Lolli-Flop 5.02 Bricked My Over-Priced Nexus 9

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Friday I received notification that Android 5.02 was available for my Nexus 9.  I accepted the update and left it on the charger in my office before leaving for the weekend. Upon my return Monday morning, I found that update 5.02 has apparently bricked my Nexus 9, leaving it in perpetual reboot sequence, and it doesn’t look like I’m alone.

Lolli-Flop 5.02 Bricked My Over-Priced Nexus 9

Sadly this isn’t my first bout of bad luck with a Nexus device. However I think it’s going to be my last…

First I had to return my Nexus 6 due to a product defect where the device repeatedly powered down. Now  Android Lollipop 5.02 update bricked my very expensive ($600+) Nexus 9.

That’s the end of the road for my love fest with Google Nexus.

To be honest I’m not all that attracted to Google any longer.

They have a very short attention span and the products they fiddle with are often half done (at best) and nowhere close to enterprise ready.

Microsoft is nipping at Google’s heels and while I never thought I’d say this – many of Microsoft’s products are looking better love – and better polished – than the myriad of half-done Google projects – including:
Google Voice (ever try to use the web UI?), Google+ (just removed shared circles – wonder what will be dismantled next), Gmail apps (universal inbox barely works, Inbox app excludes most Google Apps users), highly fragmented Android with poor adoption of latest release. Shall I go on?

I just cancelled my $999 Chromebook Pixel. Thankfully I caught the order fast enough to put the brakes on.

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About the Author

Wayne Schulz
Wayne is a diehard Android user and consultant specializing in Sage 100 ERP Accounting Software. He lives in Glastonbury CT with his two children. When not helping them with their homework or pushing the latest school fundraiser off on his co-workers, he is active hiking and investigating all manner of technology.

3 Comments on "Lolli-Flop 5.02 Bricked My Over-Priced Nexus 9"

  1. That’s a shame that you’ve had such headaches.

    I agree with you on Microsoft, especially on the desktop/business software/tablet-y side. But what’s your plan for phones? Will you move to iOS full-time?

  2. I think I’ll begin to phase out of Android. I enjoy using the phones but cannot justify the expense for a Nexus device (which gets more expensive each year) where the primary purpose for the device is to receive updates faster.

    The belly flop of Google + , Google Voice and the myriad of experimental products and services Google releases and promptly forgets has me thinking that toying with Google technologies is not the best use of my time.

  3. I can’t say the same about the Nexus 6 and 7 experience. Both are running Android 5.1 and both are stock. They have been the most solid devices I have ever had even eclipsing my very good Galaxy Nexus.

    As for the Nexus 9, I can’t speak to that too much. I am not sure I would blame your experience on Google as much as I would HTC. I was very disappointed in the news and info I have heard about the Nexus 9 ALMOST from the beginning. The price was a world away from the Nexus 7 and it’s not the premium that Google and HTC would have you think and that’s what disappoints me. I wanted a new tablet but quite frankly since buying the Note 3 last year and the Nexus 6 this year, I haven’t used my Nexus 7 that much and when I do I have been happy with it’s performance so why upgrade? For me, the sweet spot would be a large tablet. Similar in size to the Surface 3 but much higher specs. Maybe running Linux but that’s not a requirement. Android would be ok.

    Now what I find ironic here Wayne is that you are having issues loading 5.0.2 the DAY that 5.1 was released for the Nexus 9. Although I will say that it’s probably NOT on the OTA for all right now because of the goofy way they roll out Android ROMS of all ilk. Nexus included. It’s not like iOS where EVERYONE can get it day one and the fact of the matter is it SHOULD BE. It’s certainly NOT because Google can’t handle the load. They can. That’s where Google is failing.

    As for Google+ I use it and I like it mostly because only my geeky friends. Google Voice has worked well for me for what I use it for and I’ve to had the issues with using multiple Google accounts that you have with one minor issue and that is Youtube regularly seems to forget that I refer to use my standard Gmail account versus my Gear Diary one for watching videos.

    As for Google Wave and other products like Reader….well I’ve learned, especially about Reader, that I DON’T need to use a RSS reader like I used to and most of my news is gotten…shock…horror…from Facebook. I follow all the blogs I read via the Facebook posts that they make and usually that suffices. When it doesn’t I look to Twitter or even just a basic Google search. I don’t need to incessantly read blogs like I used to. Gear Diary and a few others are the exceptions rather than the rule. The Verge regularly covers crap I don’t care about, Engadget is also in the same boat. So just catching it in my Facebook News Feed o my Twitter feed when I do is perfect for me. I don’t NEED to read every story on The Verge and if I did I’d be very unhappy if I did!

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