A very early review of my Motorola Xoom with Honeycomb

This is a brief early review of my Motorola Xoom which just arrived today.

First of all, I have been a long time user of the Apple Iphone and I currently own an Iphone 4 which I think is amazing.

I have never used any version of an Android device so this was a fairly raw experience.

The main reason I bought the Motorola Xoom is because it uses the computer chip which the company I work for designed.  The computer chip is called the 'Tegra 2', which is a dual core 1ghz ARM processor.  In addition to this capability, is also supports fairly decent high-end 3d graphics.

As much as I love my Iphone-4, I could never bring myself to purchase an Ipad.  The bottom line is that an Ipad simply runs the same exact software that my phone does and, in the end, it is nothing other than an iphone with a large screen. In fact, what was really ridiculous is that an Ipad has a lot fewer features than an Iphone-4.  A deficiency which is only just now being addressed by the latest Ipad-2.

So, after using my Motrola Xoom for a day, I'm absolutely happy with it.  It is very easy to use, has a great form factor, and I had no difficulty working my way through the interface even though I have never used the software platform before.

It definitely does *not* feel like a 'large phone'.  It feels exactly like the tablet form factor of a netbook computer, which is just what I was looking for.

There are a couple of negatives about the Motorola Xoom.  First, it is over-priced.  At $800 it's simply too damned expensive for what you get (a $400 netbook in a tablet form factor).  However, that is not going to last for long.  There is a lot of pent-up demand for a Honycomb 3.0 based tablet computer and Motorola knows they can command a premium price for being the first one to market.

As an 'early adopter' I accept that as the price of admission.  I'm just saying that if you have patience and can wait until fall or winter of 2011, you will be able to by any one of dozens of Honycomb tablets with equal or better features for hundreds of dollars less.

The biggest plus of the Honycomb is that it's a Google product.  If, like me, you use Google extensively (for mail, blogging, etc) it's really cool how deeply integrated it is.

For example, get this.  I wanted to check out the device so I copied some photographs onto it.  When I went to the gallery application I was surprised to see hundreds and hundreds of photographs and albums organized that I had never uploaded!!!  My gallery, through my gmail account, was automatically seeded with every single photograph I had ever uploaded to every one of my blogger accounts!  Simply amazing.

The bottom line is this, however.  There are hundreds of thousands of applications for the Iphone and Ipad, many of which are extremely high quality.  The number of applications available for the Honycomb, especially those targeted towards the larger form factor, are few and far between.

Add to that, Motorola shipped the device before the software was even ready.  The SD-slot doesn't even work yet.  The browser doesn't support flash yet.  The hardware doesn't support 4g yet.

These are pretty blatant flaws, all of which will be corrected in a few weeks.  Again, this is just the pain of being an early adopter.

A part of me is extraordinarily frustrated that it took until spring of 2011 to be an 'early adopter' of the first operating system that gives the Iphone/Ipad fair head to head competition.  Why did it take so long for anyone to come out with an operating system that could compete with Apple?  I really don't know.

However, a true competitor to Apple does exist now in Honycomb.  It is slick, efficient, competent, and very usable.

So, why does any of this even matter?  If it's taken years for someone to come out with an operating system that can more or less compete equally with Apple, why should we care?

Well, here's why we should care.

Remember when Apple computer did their famous '1984' commercial?  I'm sure you have heard about it.  The commercial was taking a shot at IBM for being the 'Big Brother' in the computer field.

How ironic is it that, today, Apple computer is the absolute incarnation of 'Big Brother'.

Let me be clear.  Here is why I *LOVE* my Android Honycomb computer.

Here is why I will champion it to succeed and kill Apple in the process.

Today, I got my Android Honycomb tablet computer and *TODAY* I can download the development system, write a computer program, and then immediately run it on my own tablet.  I don't have to ask 'permission', I don't have to sign an agreement or contract.  Not only that, I can give a copy of that program to anyone I know and they can run it on their Honycomb computer as well.

I can distribute my software any way I wish.  Yes, if I distribute it through Google Android Market, they will take a cut, but I am not *restricted* to distributing it that way.  I can chose to distribute my software on a link via my own personal blog and bill through my own PayPal account if I choose to!!!!

Apple has gone from being the 'anti-Big-Brother' to the most closed, restrictive, proprietary gate keepers in the history of computer software.

You cannot develop software for an Apple product, without first signing a contract with Apple agreeing to a wide range of restrictions.  You must pay them for the privilege of programming software for their products.  Finally, the *ONLY* way you are allowed to distribute software is through their distribution channel.  A distribution channel which they own, and exercise absolute and complete control over what you can or cannot do, say, think, or present.

This is absurd.  Apple Computer demands more control than the worst dictators in human history.

It is for this basic and fundamental reason that Honycomb and Google will succeed and, in the end, Apple will fail.

So, today, I pay the price as an 'early adopter', but tomorrow I will reap the rewards.

Applications which are developed freely and independently, without censorship or restriction, without arbitrary rules and regulations, and without trying to dictate my creative process.

It may take another year, but I don't see Apple changing their ways.  They will continue to control the content they allow on their devices with an iron fist.  And, in some ways this will benefit them as people will perceive the quality of that content as being higher.

However, in the end, creative freedom will win the day.  And the quality, quantity, and variety of applications on Honycomb will so far exceed the Apple operating system that they will find themselves overthrown, in just the same way that dictatorships are being overthrown in the middle-east today.

Do you think this is hyperbole?  It is not.  Try getting an application published through Apple and you will quickly realize that my rhetoric truly represents the current state of affairs.

I have patience to wait for the applications which will rapidly become available for Honycomb.  In fact, I plan to start writing my own Honycomb applications as soon as possible.  Applications that I can share with all of my friends without requiring permission from anyone to do so.

In short, f**k you Apple, the future belongs to open and free software developers who can exercise complete creative freedom.

Your days are numbered indeed.