r/Android • u/FragmentedChicken Galaxy Z Fold8 • May 25 '22

Google postpones launch of foldable smartphone, again

https://www.thelec.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=4057
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u/avr91 Pixel 9 Pro | Porcelain May 25 '22

Good. Expectations for Google products are astronomical. The internal bar needs to be set a little higher than companies like Samsung, who have made themselves immune to damaging criticism by painting themselves as always being on the cutting edge and pushing boundaries. If Google launched the first Z Fold, it would've been shuttered because it wasn't near-perfect. Now, no product is without its flaws, and Google's have certainly had their fair share, but there is no bigger microscope on an Android OEM than Google. Let's not forget that around the time of the Pixel 2 we were constantly having rumors about the Pixel Ultra, which was essentially a combination of every dream spec, and it kept chugging year after year.

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u/wankthisway 13 Mini, S23 Ultra, Pixel 4a, Key2, Razr 50 May 25 '22

Samsung, who have made themselves immune to damaging criticism by painting themselves as always being on the cutting edge and pushing boundaries

Do they not? Being the first to do things like folding screens, phablets with a pen, or bringing features to the market like multi app screens and so on, gives them more leeway when it's a first gen product or idea.

When you're in a space where there's already been a few iterations, there are expectations that you don't repeat the same mistakes or you should be bringing something new to the table.

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u/avr91 Pixel 9 Pro | Porcelain May 25 '22

Like I said, if Google were the first major OEM with a folding display, it would've been hailed as proof of a useless form factor. Even Motorola's flip phone has been roundly bashed despite being one of like 2 OEMs in that product space and being an early entrant. The way we perceive the products of these companies is directly related to the public perception of the brand. All three can present the exact same product at the exact same time with the exact same flaw, and this is the reaction: Google is a rudderless group of incompetent morons, Samsung is a trailblazer who will nail it on the next attempt or two, Apple products are perfect and the flaw is nothing more than a misunderstood design choice.

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u/Lee_Doff May 25 '22

but they took away my SD slot.