Google's ridiculous reason about not providing MicroSD slots in their Nexus devices

I always felt that Apple iPhone and Windows Phone 7 to be very restrictive as they do not provide Micro-SD card slots. Google Android devices were much less restrictive by providing Micro-SD slots, which allow users to expand storage space cheaply.

However, when Google introduced its Nexus devices, none of these Nexus devices sport Micro-SD slots.

There was an interview with Android's user-interface designer, Matias Duarte, who answered the question of why the Nexus devices do not provide these Micro-SD card slots:

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Androids-Matias-Duarte-takes-to-G-for-Q-A-SD-cards-are-confusing-for-users_id36117

Frankly, Matias Duarte answer is just rubbish.

If Duarte thinks SD card storage is "confusing" for user, then wouldn't Cloud storage like Google Drive be just as "confusing"?

Google has this idealistic belief that the entire world should be awashed in internet connectivity. We should be able to connect to the internet to access our cloud storage wherever and whenever we want.

However, the reality is this:

• internet connectivity is spotty at best. The telcos are not able to erect cell towers for 3G/4G coverage in many places. When you have no internet, you cannot access your documents in cloud storage
  
• internet connections via 3G/4G or expensive. Telcos have exorbitantly priced data plans, and the affordable ones restrict you to a mere 1 GB of data transfer per month. Even if Google provides 5 GB of cloud storage in Google Drive, it will cost you a tidy sum if you need to access that 5 GB over 3G/4G internet

Unless one is as rich as Google, it is simply not cost effective to use cloud storage as compared to Micro-SD cards (last week, I bought a 32 GB micro-SD card for just S$24). And Android devices are really commodity products targeted at the 99% of the population, unlike iDevices which are "luxury" products aimed at the rich and affluent 1%. Unfortunately, Duarte's answer seems to indicate that Google is now becoming infected by Apple too.

One of the reasons why HTC, despite having a great Android handphone in its One series, could not do well  in the market while its Samsung counterpart did extremely well with its Galaxy S3, could be simply attributed to the fact that Samsung has a removable battery and a Micro-SD slot, while the HTC One had none. The people who buy Android phones are not fools, and they know that a device with a Micro-SD slot is more capable than one that doesn't. Unfortunately, HTC bought into Apple's thinking, and removed such a useful feature from their new flagship phone. No wonder HTC sales dropped a whopping 75%. People who used to support HTC, like one of my friends who always upgraded his handphone to the next HTC phone, switched to the Samsung Galaxy S3 simply because the Samsung phone has a Micro-SD slot.

Unfortunately, Google and many other manufacturers don't seem to realise that people are now using handphones and tablets like PCs. In fact, many people are buying smartphones and tablets instead of PCs. But they still need the large storage capacities of PCs for their mobile devices. A mobile device with just 8 GB or 16 GB of storage is not adequate. Heck, even 32 GB won't cut it nowadays. If Google wants to eliminate the Micro-SD slot, I think their devices should come with a minimum of 128 GB of storage. Tablets should definitely come with this amount of storage in a tiny SSD disk on the motherboard.

Until the day when internet connectivity is as ubiquitous as electricity, cloud storage is just an expensive nicety and not a best-value proposition. Currently, having a Micro-SD card slot for expandable storage is best for the public. Of course, that is provided Google wants to benefit the public, and not their own coffers.