When I read this I thought "man, we need an extension of Godwin's Law to cover Trump", but then I realized that we really don't, since Trump is literally Hitler.
You're also utterly belittling the plight of those killed and tortured under Hitler's regime. Comparing systematic genocide, torture and "medical" experiments to Trump is absolutely distasteful.
Comparing what Hitler became to what Hitler was at the same stage of his career as Trump doesn't help either, though.
No, Trump is not "literally Hitler" in anything but a hyperbolic sense. Yes, he is an equally dangerous threat to US democracy as Hitler was to German democracy. He has the potential to precipitate similar levels of damage on the world stage.
The fact that fascists have learned to be a little more circumspect about how they carry out their campaigns is not cause for celebration *when the fascists are in charge*.
Psssst It's not fascism when the Grand Ol' Party does it.
Same thing with Republican Socialism __ privatizing profits for the .001% versus socializing losses for the rest of us (i.e., Wall Street Banksters 'Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction', the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (snicker), health care, public infrastructure, ...et al
Indeed. What drives me nuts is that all of that nonsense requires the consent of the people being ripped off... and they keep giving it enthusiastically, because so many of them are invested in the con.
Interesting comparison of Trump to Hitler) Are you really interested in politics? I recommend that you watch videos about the conspiracy theory of Adolf Hitler or read about it so that you better understand the biography of this person.
Not surprising since they had 1 phone in however many years. Sad though -- my wife and I both use the Essential phone and it's been great -- updated to Android 9 then Android 10 pretty much on day 1, and monthly security updates. Never had that with any other phone. Support lasted longer than the Nexus or HTC phones I've had previously. And our phones only cost ~$250 each new on sale! Which is also probably why they're bankrupt now.
It started on 7. Then 8beta with some delay (apparently the large internal changes enabling future fast upgrades were a lot of work), then straight to 8.1, and 9 and 10 like clockwork, faster than some pixels. Nobody but Pixels did anything similar, and not even pixels upgrade 3 versions in the future.
Damn, this is a good looking phone! But yeah, they had little chance from the start, I didn't get one because I didn't want to end up with a phone from a failed company.
"An aim to create easy-to-use devices tailored for the most important needs"; WTF does that even mean....?
I really had no idea about this company's linage though.... When the phone came out I thought it was just another China 'andriodafication' of Apple design language with the Android OS. I don't know that much about Andy Rubin really but I find it odd that someone so influential to the modern smart phone would have come with such a lackluster product.
The product was not "lackluster", it was (and is) very very good. But without large sales you cannot be profitable, and without A LOT of marketing (like, hundreds of millions of $$$) a startup company cannot achieve large sales on their first device.
Wow, that Essential GEM phone would actually be a pretty awesome form-factor for a sort of Logitech Harmony remote competitor. I know it's not supposed to be a smart remote, but rather a budget smartphone, but there are phones/tablets with IR blasters and some apps which support a universal remote usage, so if Essential stuck around, it'd be cool to have seen what kind of custom software would be tailored for it.
It's a shame they're having to close up shop, they were one of the few phone manufacturers that still understood there's still a need to have quality, but affordable cell phones, especially since Google abandoned their affordable Nexus line, OnePlus keeps raising the prices and trying to compete as a flagship-killer despite having poorly tuned camera software, then there was Essential phone + a bunch of Chinese brands like Xiaomi making affordable phones. And Essential being an American tech company gives more credence to being free of *puts on tinfoil hat* baked-in chinese botnet/DRM features *removes tinfoil hat*.
Hopefully other manufacturers fill in that gap in the market.
That's a solid blueprint. Uses the word "alleged" where appropriate, notes the outline of the issues and the fact that Google found against him, and doesn't put too much emphasis on it vs. the manifest flaws of the product he was trying to sell.
Check the comments though... a certain contingent of incredibly-online males can't even stomach bare statement of the facts.
It's always interesting to me how fragile these supposed alpha-males are. And yeah, Joel got it right. It is a pertinent detail that should always be mentioned, but hardly the only thing going on.
I like my PH-1 a lot, too bad they did not have enough marketing resources to make it more known and reach profitable sales numbers. Sometimes, there is a minimum viable investment necessary.
I've said from day one: offering prompt updates to the only segment of Android phones that were already getting them is not a viable business model. As downvoted as I was for that, I was right.
I have a PH-1. I got it completely cherry for $100. I use it as a backup phone to my OnePlus 7 Pro. It is a phenomenal phone for what I paid. The materials and build quality are excellent. My only complaints are the dogshit camera software (made better but not great by Pixel camera app) and the LCD has a very slow response time. I see a lot of ghosting/smearing when scrolling. I am always impressed at the day one OS updates. I would get them weeks ahead of my Pixel phones. Honestly, it was a little irritating that my PH-1 would get updates so much faster than my Pixels. There really is no excuse for that on Google's part.
I probably wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't on sale, but I ended up paying less per-month on my cell phone bill because of it. The phone itself is really good, so I'm glad I got it. I'm just sad that the carrier only stocked the black ones, because those rusty red ones look amazing.
This was my first Android phone to offer updates (yes, "Yikes"), and it's been giving me updates until this month!
The man had a vision and starting up a large company is a tremendous risk today. It's too bad it failed. But could you guys peddle your petty politics elsewhere? I'll go to CNN, MSLSD, WAPO or others if I want to read pathetic diatribes.
I, personally, would prefer jail-time and flogging as opposed to public humiliation, but to each their own. If you are not incensed you are not paying attention.
Sad to see so many Millennial's that have been brainwashed by today's educational system and media. Have you looked at your retirement portfolio yet? Have you bothered to look at the economy? The jobless rate in the country is the lowest since 1969. Yeah, your right things are just awful here. You know what you should all consider moving to Venezuela, China, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Syria. Those people are living high on the hog. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find one person out of any of those countries wanting to exchange their current living condition for yours. That’s because it’s not just one person but 688K people since 2018 have tried to get what you have by crossing the border illegally. What is it they know, and you can’t figure out? You are all ungrateful, selfish, ignorant, and to stupid to realize how good you have it.
OMG since someone, somewhere in the world has it worse than I do it means I'm not permitted to ever complain or try to improve things without being ignorant, ungrateful, selfish and stupid!
Protip: How do you think we got nice things? People complained and then acted to change things for the better. There is little reason to stop trying to be better.
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shabby - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
He should retire, his name is tarnished.plonk420 - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
oh! oh! can i apply the same idea to Trump?shabby - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
It seems being the president is like starring in a daily soap opera so no, it's his job to be an idiot.Ithaqua - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
He's doing an absolutely fantastic job then.Yojimbo - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
When I read this I thought "man, we need an extension of Godwin's Law to cover Trump", but then I realized that we really don't, since Trump is literally Hitler.yetanotherhuman - Friday, February 14, 2020 - link
One could replace "literally" with "figuratively" by default, and it would be correct more often than not. No, Trump is not Hitler.yetanotherhuman - Friday, February 14, 2020 - link
You're also utterly belittling the plight of those killed and tortured under Hitler's regime. Comparing systematic genocide, torture and "medical" experiments to Trump is absolutely distasteful.Spunjji - Friday, February 14, 2020 - link
Comparing what Hitler became to what Hitler was at the same stage of his career as Trump doesn't help either, though.No, Trump is not "literally Hitler" in anything but a hyperbolic sense. Yes, he is an equally dangerous threat to US democracy as Hitler was to German democracy. He has the potential to precipitate similar levels of damage on the world stage.
The fact that fascists have learned to be a little more circumspect about how they carry out their campaigns is not cause for celebration *when the fascists are in charge*.
Smell This - Saturday, February 15, 2020 - link
PsssstIt's not fascism when the Grand Ol' Party does it.
Same thing with Republican Socialism __ privatizing profits for the .001% versus socializing losses for the rest of us (i.e., Wall Street Banksters 'Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction', the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (snicker), health care, public infrastructure, ...et al
Spunjji - Monday, February 17, 2020 - link
Indeed. What drives me nuts is that all of that nonsense requires the consent of the people being ripped off... and they keep giving it enthusiastically, because so many of them are invested in the con.AdhesiveTeflon - Monday, February 24, 2020 - link
As said person is posting from their computer or smart phone.Learn to earn to keep complaining.
peevee - Tuesday, February 18, 2020 - link
"Yes, he is an equally dangerous threat to US democracy as Hitler was to German democracy. "You are insane.
Ozannnavchik - Friday, May 28, 2021 - link
Interesting comparison of Trump to Hitler) Are you really interested in politics? I recommend that you watch videos about the conspiracy theory of Adolf Hitler or read about it so that you better understand the biography of this person.surt - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
That's the spirit. Successful people are well known for retiring the first time they run into trouble.lazarpandar - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
Hey I mean if it's for sexual abuse of other people, that should be the case. It's really sad that it's not.Spunjji - Friday, February 14, 2020 - link
Agreed entirely. Nobody should be prepared to work with Rubin, especially given that he hasn't been "successful" for a number of years now.Operandi - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
No they don't, indecently neither do people who pretend to be successful.shabby - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
Would you hire Kevin spacey for a teen movie? Don't think so.SigmundEXactos - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
Not surprising since they had 1 phone in however many years.Sad though -- my wife and I both use the Essential phone and it's been great -- updated to Android 9 then Android 10 pretty much on day 1, and monthly security updates. Never had that with any other phone. Support lasted longer than the Nexus or HTC phones I've had previously.
And our phones only cost ~$250 each new on sale! Which is also probably why they're bankrupt now.
peevee - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
It started on 7. Then 8beta with some delay (apparently the large internal changes enabling future fast upgrades were a lot of work), then straight to 8.1, and 9 and 10 like clockwork, faster than some pixels. Nobody but Pixels did anything similar, and not even pixels upgrade 3 versions in the future.p1esk - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
Damn, this is a good looking phone! But yeah, they had little chance from the start, I didn't get one because I didn't want to end up with a phone from a failed company.leo_sk - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
Their only phone was already beyond retirement by android standards, so you would have been safeOperandi - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
"An aim to create easy-to-use devices tailored for the most important needs"; WTF does that even mean....?I really had no idea about this company's linage though.... When the phone came out I thought it was just another China 'andriodafication' of Apple design language with the Android OS. I don't know that much about Andy Rubin really but I find it odd that someone so influential to the modern smart phone would have come with such a lackluster product.
peevee - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
The product was not "lackluster", it was (and is) very very good.But without large sales you cannot be profitable, and without A LOT of marketing (like, hundreds of millions of $$$) a startup company cannot achieve large sales on their first device.
Spunjji - Friday, February 14, 2020 - link
You also can't get large sales when your phone is overpriced and under-specified on release.The truth is that they made a lot of missteps on the road to failure.
peevee - Tuesday, February 18, 2020 - link
It was not overpriced or underspecced.JoeyJoJo123 - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
Wow, that Essential GEM phone would actually be a pretty awesome form-factor for a sort of Logitech Harmony remote competitor. I know it's not supposed to be a smart remote, but rather a budget smartphone, but there are phones/tablets with IR blasters and some apps which support a universal remote usage, so if Essential stuck around, it'd be cool to have seen what kind of custom software would be tailored for it.It's a shame they're having to close up shop, they were one of the few phone manufacturers that still understood there's still a need to have quality, but affordable cell phones, especially since Google abandoned their affordable Nexus line, OnePlus keeps raising the prices and trying to compete as a flagship-killer despite having poorly tuned camera software, then there was Essential phone + a bunch of Chinese brands like Xiaomi making affordable phones. And Essential being an American tech company gives more credence to being free of *puts on tinfoil hat* baked-in chinese botnet/DRM features *removes tinfoil hat*.
Hopefully other manufacturers fill in that gap in the market.
Reflex - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
You seem to have left out some rather important details about Rubin, Anton.Spunjji - Friday, February 14, 2020 - link
I second this. He doesn't deserve to have his personal misdeeds overlooked.Reflex - Friday, February 14, 2020 - link
Joel approached this best, in my opinion: https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/306128-essentia...Spunjji - Monday, February 17, 2020 - link
That's a solid blueprint. Uses the word "alleged" where appropriate, notes the outline of the issues and the fact that Google found against him, and doesn't put too much emphasis on it vs. the manifest flaws of the product he was trying to sell.Check the comments though... a certain contingent of incredibly-online males can't even stomach bare statement of the facts.
Reflex - Thursday, February 20, 2020 - link
It's always interesting to me how fragile these supposed alpha-males are. And yeah, Joel got it right. It is a pertinent detail that should always be mentioned, but hardly the only thing going on.peevee - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
I like my PH-1 a lot, too bad they did not have enough marketing resources to make it more known and reach profitable sales numbers.Sometimes, there is a minimum viable investment necessary.
fred666 - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
Their mistakes:1. No headphone jack (didn't bring any people to buy it, but pushed some away)
2. Released way too late outside of the USA. And even there, was late compared to the Galaxy S8
3. No water resistance
4. Poor repairability
5. No real reason to get this over the competition
6. Broken promise about 3 years of security updates.
Reflex - Friday, February 14, 2020 - link
7) Didn't replace the CEO the moment it came out that he had been pushed out of Google for sexual misconduct.bug77 - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
I've said from day one: offering prompt updates to the only segment of Android phones that were already getting them is not a viable business model. As downvoted as I was for that, I was right.mattkiss - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
"...with a raindrop camera for selfies"What is a raindrop camera?
Sharma_Ji - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
Cause they were the first one to bring notches and named whatever they wanted.wrkingclass_hero - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
I'm shocked, SHOCKED... well not that shocked.prime2515103 - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
I guess his smartphone company wasn't so essential after all.Spunjji - Monday, February 17, 2020 - link
BOOOOMoRAirwolf - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
I have a PH-1. I got it completely cherry for $100. I use it as a backup phone to my OnePlus 7 Pro. It is a phenomenal phone for what I paid. The materials and build quality are excellent. My only complaints are the dogshit camera software (made better but not great by Pixel camera app) and the LCD has a very slow response time. I see a lot of ghosting/smearing when scrolling. I am always impressed at the day one OS updates. I would get them weeks ahead of my Pixel phones. Honestly, it was a little irritating that my PH-1 would get updates so much faster than my Pixels. There really is no excuse for that on Google's part.flyingpants265 - Thursday, February 13, 2020 - link
Good, it was identical to every other phone on the marketmkozakewich - Sunday, February 16, 2020 - link
Hey now, it's still got one of the best Screen-to-body ratios.flyingpants265 - Tuesday, February 18, 2020 - link
They should have called it the Identical Phone.mkozakewich - Sunday, February 16, 2020 - link
I probably wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't on sale, but I ended up paying less per-month on my cell phone bill because of it.The phone itself is really good, so I'm glad I got it. I'm just sad that the carrier only stocked the black ones, because those rusty red ones look amazing.
This was my first Android phone to offer updates (yes, "Yikes"), and it's been giving me updates until this month!
Chaser - Monday, February 17, 2020 - link
The man had a vision and starting up a large company is a tremendous risk today. It's too bad it failed. But could you guys peddle your petty politics elsewhere? I'll go to CNN, MSLSD, WAPO or others if I want to read pathetic diatribes.Smell This - Tuesday, February 18, 2020 - link
Good luck with that ... and, no.I, personally, would prefer jail-time and flogging as opposed to public humiliation, but to each their own. If you are not incensed you are not paying attention.
Shame.
Shame.
Shame.
bull2760 - Wednesday, February 19, 2020 - link
Sad to see so many Millennial's that have been brainwashed by today's educational system and media. Have you looked at your retirement portfolio yet? Have you bothered to look at the economy? The jobless rate in the country is the lowest since 1969. Yeah, your right things are just awful here. You know what you should all consider moving to Venezuela, China, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Syria. Those people are living high on the hog. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find one person out of any of those countries wanting to exchange their current living condition for yours. That’s because it’s not just one person but 688K people since 2018 have tried to get what you have by crossing the border illegally. What is it they know, and you can’t figure out? You are all ungrateful, selfish, ignorant, and to stupid to realize how good you have it.Reflex - Thursday, February 20, 2020 - link
OMG since someone, somewhere in the world has it worse than I do it means I'm not permitted to ever complain or try to improve things without being ignorant, ungrateful, selfish and stupid!Protip: How do you think we got nice things? People complained and then acted to change things for the better. There is little reason to stop trying to be better.
Smell This - Thursday, February 20, 2020 - link
I am grateful that job creation in the last 3 years has resulted in 6,585,000 new hires.The previous guy however, in his last three years in office, created 6,995,000 jobs. Ooops. Bet you didn't see that coming.
https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?bls