Is Anyone Buying T-Mobile's Googlephone? 454
Hugh Pickens writes "Laura Holson writes in the NY Times that she 'wandered down to the T-Mobile store at Ninth Ave. and 43rd St. in New York City to see what kind of crowds — if any — were lining up to buy the new T-Mobile G1 which went on sale Wednesday' and saw no lines out the door, no crowding at the counter, and a complete lack of crowds. The iPhone appears to still be the gold standard and Etan Horowitz writes that the G1 'doesn't do a great job showcasing its potential. It isn't as intuitive as the iPhone, and it may take average users a while to figure out basic and advanced shortcuts and features' and 'may appeal more to techies who value open-source products and don't mind a somewhat steep learning curve.' Part of the reason for slow interest may also be that T-Mobile's 3G high-speed data network won't be up and running in many cities until the end of the year."
Re:I love it (Score:2, Informative)
My co-worker got one (Score:5, Informative)
My co-worker and I shot out to the T-Mobile store on 6th ave and 46th street (or around there somehwere) in Manhattan yesterday and although the place wasn't crowded, every person in there was buying one (about 4).
We got a unit at work to play with a couple months ago and I was pretty impressed with it even though it was a little buggy (touchscreen doesn't always register and sometimes registers in the wrong spots) and flimsy feeling. the problem is the hardware feels like a shitty toy. The screen is great, but the keypad and trackball don't feel nice and the sliding mechanism doesn't feel solid. Handling it, I feel like I'm gonna break it.
The thing about the iPhone is that it's not only has a very shiny UI, but the hardware is made of metal and feels sturdy and reliable. It doesn't feel like a toy like the G1 does.
I'm waiting for an android phone that's compatible with the AT&T network to be released before I make the switch. I haven't been fully satisfied with the iPhone (mostly, I don't like the calendaring application AT ALL), but it beats the AT&T Tilt and the blackjack2 in terms of usability, in my opinion.
Marketing Problem? (Score:5, Informative)
I was in line during the day of the pre-release, where the only place you could get one in the world was at the T-Mobile store in the SoMa area of San Francisco. The release was set at 6:00pm on Tuesday, October 21, 2008.
When I got there at 6:10pm, the line only extended down the block. It took me approximately two hours before I got to the front of the line. In the mean time, I held a few conversations with the others by me, and it appears that the consensus was: there's not enough apps for the G1 right now - maybe it'll take off in a year or so, but there will be better phones for the platform by then.
I met a large number of *NIX users there who might have very well been other slashdotters. It appears to be that the G1 is in a niche market right now. People don't seem to care that it can be modified, but rather that it has less features and apps compared to the iPhone. Instead, most of the people in line wanted one because of its relatively cheap cost and stability.
Also, the lack of lines may be attributed to how well T-Mobile has handled the release compared to Apple. People were processed in less than three minutes, and there were eight CS reps working at the same time. In fact, the line moved at approximately the speed of a security screening. If the process was done similarly at other stores, there wouldn't have been much of an opportunity for a line to form.
Re:Because they're not Apple (Score:1, Informative)
In Prague Apple paid students to form crowds for iPhone. Is it different in the States? How do you know that Apple didn't pull this trick to gain attention there too?
I was an iPhone user (Score:5, Informative)
Pros of the G1:
1. Usable QWERTY keyboard - texting heaven
2. 3G speeds in my area are ~900kbps
3. The browser feels faster
4. I can upgrade/replace the battery
5. I can put in an 2/4/8/16 gig micro SD
6. Speaker sounds louder
7. Free wifi at T-mobile hotspots
8. Voice activated dialing works decently
9. It's from T-Mobile and I don't have to deal with the evil pricks that are ATT/Cingular (was an ATT customer for almost 7 years)
Cons:
1. The battery life sucks at the moment
2. Dearth of apps (naturally)
3. The phone gets warm after a few minutes of usage
4. Not a con for me but no stereo bluetooth
5. Complete lack of accessories from T-mobile
6. Gmail goes down, you might have issues from the tight integration (forgot pattern to unlock phone? input your gmail info)
7. The phone has a cheap plastic feel and doesn't feel as solid as the iphone (especially when opening the back panel).
8. 3G coverage is spotty
Both weigh and measure about the same (comparison with a first gen iphone). Both are quad-band.
Re:I love it (Score:3, Informative)
Well basically the quirks are small things. Like there's currently no way to manage where applications are stored. There's 1 way to do it but it's not intuitive. So there needs to be an app made to handle that.
I haven't really found a way to manage the SIM card information either. Getting all of my contacts was easy but I have no idea how to save a new contact to the SIM card. Again this is probably a simple new application that can be made but it's just not there now.
But I do love it and it really is pretty intuitive overall.
Re:Just out of curiousity... (Score:3, Informative)
It can be used to call. But, the data side is still the old, slow technology.
Re:Because they're not Apple (Score:5, Informative)
Maybe it's also because instead of buying it from the store a lot of people bought it online?
In fact take a look at this [androidcommunity.com], where G1's were sold out when T-Mobile let people order it online.
I ordered one from T-Mobile, and a lot of my friends have as well. Granted, we're developers, but now that my other non-developer/non-geek friends and family have seen my phone, they want to get one as well.
And honestly, I don't even know where this guy came up with the "steep learning curve" and the "basic and advanced features". People I gave the phone to play with didn't seem to have a hard time figuring out how to get around. It's not like you need to be a rocket scientist to figure stuff out. Yeah, it's geared to the developer community but that's only reflected in the openness of the OS and the SDK, and not the phone or the interface itself. It's not like you don't need to drop into the commandline to work this phone.
I also think that instead of relying on hype and drooling at the mouth fanboys, Google is just relying on people buying the phone, using it, and talking to their friends and family about it.
so would you prefer thousands of complaints? (Score:5, Informative)
Check out this story where Neil Gaiman tries to buy one [neilgaiman.com]. Indeed it literally doesn't seem to be selling. As in: you cannot obtain one even if you wanted to.
He was turned away because the vendor was in an area where TMobile decided there wasn't strong enough coverage.
Yes, he's able to fire up Gmail in the store, but that doesn't mean coverage is good enough for their metrics, or the G1 might have a worse antenna. Or maybe Google said "we don't want you to sell this phone where people won't be able to get adequate speed."
Company decides where to market phone for best reception, film at 11.
Re:probably because it's not *innovative* (Score:5, Informative)
Um, no. The G1 has a touch-sensitive (capacitative) touchscreen just like the iPhone.
Re:My co-worker got one (Score:1, Informative)
You do know it has a vibrate feature, don't you?
Re:Because they're not Apple (Score:2, Informative)
Yeah, there's at least one commercial for the T-Mobile G1. You can find it on Youtube easily.
Re:probably because it's not *innovative* (Score:4, Informative)
I believe it's not multi-touch however. I think that was the intended criticism.
Re:Because they're not Apple (Score:1, Informative)
Unlike an iPhone, you can upgrade the storage of a G1. They use a micro sd card.
You can get those in 16GB now. An 8GB card will only run you $25 online, if not cheaper. If that isn't enough, wait a couple months. 32GB cards can't be far off.
Re:Yeah well... (Score:3, Informative)
That mistake is easy, try explaining to a non-technical person the differences of networking via Bluetooth, WiFi, Wireless/mobile.
On the other hand, look how many iPhone users do utilize their calendars, web browsing, and email and compare that to other smartphones or "regular" phones that have all those features. Proof that UI matters more than technical capabilities and specifications.
Re:Because they're not Apple (Score:2, Informative)
There is already an ssh client available for it:
http://onlyandroid.mobihand.com/product.asp?id=21849&n=ConnectBot-SSH-Client [mobihand.com]
Re:I bought it (Score:3, Informative)
Whoa! Flame much? Skype from a phone makes all kinds of sense. Let's start with a few of the basics:
You can see who is available before you call
You can do it over WiFi, which may have service where cellular networks don't
It doesn't cost either party a thing
It shares contact info with your other computers auomatically
Now, let's take your arguments in particular:
"... protocols that are FAR better..." - Skype is clearer than my 3G cell phone on most calls.
"... too cheap to buy a phone that can run in" - Isn't that contradictory? The guy you're replying to obviously A) wanted to and B) bought a phone that could.
"... cell minutes are cheap" - within the US, sure. How about US to South Africa, where my family was last year? How about Fiji (where I was at the end of high school) to the US? Skype, whether you pay for actual phone nubers or not, is a HUGE improvement on the cost of international calling.
"... terminate your plan..." - What if you go outside its coverage area? I leave my home town on a regular basis. Hell, there's places within a mile of here where I get little to no cell reception butwhich are well-saturated with WiFi (the labs where I do a lot of my work being the most personally relevant example, but you can probably name at least one such place as well).
Finally, the language you're using isn't flattering to your point of view either. Indeed, it really detracts from the whole comment. Insults and swearing give a very immature impression and should be avoided if you actually want anybody to respect what you have to say.