Google has no plans to open retail stores, according to Andy Rubin

Last week a source cited as extremely reliable told 9to5Google that the search giant was planning to erect standalone stores across the US similar to retail locations currently in operation by Apple and Microsoft. As it turns out, that’s not...

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Why would they open retail stores? Brick and mortar stores are all moving towards online sales. Soon all we'll have left is fast food restaurants and Walmarts, everything else will be online.

As they can now make a decision based on reviews and talking to friends. Customers don?t need to go into a store and physically hold a product any longer.

Maybe he's referring to himself & a few select people. That's not the case with me or anybody I know.
Or maybe, just maybe he received a late night phone call from one of Apples torpedoes advising them of the health & financial risk if competing with them.

I highly doubt that; android is just as competitive as apple and offers superior products at a cheaper price. Look at the current market saturation for smart phones / OS and tell me that isn't true.

I own an iPod. iPods were superior products without any REAL competition. (Zune lol)
I personally would never buy an apple tablet, computer or phone after the original release of the iPhone. Why? I refuse to pay more for a product with lower specs, that inherently gives you less options than an open ended platform like android.

There is a demographic for apple (obviously) and that's fine, far be it from me to stop another person from buying what they want. But I believe that as people become more proficient with technology the appeal of simple and streamlined products (like apple) will diminish.

I'm kidding of course.

Yeah, no kidding... maybe this guy hasn't heard of a store called Best Buy. People LOVE going to the store and checking out a product and then going home and buying it cheaper online. They even thought up a word for it... 'Showrooming' And don't forget, Best Buy is STILL the number one retailer of computers and smart phones, even with 'everyone' buying things online.

Who wants to trust some reviewer's opinion when you can try it out for yourself?

Google's problem is they only thing they sell are advertisements. A Google store would make you log in with your google account when you walked in so it could adjust the ads in the store accordingly.