Yes, so I still get what I ordered (a hackable device which can drive a set of good 2.0 speakers from my desk), I don't get charged for a half-baked product, and I have the opportunity to hack on it.
So you're right. Google didn't do the least they could do; they still will give me what I paid for but they're also giving the money back. This approaches the most they could have done.
I'm still happy with the outcome. I get to hack on the device for a product idea I have _before most developers can even touch one_. And what consumer is going to be upset about Google pulling the launch of a product that was getting panned in the press anyways?
Yes, it'd be better to just hit a home run as you launch the product. Obviously that didn't happen, and no one is claiming it did. This is just the best way to fail they could think of.
So you're right. Google didn't do the least they could do; they still will give me what I paid for but they're also giving the money back. This approaches the most they could have done.
I'm still happy with the outcome. I get to hack on the device for a product idea I have _before most developers can even touch one_. And what consumer is going to be upset about Google pulling the launch of a product that was getting panned in the press anyways?
Yes, it'd be better to just hit a home run as you launch the product. Obviously that didn't happen, and no one is claiming it did. This is just the best way to fail they could think of.