Google's Big Push For Tablets For Real This Time We Swear and the initiative goes until they get their promotions and then it's forgotten until the next round a few years later

You are 100% correct.

Source: was part of two such pushes while working at goog

You figure google could ever change their ways? Like if enough backlash hit their products? Anything?

It would require a change of leadership. The incentives that make this happen come from the top. Until the board and starts firing some of the top leadership, I wouldn’t hope for much change.

I've got an Android phone but I'd never waste my money nor time on an Android tablet knowing Google are going to lose interest in it in six months.

The iPad was my first Apple product. Was super in the android ecosystem at the time but the Android tablets were just non existent.

I was so impressed by the ipad, which was second hand, several years old, and still getting updates. Ended up switching to an iPhone and Macbook as well.

Feels like Google has been bleeding users for a while by just ignoring tablets for so long.

I hope this docked version does well because I really like the smart home hub meets tablet meets household shared device vision.

I'm hopeful that they'll somewhat keep the tablet form factor working because it'll be used when a foldable device is open; it's just a bit bigger.

I'm not hopeful enough to go buy a tablet, however.

Holy crap, I can only assume someone has done the Monty Python skit of the castle that kept falling into the swamp with Google devices. It was basically impossible for me not to hear that voice in the second paragraph here. :D

The Pixel C got launched and then more or less ignored. There was a startup / auth big that more or less killed the device off. I ended up getting a full refund for mine. :(

I briefly owned a Pixel C and found it to be a buggy mess. Ultimately returned it. Wouldn’t be a surprise if that were a major factor in it being a flop.

It says it supports USI styli but not prioritizing it for the price they are asking seems like a bad move in 2023.

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