Comments on: Matias Duarte Talks Tablet UI in Jelly Bean, Lack of SD Card Slots in Nexus Devices

By: Dave Acklam

Dave Acklam — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 05:58:00 +0000

If you are worried about ‘confusing users’ drop the !@%#!#% ball on your OEMs & their nasty front-end shells…

Sense, Touchwiz, and Motoblur are far more ‘confusing’ to users, than the concept of an SD slot….

Hell, Microsoft got this right back in 1996, when they made Packard Bell & Compaq quit ‘skinning’ the Windows UI…

By: Jeffrey Starke II

Jeffrey Starke II — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:54:00 +0000

my phone goes upside down when i’m in the car playing music. because of the location of the headphone jack and length of my cord. just sayin…

By: dmd3

dmd3 — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:42:00 +0000

Wow..I can’t believe it. The lack of an SD card slot is why I haven’t purchased an iPad. I’ve been waiting for a high resolution tablet with an SD card slot and thought the Nexus 10 would be it. NOT! Yes, this is sounding like Apple and that’s VERY DISAPPOINTING. It would be nice to see competition in the marketplace.

What is confusing about an SD card? An SD card slot is a simple, cheap and versatile method of adding storage and makes it extremely simple to move large files. It’s the obvious solution to the iOS shortcomings. SD memory is down to nearly $0.50/ GB (and getting lower all the time). Yet, Nexus is charging $6.25/ GB for more capacity…and you’re locked into that for life. Ridiculous!

So, how do I get my large files into the Nexus device? Currently I just pop the SD card out of my camera and stick it into my netbook or desktop….no wires to deal with!!! what a great concept. I can move a 4 GB movie or any large file in an instant from computer (or camera) to computer without tying up any internal memory….how simple and convenient! How is the Nexus better?

Guess I’ll just stick with my 4 yr old netbook ….it’s far ore versatile!

By: Nick Bohl

Nick Bohl — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 08:17:00 +0000

But you see, the problem then arises of product differentiation. If one manufacturer releases a lineup of phones with top of the line hardware and stock, low-delay software updates, and let’s say it does well… the others will too, then there’s nothing to separate one from the other. In order to avoid such a situation, the OEM’s decided early on to go ahead and make their own mark in the ecosystem. I don’t think it’s going to change any time soon.

By: Baaahhh Im a dumb idiot

Baaahhh Im a dumb idiot — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:33:00 +0000

The vast majority of people don’t even purchase Nexus phones, and didn’t even know what the Galaxy Nexus was. They don’t even care about pure Android.

Most of them end up purchasing the Samsung devices like the S3 and the Note 2, that come with the incredibly “confusing” SD card and removable batteries and they seem to some how get their simple minded brains to use it just fine.

By: JIMMY

JIMMY — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:30:00 +0000

These supposed tech illiterate people have been using SD cards and similar devices like flash drives for a long time too. Especially, since digital cameras have been around for such a long time.

This just comes off as an excuse to get people to pay more for storage. And course, Google doesn’t even offer the option to purchase enough storage to account for the absence of a sd card. 8 gig/16 gig?

Seriously…? The Gnex had 16/32 gig options, and now it’s regressed in size? What is it going to be next year. 2 gigs and 4 gigs?

By: Dumb simple head

Dumb simple head — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:27:00 +0000

Easy solution would be to disable the ability for anything to be automatically stored on the SD Card, so that those who want to actually use a SD card can go into the menu and activate the ability to due to.

But, either way Duarte’s explanation is very insulting. Not to mention, it is mainly Android enthusiasts who care about the pure Android OS experience, and are the ones who are tech savvy.

Meanwhile the average consumer is going around purchasing the Galaxy S3 and the Note 2, which happens to come with a minimum of 16 gigs, SD slot, and a removable battery. And their “simple minds as seem by Duarte” seem to love using those devices in spite of having so many options.

By: aaaa

aaaa — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:20:00 +0000

It’d be hilarious if Google reduced the size offerings to 2 gigs for the next Nexus device, and argued that Cloud is so much superior and that extra storage makes it too confusing for the average user

By: Billybop

Billybop — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:12:00 +0000

Why not have the option to use cards, and also use cloud storage….

Is the existence of a SD slot suddenly going to make my ability to use cloud storage disappear?

Android has always been about choices. Well it used to be anyways.

By: Beepepp

Beepepp — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:10:00 +0000

Yea, I definitely don’t understand that explanation, since Nexus phones aren’t even the most purchased phones by the average user. In fact, it’s mainly the techy users who care about getting a “pure Android experience”, since the average user doesn’t even care.

Not to mention, it seems these so called idiot consumers have led to phones like the Galaxy S3 with it’s “complicated SD slot and removable battery” and now the Note 2 to make it one of the top selling Android phones on the market.

By: yarppppp

yarppppp — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:06:00 +0000

The Samsung phones like the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2 have the hardware that I wish was the standard for all Android phones, which is a minimum of 16 gigs, removable battery, and a SD Card.

Meanwhile, Nexus phones run the frequent updates and stock experience that I wish all Android phones had.

If one of the manufacturers managed to come out the hardware features of the Samsung phones combined with the stock experience of the Nexus devices that’d be my dream phone.

By: Bopbop

Bopbop — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:02:00 +0000

Usually when there is a non-removable battery my first though is that they want to include a big ass battery without making the phone ridiculously thick. Which in that case is acceptable if it includes a minimum of 2500 mAh.

But, when the Nexus contains a battery around the size of the one inside the Galaxy S3, which happens to be removable on top of that while being thin… It is ridiculous. Can’t even think of a positive thing to say about it like I could for the Razor Maxx phones.

By: Snoooop

Snoooop — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:53:00 +0000

Yea the crappy thing is that for those who want a device that gets frequent updates and runs pure Android the Nexus is the only option.

It is frustrating to see the Nexus devices reminding me more of Apple in terms of hardware. Nonremovable battery and laughable internal storage to go along with such high end specs. Those who actually want to take full advantage of those specs will quickly run out of space due to games and movies taking up several gigs on their own.

And of course, it’s pretty hilarious to see to what lengths fanboys will go to spin the removable features as a positive.

By: Cooke

Cooke — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:49:00 +0000

That is such an Applesque answer for why there is no SD Card.

Android has always been about choices, and if a SD card is so confused for the average user then why not just include a SD slot while having it deactivated by default and blocking the ability for Apps to install on there.

Users who want to use a micro SD card can then go into the menu and activate, so that they can use it as external storage the way so many people use external hardrive and flash drives on their laptop and desktop computers.

But, of course, the whole simple answer is basically…well we want users to pay more for storage.

By: Nick Bohl

Nick Bohl — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 03:34:00 +0000

I agree with what you’re saying, but you must remember (like Rebel said a few posts below) Google has much bigger fish to fry than us here in the U.S. Plus, I’m also not so sure that the Nexus line is “an example of how Android SHOULD be”, but a stock experience that offers a less restrictive development environment. I mean, they are sold with the sim and boot loader unlocked, not for “more choices” but “less restriction” from a development perspective. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I think we (myself definitely included) lost sight of what Nexus IS, and what us consumers WANT it to be.