[G2 General] MidnightHarvester:
Warning: included is a long history of my Android and parts of my development career which when read lends insight into how I feel.. But feel free to skip to the last few paragraphs. I've frequented XDA since I got my OG DROID and still don't have ten posts... Loser.. Lol.. Well, you've been warned so don't give me a top long I'm too lazy to read. Just skip it, or read the first paragraph or so and skip to the end.. Or read it all. I need more posts so I can start contributing to the dev section and figured I'd actually write what I felt instead of a "lol" just to increase my count.

The Nexus 5 surely doesn't get better battery life ^_^ So much for Google's claims of Kit Kat improving battery life by 20%. I started with the OG DROID and was a common visitor here (although I was to new to post anything useful. I came from being a veteran C/C++ Windows developer. I drove my programmers crazy cause they were all taught MFC - I would never write anything that included the MFC libraries and instead used the Windows Template Libraries. For some reason using templates was Greek to most of them. Never was officially released I don't think but as a MCP I had access to a lot of tools that the Microsoft team actually used themselves. It used templates instead of classes and made building UI easier with a tiny footprint (no larger than just using API) compared to the footprint MFC brought in.

Eventually I just switched to Visual Basic so my programmers could work and maintain the UI and I'd write all the non UI mess using C/C++ (sometimes Java) as distributed objects so that they could just use these lightweight interfaces inside of VB (or whatever language they wanted to use...as long as they could import them in from .dlls or the occasional .exe server. This eventually progressed to where I was used to just create distributed classes/interfaces. For example, the method used for shipping using the FedEx PowerShip Plus servers was to the manually feed in shipping data and the process wasn't integrated. I was working where we shipped music merchandising (musictoday.com). There was a better way. It took forever as FedEx has a huge manual of shipping codes. Wrote up interfaces and implemented. Used that model so that others could import in my implemented version and override whatever functions they needed (this was before VB caught up and allowed this sort of behavior in classes, before then just interfaces. FedEx eventually bought out this component and I got nothing since all my work belonged to them. Also created a ticketing system for several bands connected to a thermal printer to print them. Dave Matthews was the main one using it as our company (Redlight which owned musictoday and Starr Hill.. Owned by Coren Capshaw) was their managers. Their main rehearsal studio at home was adjacent to the gym there where I worked out every day for hours (pissing our CTO off, but i ran the show in the development department and he knew it). Ended up hanging out with him a few times at Boars Head Inn and a few others (too bad I hated his music.. Told him I couldn't stand it and he just laughed). Developed the Friends of Live fansite and I guess I was their first fan club member even though I never signed up (another band I didn't care for much.. I like rock but).. Realized later after I kept receiving VIP passes to their shows (all access backstag, etc.. Which i gave away btw to family) thst I was there first fan because I designed the database for the fan site as well (yeah, was forced to play way too many roles there) and had used my information while testing it out and when I switched it over from the dev database to the live one, I forgot that I had also entered my info in that one as well while creating tthe tables.. Lol

Sorry for the long post about some of my history, but when the OG DROID came out which was my first, my Windows development ceased and I decided to learn Android. Quickly found it was built on a Linux kernel and it took off quickly from there. I even wrote a lot of inline assembly inside some of the IIS extensions I wrote thst queried our database as it had to be fast enough to handle all the traffic querying at the time. I can brag our search routines were fast.. (specifically the routine for searching for concerts based on artist, venue, etc..). I had SQL procedures that parsed the actual query string that the user entered. Which had to be smart enough to detect wildly misspelled names and such.. It was hundreds of lines long). The IIS extension was the bridge and as anyone who's used IIS (well back then) knows, you couldn't write extensions that were heavy.. Or else you'd slow everything down. For making the actual SQL connections, queries, and retuning results, I used the lightest method I could find.. raw SQL with a lot of inline assembly. All that was written just to say I want to kill someone everytime I loolnat small machine code. I can maybe change a color somewhere or if lucky enable paid features on free apps if I'm able by grace of God to find where the correct switch is. And don't get me started other ****... It's like trying to write with your opposite writing hand while driving in a foreign country where they drive on the other side of the road and keep the quality of each at optimum levels. RGB colors for examle are not FFAA66..no..you have to reverse it.

Anybody downloading any mods here which involve reverse engineering and editing small should not take what they get for granted and be very appreciative to the developer. I've followed the scene since the beginning (HarvesterX) and helped out a little (such as on the old Avalon theme for OG DROID which ended up requiring more editing then we were capable of.). While I had my PC, I built a few of my own ROMs (gingerbread.. That's how long I've been without one and when I need to root a phone I use the work computer). Then in progressed to helping debug some applications for some awesome developers. Apps I'm sure the majority of anyone rooted and on here uses as well as ones who those who like to mod use. I don't develop em just debug and troubleshoot and test so I won't give names or credit for any of it. The point is to show that it does take time and lots of work and the guys/gals here are fantastic. If they are doing this professionally, they would be making between $44,000-$110000 a year from it depending on location and level of knowledge. To do this for free means thst you.. Thst we need to donate back by either donating to the develops themselves, or donate to a charity, or just give something of yourself.

Next phone was the Galaxy Nexus. Love or hate it.. It was a great phone when first released and the development was top grade. I went through a rough time in my life during these years and stayed out of actively developing anything or helping (I did throw out a little weather mod that showed the weather as an icon in the notification bar. Soon after I shared it on another site I saw it pop up on a very popular ROM. Didn't irk me.. I took it as a compliment I guess. I wasn't looking for credit. Was just to give back to some friends. Did some theme work for friends as well nothing big

When the GNex eventually died I was sad but happy a the same time. Loved the design of the phone and it could have still been good as a music server or something. USB Flex died on me and by the time the replacement flex arrived in the mail in and gave in and bought the G2 hesitantly. I had horrible past experiences with my baby mommas (ex thank the heavens) LG Ally. Everytime I has to use that phone I wanted to throw it against the wall. It wasn't BAD except crippled as LG decided to skimp on memory. If it had had the same as the OG DROID it would have been much better. I was able to root it and throw on the only custom kernel I could find and thst helped a little.. But the display was grainy and the only positives it had was having Stock Android on it. I knew I didn't want a Samsung device as their ethics have been questionable and frankly I had tried a Motorola (used several actually but only owned the one), a Samsung (again, used lots of em but owned one..), and wanted to see what HTC, Sony, and LG had to offer. Well Sony wasnt gonna happen as I'm not leaving VZW while I'm rocking their unlimited at $50 a month and getting 30-40Mbs downloads at home (can't wait til Advanced is turned on). T-Mobile isn't an option period where I live.. It's no contest). So it was between the One and the G2. I knew about each and the specs (want aware though of all the under the hood specs thst LG didn't advertise a lot, such as their advances in display technology and GRAM). The One is a wonderful piece of hardware and the sound and screen, and build quality screamed at me. If it was one of the unlockable Ones or a Dev Edition I possibly may has missed on the G2. When I saw the G2 I already read about how it was great but..I can't go on reviews.. They are biased as hell and I can't count how many times I've found completely false statements splattered all over a device's review. First impression was thst.. Damn this looks beautiful. Hadn't turned the screen on yet. Reviews said thst it was plastic, felt cheap, and fingerprint magnet. Hmm. Looked more like a high quality poly-carbonate material and it was solid. I was my hands at least two or three times a day.. As well as clean my phone once every day or two. Found the power button and wow. The screen felt like silk. That's all I needed to see. I had already known that dev support would be there for it and I was afraid if I waited then an OTA would come around blocking the loki exploit. Grabbed it at off contract price and realized.. "NO BEZELS!".. I smoke.. (switched to vaporizers though but back to cigarettes while looking for a really good vape.. One I had was crap..). Well thise who smoke I'm sure have had ashes end up inside the bezel and the screen and used tweezers or similar to remove if blowing didn't help... Lol ok yeah I love the phone. I can't say anything bad actually.. Well having bezels is great but also a little irritating at times (rarely but..). If you try to type or drag an icon or tap a link and you have a finger eight on the edge it can cause problems. Took me a while before I realized why my notification bar kept being pulled halfway down..

This huge post leads to the question at hand. Is the price cut good? I like having the G2 as a hidden gem. Had it at work yesterday because I had inadvertently formatted ALL of my data partitition (thanks TWRP! on one side you have format data and a big Warning.. So I go to advanced section and check the box there as I came from clockwork and that seemed the thing to do.. They had a huge Warning on the other button..). Well while downloading the latest CyanogenMod nightly and gapps (just to get something on the phone.. Looking for a ROM I like atm.. Like the CyanogenMod nightlies but calls drop often). The links to all the roms I wanted to try were all leading to dead ends yesterday.. Haven't tried today though. I was using the floor computer and had logged in as admin. During the time I was waiting for the downloads to finish three customers had came in (I sale and install wireless Internet, and one of the few technicians) migrated to see what I was doing. Then I started getting questions like "where are the buttons?" as I had it laying on its back. I had questions of if they could test it out and if it was for sale.. I laughed and said no its my personal one but they are welcome to play with it when I get an operating system back on it. They watched as I opened a command prompt up and pushed the files over and watched the whole recovery process (these are regular people who had no clue any of this was possible). After signing into CyanogenMod and Android I handed it over to the wolves. All three asked me how much and where they could get one (one lady asked me which carrier mine was running one.. Guess she missed all the Verizon branding.. Lol. I told them they could pick up one for AT&T or Verizon (stopped thwre because where I live those are the only viable options for a radius of 40-50 miles.. And a reason our propriety wireless Internet sells so easily.)

I don't know or inside them on the G2 or Android itself but as everyone here knows (and if you don't you will now), stores are going to push devices from the top manufacturers and among those, the devices that they can also sell you accessories for. That mean Apple and Samsung (and the DROID line). LG is known for appliances. And there isn't the plethora of accessories the salesman can tack on. If this phone was pushed the same as the Note 3 or the 5s the price would not be dropping as fast. LG has a history of rapidly dropping it's prices on phones because of this very reason. They can't muscle the store to push their merchandise so they have to resort to drastically cutting costs to recoup on the capital invested.

LG knows they have a hit on their hands as I've never seen as many commercials for any LG product as often as I'm seeing the various G2 comments. The problem is, the commercials aren't really memorable. OK.. Look at Nexus 5 sales versus G2 sales. The Nexus 5 is shipping out of inventory at Google almost as fast as they enter. Google knows how to market. They know the target audience for the Nexus 5 (and since the Nexus 7, the name has became a lot more mainstream). They never had to show one commercial. This leaves me torn. If the G2 had shipped with stock Android and updates straight from Google then it would have sold as fast if not faster then the Nexus 5. The best part is, it's just as easy to unlock (*cough* bypass) the bootloader on the G2 as it is for the Nexus 5. N5 has the advantage in updates.. Yeah we have 4.3 and will have 4.4 but until LG releases updated libraries for the G2, the 4.3 and 4.4 bulds will be a mix and mash of the new thst works mixed with older lib files. Same problem on the OG DROID, yes that was a HUGE hit.

It's not like LG isn't gaining recognition as they've developed all the latest Nexi.. Problem is thlse aren't sold as LG Nexus. In my opinion LG has been the most innovative this round of relaases. Yes they deserve more, but it's not a "Ah good job here's a good star" world. There are bullies on the playground and we all know the two bullies I'm talking about. LG has to keep fighting back and winning. They need to see the G2 as an astounding success (though I'm sure it will be passed on for having 1GB less RAM.. Which might be relevant by the next time upgrades roll around but for now... On Samsung stuff I get it as TouchWiz used 1GB of it..) instead of just a failed device. I recommend this phone to everyone. I show it to them and they say *I love it but can't afford it*.. Well its like $79 or cheaper.. How much cheaper do you want? I paid $549 for mine off contract. Hopefully by the time they jeep unlimited away I'll live where T-Mobile is solid or they'll expand here.