There are many things about Android that makes it my operating system of choice, namely that it gives me choice, and lots of it. Another big benefit to Android is the issue tracker itself. Not only is this is great platform for voicing bug-related complaints with Android, it also often reveals hints of upcoming devices and features, and sometimes the issues themselves are actually pretty humorous.
Case and point, way back in 2007 the 5th issue to ever be created with the tracker was added to the list. The issue at hand was that Google wasn’t innovative anymore and that Android will not make a better world. Yah, really.
Here’s the original “bug” in full:
Issue 5: Makes something new and exciting
What steps will reproduce the problem?
1. google is not inovativ anymore
2. noone has been waiting for this
3. This will not make a better world. Google turns badWhat is the expected output? What do you see instead?
Hey! Make people happy again. Just do your gmail and google earth( that you
have boot anyway) for the mobile and forgett the restWhat version of the product are you using? On what operating system?
I am using a real mobile phone, not a hokus pokus device that can’t do
anything good.Look at the adds:
Nokia phone: Musicplayer!
Samsung phone: Camera with flash and zoom!
Apples iphone: Livestyle device!
google-app-device: not even very good to make calls.Please provide any additional information below.
So where are you and which way you wanna go google?
Now to be honest, Android wasn’t exactly amazing when it first launched, though it was ripe with potential. But what’s really funny here is that this issue was added in 2007, before Android was even available to the public. So basically, this guy was whining about something that was nothing more than an announcement and a few public demos. Even more interesting was this guy (or gal) eventually returned in 2009 to say “Hey guys. Don’t take this issue to serius. You are doing a great job!”
While this particular user seems to have been a special breed of troll, there were many back in the early days of Android that felt it was a doomed project, or that it was too ambitious and that ultimately fail to take off. For example, I dug up an editorial for PC World written in April of 2009 titled “Has Android Already Failed?”.
You can check it out for yourself if you want to see just how off these doomsday-type predictions were, but here’s a small quote:
Android seems to be a perfect example of something that looks great on paper. An open-source, customizable, Linux-based OS with an app store and Google’s backing? Sign me up. But to actually build devices, you need a solid SDK, a clear idea of Google’s role, and a development ecosystem that’s at least as cozy as Windows Mobile’s.
Industry insiders have told me that Android makes better theory than practice. The SDK started out spotty, I’ve heard, and Google has taken a while to decide what its role should be in product development.
Really when we look back at it, it’s amazing how far Android has come. From phones to tablets, the Android operating system has continued to branch out making its way to set-top boxes, TVs, automobiles, watches, and the potential seems to have no end in sight. Not to mention that Android is the most widespread mobile OS in the world and controls over 50% of the marketshare in the United States alone — not bad for a device that “noone [was] waiting for”. Certainly a long ways from being the “hokus pokus device that can’t do anything good” that Android apparently was back in 2007.
Google, let’s mark this issue resolved, shall we?