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Comment by jasonkostempski | Hacker News Reader

Those numbers must include the Meep! devices kids got for Christmas (Android 4.0). I don't know how many units they sold but I suspect just about all of those have been or will be returned [1]. Just about the only thing I could do on it was connect to Google Play.

[1] Here's their 'Hot News' page full of apologies http://www.meeptablet.com/us/hotnews.asp

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I've never even heard of this device. It sounds like a waste of money when a Nexus 7 is just $50 more. Did it even have a substantial number of sales?

Seemed unfortunately successful in its advertising. Have a brother in first grade who is a champion at using my iPhone and iPad to play games and look up dinosaur pictures and videos. Suggested to my stepmom he get an iPad mini or Nexus 7 for Christmas, but she had already bought him a MEEP (at his request). What a shame. Kids can (and should) learn real computing devices. Giving them locked-down, "child-friendly" devices is a disservice to both them and the society they'll one day be adults in.

( - Pretty sure that learning Logo, QBasic, DOS, and Telnet/Winsock during grade school in 90's is the only reason I'm an employed programmer now.)

I'm not sure what parents see in these toy-looking tablets. My daughter's had a Galaxy Tab since it came out and she was three. No problems figuring it out whatsoever.

By the looks of it that 'Meep' tablet doesn't use Google Play. So no, it won't be included in the numbers in the article.

It is really frustrating to see all the Android fanboys downvoting you.

It's because he's making a cheap shot at a cheap product and contributes nothing to the topic.

UPDATE: there are hundreds of "no-name" Android devices running 4.0, including those HDMI TV sticks you can get in China. Most likely the brand he mentioned didn't make a dent in the statistics.

I didn't interpret it that way. He brings up a very valid point: it is near useless to talk about the rate of adoption for Android versions because of the large variety of devices that use it. He points to an example of such a device.

edit to respond to your update: maybe the particular device did not make a dent on it, but you said it yourself: there are a gazillion devices running Android, and many new sales were made over the holidays. We have no idea if the increase in the percentage of new versions was due to new sales or upgrades of existing devices.

Naturally it would be both (upgrades & new devices).

You're frustrated about a vote score you can't see? I think you should take a deep breath and step away from HN for a couple hours. Or perhaps try smiling :)

The problem is that it changes the color of the text AND pushes it further down in the comments section. This makes it so that comments that add to the discussion but are unpopular get dismissed and ignored.

Downvotes normally correct themselves after a few hours. It really isn't worth talking about them.

Unfortunately you used the f word, so you may get some downvotes.

Like I said in my response to jrockway, downvotes matter, especially in the first few hours of a comment's lifecycle. Those first few hours usually determine whether an interesting discussion comes out of the comment, so if the comment is less visible (due to font color and placement on the comment page) due to a few individuals' knee-jerking, it is unhealthy for the community as a whole.

It's like a baby not getting enough nutrients in the first few months. That will adversely affect its development and have a permanent negative impact on its future health.

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