Nexus 7: Is lack of SD card port a deal breaker for you?

[CyGuy]

Why an SD card slot is mandatory for me:
I keep all of my media on SD cards, including ebooks, movies, music, and pictures. If I want to use my ebook reader I simply insert the card and there are all of my books. If I want to use my tablet I simply insert the card and there are all my files. It is illogical to think that anyone would use “the cloud” as a substitute for local storage considering the 32GB capacity (or more, now up to 128GB). Not to mention that data plans are now pay-per-GB which makes the cloud a no-go for any reason.

I have an SD card slot in: both of my ebook readers, my car stereo, my TV, my tablet, my laptop, my PC, my smartphone, my MP3 player, and my netbook. The versatility offered by this is unmatched.

It is good to know that many people here see why card slots are being left off of new devices, it is a money scam. It is an attempt to force you to eventually move money from your bank account to their bank account. PLEASE don’t fall for this!

No card slot no sale…

[afv011]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

A huge step forward for Apple and Google on the road to ripping us off (a slot adds less than 2 dollars to the cost, but forces us to stay in the cloud or buy their accessories.) A giant leap backwards for user.

Margins are very tight. Once a company I worked for was even looking at the number of screws used on a mobile phone to reduce costs - and a screw costs way less than $2, so $2 is not an insignificant amount of money, especially if you expect to ship large volumes of devices. I also would prefer to have SD slot, but I understand that some sacrifices have to be made to reach the $200 price point, and I rather they sacrified the SD slot than skimp on the CPU or screen or RAM.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by afv011

I understand that some sacrifices have to be made to reach the $200 price point, and I rather they sacrified the SD slot than skimp on the CPU or screen or RAM.

But isn't it rather silly to build down to a specific price point? I mean, who cares if it costs $210 rather than $200, if the extra $10 gets you an SD card slot?

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by afv011

Margins are very tight. Once a company I worked for was even looking at the number of screws used on a mobile phone to reduce costs - and a screw costs way less than $2, so $2 is not an insignificant amount of money, especially if you expect to ship large volumes of devices. I also would prefer to have SD slot, but I understand that some sacrifices have to be made to reach the $200 price point, and I rather they sacrified the SD slot than skimp on the CPU or screen or RAM.

Of course, in this particular case there is something to it. They wanted to hit the exact $199.- price point rather than sell for $205.-. Google branded devices serve more as "reference designs" and don't sell that much. What is very unfortunate is that many people now have come to think that SD card slots are expensive and unnecessary. Google is setting a very bad example here. When they are included they cost next to nothing, and they should be standard on every device. Look at cars, they now all come standard with air conditioning, even when you live in the frozen tundra. Customers accept nothing less. And by always including something you really drive down costs.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But isn't it rather silly to build down to a specific price point? I mean, who cares if it costs $210 rather than $200, if the extra $10 gets you an SD card slot?

Specific price points matter.
More people will buy something for $9.99 than for $10.01.
You might think it is silly, but it is a real phenomenon, which every company will take into account.
Even looking at estate agents, you houses prices at £499,950. or similar, just so that the eye doesn't see £500,000, which seems much higher.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by afv011

Margins are very tight. Once a company I worked for was even looking at the number of screws used on a mobile phone to reduce costs - and a screw costs way less than $2, so $2 is not an insignificant amount of money, especially if you expect to ship large volumes of devices. I also would prefer to have SD slot, but I understand that some sacrifices have to be made to reach the $200 price point, and I rather they sacrified the SD slot than skimp on the CPU or screen or RAM.

Fewer people use the front camera (not "no people", just "fewer people") and it is a more expensive component than the SD slot.

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Fewer people use the front camera (not "no people", just "fewer people") and it is a more expensive component than the SD slot.

I have personally never used the built-in camera on my tablet or netbook. I use the SD card slot everyday. I do understand why some people would want the camera though and it should be included. However, to try to claim that price is why many devices are missing a built-in card reader is very naive. It is not about cost is it about control.

No card slot no sale...

[Kumabjorn]

I would imagine that we will see the Kindle Fire for $169 in a few weeks, especially if a Fire 2 is in the works.
As for SD cards, they hold 32 or 64 GB where your typical Cloud service offers 5 GB for free, once you start paying a monthly fee it doesn't take long for it to surpass the price of a card.

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I would imagine that we will see the Kindle Fire for $169 in a few weeks, especially if a Fire 2 is in the works.
As for SD cards, they hold 32 or 64 GB where your typical Cloud service offers 5 GB for free, once you start paying a monthly fee it doesn't take long for it to surpass the price of a card.

Just to be clear, 128GB SD cards have been available for a while now and are down to $153. How many GB of data can you one-time download/upload for $153?

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by afv011

Margins are very tight. Once a company I worked for was even looking at the number of screws used on a mobile phone to reduce costs - and a screw costs way less than $2, so $2 is not an insignificant amount of money, especially if you expect to ship large volumes of devices. I also would prefer to have SD slot, but I understand that some sacrifices have to be made to reach the $200 price point, and I rather they sacrified the SD slot than skimp on the CPU or screen or RAM.

All that assumes that it was cost that prevented the inclusion of the SD slot. There is no reason to believe that it was.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

All that assumes that it was cost that prevented the inclusion of the SD slot. There is no reason to believe that it was.

Given that there are 7" Android tablets which DO have an SD card slot, what would you suggest may have been the reason?

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Given that there are 7" Android tablets which DO have an SD card slot, what would you suggest may have been the reason?

Obviously this is just speculation on my part, but appears to me to be nothing more complicated than pushing people to Google Play and the cloud. SD card slots make it more convenient to sideload personal media. Lack of a slot won't prevent sideloading, but it certainly makes it less convenient... and THAT is all that is needed.

Apple forged the path by not allowing any of its portable consumer devices (except the Macbook Pro) to include removable storage. For all of the apologetic hoops and convoluted logic to justify it as a "benefit", Apple had a multitude of reasons why it was beneficial for themselves to not include a slot. It was not a benefit to the consumer.

Amazon took a page from the book. Except for the first gen Kindle, no subsequent Kindle includes a slot.

So now Google enters the fray. Rather than initially include something and take it away later, they are going slotless from the beginning. By the amount of defenders of Google's decision, it is pretty clear to me that they'll do just fine with that decision.

Consumers have been trained to accept less control over the devices they purchase. Those who won't accept that will be viewed as "dinosaurs".

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I would imagine that we will see the Kindle Fire for $169 in a few weeks, especially if a Fire 2 is in the works.

I'm betting it drops to $149.

[Phogg]

Dinosaurs with better toys.

Who make fun of their toys when they try to claim they are high end.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

Obviously this is just speculation on my part, but appears to me to be nothing more complicated than pushing people to Google Play and the cloud. SD card slots make it more convenient to sideload personal media. Lack of a slot won't prevent sideloading, but it certainly makes it less convenient... and THAT is all that is needed.

Sorry, I thought you meant a technical reason. I'm sure you're right about this being a marketing decision to encourage people to use Google's cloud service, along the same lines that the Kindle Fire doesn't have a card slot to encourage the use of Amazon's cloud (and content).