[Discuss] Android hardware fragmentation

[dsr at randomstring.org (Dan Ritter)]

On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 02:00:44PM -0400, Rich Pieri wrote:
> There has been discussion about fragmentation of the Android operating
> system across carriers but not much about the hardware. I mention this
> in light of the recent discussion about Ouya. And here's the problem:
> 
> https://plus.google.com/u/0/117962666888533781522/posts/MRnnvs3oFUF
> 
> None of the first generation Snapdragon devices, including Nexus One
> and HTC Incredible, will be getting the ICS-based CyanogenMod 9. Pieces
> like the video decoding APIs in ICS don't exist for these devices. The
> hardware is entirely capable of supporting the APIs; it's simply that
> Google never published the libraries, maybe never even wrote them.

...

> Thoughts? Am I completely wack? Does Ouya face bigger problems than
> competition from Nintendo and Microsoft?

It actually sounds like this:

My laptop computer runs Linux. It came with a video graphics card that
has a decent but proprietary X11 driver, including 3D support, but it
won't work on any newer kernels.

After you get stuck in that situation a few times, you start looking
at things like "is there an open source video driver for this graphics
card?" and quickly expand to "is there an open source driver for absolute
any component of this computer that I care about?". You do this before
you buy, rather than afterwards, because it's a pain.

So in the back of my head, I keep a running list: ATI Radeon,
older than a certain mark, works well for 3D but not so great for
video acceleration. New ATI: stay away, but it will probably be
supported. Older NVidia: works OK. Newer NVidia: probably works OK,
but double check. Intel: works OK, the Sandybridge stuff is very
good. Anything else: Matrox is OK for 2D, nothing else is worth my time.

Similarly, when I buy an Android device, my current questions
start with "which community is going to support this in three years?".

But none of that is really the right market. People who buy video
game consoles aren't looking for computers. They're looking for
entertainment. If a game says it works with Ouya, great. If it doesn't,
well, it might work, it might not, let's try the free version.

Nobody buys a PS/3 game and expects it to work on a PS/2. (You
can't rely on the opposite direction either, which is not a
problem I expect any Android device to have. If it works
adequately on a G1, it should be smoother and consume less power
on a Nexus 7.)

-dsr-