The Tale Of Poor Pity-Tab - A Customer Disservice Drama Featuring Samsung, Vodafone and Google And The Abandoned Galaxy Tab 10.1v GT-P7100

It's a shame. A family family drama full of fights, intrigues and tears. The tale of an early-born, unwanted child with a beautiful sister, ignored by all family members, given up for adoption, erring in the streets, because even the foster homes don't want to do anything with it. The case of the Pity-Tab stands out; tragic, but hardly unique.

The characters in this drama:

• Pity-Tab, full name Vodafone Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v GT-P7100 - the early-born tabby kid, had a promising birth, some fixable soft birth-defects named Honeycomb 3.01, but quickly became the family's black sheep
• Samsung - Galaxy the unloving single mum, very attractive, a bit of a diva, many lovers, too many beautiful kids, has a short attention span, always battling with a fruity friend of hers (a expensive but deep running love-hate relationship)
• Vodafone - Vaderfone, the father. Wanted a quickie and got a kid. As soon as the troubles started, he ran away and doesn't want to pay allowances. Claims that he can't remember the night.
• Google - the Uncle, who played a great role in the conception and birth of this poor kid. But Uncle Google is a bit helpless, because no member of the Android family listens to him properly. They all love sex, produce many babies, but are not into long-term relationships. They suffer from institutional Altzheimer and show symptoms of postpartum depression. In order to set an example, Uncle Google succeeded to get guardianship of Auntie Motorola and will hopefully try to look after her offspring. But that doesn't help poor Pity-Tab.
• The Phone Warehouse - one of many adoption agencies which sold these poor Tabby-Babies and then didn't want to have to do anything with the Pity-Tabs anymore.

From Galaxy Stardom to Pitiless Outcast

The GT-P7100 Android tablet, or Pity-Tab from hereon, is a fine piece of hardware which has been launched as one of the first Honeycomb Android 3.0 devices early 2011. In some ways the configuration (for example the camera) is even better than the slightly younger and sexier twin sister Galaxy Tab GT-P7500.

Technologically the Pity-Pab and the GT-P7500 are like "fraternal" twins (see comparison table). But the Pity-Tab was a very early born and wasn't as desirable as the famous fruity rival, the iPet2 - iPlum versus iPosh, iPray versus iPreach. As a result of that, the fruitier looking sister GT-7500 came into existence and the older brother became Pity-Tab, the one that nobody desired.

One of the reasons that the Pity-Tab sold so well in Germany and Australia is because Samsungs’ love-hate fruity friend banned sexy Tabby sister 10.1 (GT-P7500) from being sold officially in those two countries. So we, like the Auzzies, got the next best thing, the Pity-Tab.

The abandonment of Pity-Tab meant that the birth deficiencies would not be addressed. Actually, it was fine, just needed a bit of education and pampering. The Pity-Tab was mentally unstable and moody. No, not crazy, but unnervingly, bothersome jerky. No big crashes, but a constant nagging pain - like a chronic headache, one galactic, touchy migraine.

The symptoms were curable if only somebody would take good care of it. Unfortunately, when these soft issues became apparent, the Pity-Tab has been given up for adoption and hasn't found a new home since. There are many thousands of those help-seeking cute little tabbies worldwide, pushed around, erring from one helpline to the next, unloved by everyone involved.

Abandoned and disowned
The Pity-Tab is a Vodafone-branded Samsung. Unfortunately for the Pity-Tab, both parents were never really a couple and didn’t love each other very much. Samsung is the sexy, single mum, busy with too many cute babies. But Mama Samsung says, “no, go to your Dad, you got his birthmark. Or better, go to Uncle Google. He is responsible, because he talked me into getting in bed with Vodafone on a Honeycomb trip.”

Google counters, “Come on! Take care of you offspring. First you enjoyed great sex and you take these proprietary pills to get your customers high and addicted to Blur, Touch-Wizz & co. Then, when it doesn't work and customers complain, you start whining.”

Ouch, that has hurt and Samsung pouts: “well, we made it really quick while you watched eagerly. Therefore the Pity-Tab's Android is plain vanilla Honeycomb. So it's your problem.”

Many owners of the Pity-Tab then have taken a long look at the birth certificate. It states “Vodafone” and often means paying monthly taxes to the mobile toll collector. Vodafone, of course, tries to avoid fatherhood duties and runs. But the birthmark on the back of the poor child clearly indicates "Vodafone". The Pity-Tab even bears the name "Galaxy Tab 10v". You see, "Galaxy" is Mummie's family Samsungname, "Tab 10.1" designated the size and shape of the baby when born, and the "v" stands for, drumroll, yes, Vodafone (or German: Vaterfone or Dutch: Vaderfone).

But, Vaderfone says, “no no, not me, I am just a toll collector on your Internet journeys, the others tricked me into this relationship. Go to your mum.”

In fact, in our case, Vaderfone said, that we need to go to the vendor of the Pity-V-Tab first. The adoption agency in our case is "The Phone House" (the name of "The Carphone Warehouse" retail shops outside the UK / Ireland, owned 50% by Best Buy).

Hapless helpless support
"The Phone Adoptionhouse" weren’t amused when we came to them. They quickly sent our Pity-Tab to their own technological re-boot-camp. But the Pity-Tab only got a few electroshocks to reset the tabby-brain and still is 3.01 dumb. The symptons haven't disappeared.

We went back to the place and let them send the Pity-Tab to this technical support institution again. The poor Tabbie got electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) once more. They even claimed that they replaced some neurons, the UMTS modem - though we don't believe them. Since when do small mental help institutions do major surgical repair operations? Can you even replace the modem separately?

So the poor Pity-Tab has been sent back a third time to this mental repair facility and will again receive this useless shock treatment, called flashing rom 3.01. Why three times you ask? Well, the Phone Adoption House has a policy of first go through the procedure of trying to fix things three times before they consider other options. The Adoption House ladies of our local agency don’t even say hello and good-bye anymore when we enter their shop.

Our experience has shown so far, that our Phone Adoption Agency has not chosen the name of "The Carephone Warehouse" for a reason. Though to be honest, they are not responsible for the technological abandonment of Pity-Tab’s family. However, they could decide to lend customers their corporate shoulder to pressure Mama Samsung and Daddy Vodafone into action.

Is there hope?
As long as nobody cares for the Pity-Tab's education, it will remain 3.01 dumb. That means, temporary brain freezes, constant transmission hickups, frequency hopping. It also means that many of Samsung accessories like memory and USB adapters are not working.

All that because nobody does the obvious. An upgrade to 3.1 or 3.2, or even better 4.x. Because Pity-Tab kiddie screams to get an Ice Cream Sandwich. Usually a short lived indulgence, such a cold calorie bomb would do Pity-Tab some real, long term good.

Dear Uncle Google,
as the whole family can't stop finger-pointing, please step in and take care. Adopt the Pity-Tab. We know, that you are not a parent of this unloved kid, but since the parents abandoned Pity-Tab and are pretty hopeless caretakers, you are the next of kin. We really really like you and your Ice Cream Sandwiches very much, really, honest. Give the poor kids a new home, you won't regret it.

BTW There is also a surprising solution to this tragedy

Dear, parents, dear family, just allow your customers to flash a custom ROM on the Pity-Tab without threatening to void the warranty. Heck, just support communities like The Overcome Experience, CyanogenMod or MIUI with money, devices and most importantly collaboration. The team Overcome have a custom ROM for the 10.1, unfortunately the wrong 10.1 - again.

By embracing those communities and supporting the upgrade activities, this tragedy could turn into a romantic comedy. And everybody will live happily thereafter.

PS: The Galaxy Tab 10.1v Facebook wall of shame



Photos by Samsung
Android Graphics by PC World and by IT Clips