[Nexus 6  General] jjhiza:
He actually has a valid point, although he didn't make it very clearly. What he's talking about is the principle of perceived value, whereby consumers believe that more expensive items are actually better. Is a Lexus really better than a Toyota? Toyota owns the Lexus brand, and yet most people would take (given the choice) the more expensive brand over the cheaper one. Why? Lexus vehicles are percieved to be better, because they're more costly.

The same principle applies here. The Nexus brand never sold very well for several reasons. 1) it was never really marketed, 2) it was designed for a niche market, and 3) the perceived value wasn't there, because the price was so low that it didn't grab people's attention.

With the Nexus 6, Google has seemingly gone back to the drawing board, and decided that they want to make "Nexus" a household name, and get Android in the hands of "ordinary people". They can't do this by continuing to follow the same path they were on. Therefore, they've taken on a partnership with Motorola, and made a premium phone, from top to bottom. They've also begun to advertise the device well, and they've positioned it nicely by making it carrier agnostic, and coupling it with a more premium price tag, in order to compete with other popular phablets. As others have said, it's still cheaper than a comparable device such as the iPhone 6+, or the new Note device, so the price point will be appealing to consumers. I actually think the Nexus 6 makes sense across the board.

The only people who might have a right to be peeved are developers. For so long, we've been spoiled by Google handing us near-flagship specs at very little cost. Times change though, and all of us need to adapt.

For those who are complaining... The size? Ok, that's a personal preference... Be grumpy about it if you want. The manufacturer (Moto)? Give me a break. Motorola makes very good devices. The price? As I said, it's still cheaper than the Note or the iPhone 6+, so what exactly are you guys complaining about? The fact that it's supposed to be a "developer phone"? How many of you guys can build AOSP from source? Not many I'd assume.

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*Warning - tangential sub-rant

{ Do all of you guys use ADB and fastboot to root and flash ROMs and kernels, or do you only know how to use toolkits and CWM? Honestly, most people who buy Nexus devices are regular people (guys mainly) who want to look and sound cool, because, "hey, I'm rooted" or "yeah, bet your iPhone can't run CyanogenMod!"... Meanwhile they don't really know anything about the device, and come crying to the forums when their new $600 "cool card" soft bricks, and they don't know what to do, and they need help. Very few will admit that they fall into this category, but (based on my experience) at least 65% of you do, so please, don't use the "developer device" cop-out to explain why you're mad.}

*end sub-rant

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Last time I checked, Google has shareholders to appease, and profits to post, just like every other major company. Android is (at this juncture) one of its largest assets, and to date, they've been lucky if they've broken even on Nexus sales. We've been spoiled rotten by Google for the duration of the Nexus line's existence. Either buck up and pay the price, or don't. Me? I'll be getting my 64GB Nexus 6 in Wednesday for zero down (ie. Free), and $29 a month. I'll pay it off within 6 months, own it outright, and be free to do what I want. ?