5 ms·

Is Anyone Buying the Googlephone?

19 points by walterk 18y ago

walterk 18y ago
Just a couple talking to a salesman who too was figuring out how to work the new mobile phone which is powered by Google’s new Android operating system. This line in particular makes me realize something important: All of the media exposure that the iPhone got, including (and especially) the iPhone ads, effectively acted as tutorials on how to use the device long before someone actually bought one. Pre-launch consumer exposure to the Android interface, however, hasn't been anywhere close to what the iPhone received. That's partly because the iPhone sucked up the novelty factor, but has there even been a memorable advertising campaign for the G1 in which the interface is front and center?
- netcan 18y ago
  that kind of thing is apple's speciality. Hard to beat them on that turf. But it's easier (and cheaper) to follow. Once people know (from the iphone) what a phone is supposed to do, they'll be able to get other phones to do it too.
  - unalone 18y ago
    Out of curiosity, are you speaking as somebody who's used Android? I'd like to know how similar the two interfaces are.
    - lacker 18y ago
      They're pretty similar. Both have a home screen with icons for programs, a button to return to it, and a similar touch-screen web-browsing interface. Notable interface differences are the slide-out keyboard on the G1, two-touch zoom gesture on the iPhone, the hardware "back" button on the G1, and the "system-tray" at the top of the G1 that notifies you when a background process has something to say, like you just got a chat or an email or a download finished.
    - netcan 18y ago
      no. sorry.
- ken 18y ago
  This is something I've noticed across all mobile phone ads, not just Android/G1. - iPhone ads show a giant iPhone and a hand using it. - Blackberry ads show flying beachballs and photos of puppies and people eating cake and whatnot, with meaningless voiceovers like "Your life! To go!" As somebody who doesn't even own a cell phone, the message is crystal clear: other phones suck compared to the iPhone, but they feel the need to run ads.
SwellJoe 18y ago
I bought one, and it's awesome. It's obvious, to me, that this is going to be a slow burn product, but burn, it will...in a year, there will be a dozen Android phones, spread from low end to high, and the market will begin to look drastically different. Apple will likely find themselves in the same boat they were in two decades ago going up against the ridiculous variety of PC compatible machines, with a single somewhat pricey product. Apple is about to be engaged in war on a dozen fronts, and I suspect that it won't be able to withstand the onslaught (sales of iPhone may continue upward, since the smart phone market is growing so fast, but I think its market share can only go down from here, if they use the same playbook that used for Macintosh vs. PC).
- jm4 18y ago
  I've got one too and I'm very happy with it. I've used the iPhone quite a bit and it's ok. So far I like the G1 better. The buttons on the front and the scroll ball make it a little easier to navigate around. The standard applications work well. I like how the notification bar works. I was surprised at how much was already in the Android Market on day one. It seems like some of them are also on the iPhone, but there are some exclusives too. Locale is an especially cool application that isn't possible on the iPhone. There are quite a few that make use of the GPS. One that I found amusing, although still innovative, is iSafe. Among other things it can alert you when you enter a high crime neighborhood or when there is a registered sex offender nearby. Call quality and reception are generally good. I like how the screen automatically locks when I put the phone up to my ear during a call. Overall, I'm impressed by it. I had expected it to be much less polished than it is. It's also not nearly as ugly as it looks in the pictures. It's actually kind of nice looking in a minimalist way. I do have a few gripes, though. First is battery life. I expected it would be mediocre, but it's downright terrible. I have to recharge it in the middle of the day. The silver lining here is that the battery is removable so I can carry a spare with me. I really hope they come out with a higher capacity battery soon. Another part that could have been better is the keyboard. The keys are just a little too flat and feel just a bit spongy. It's not a bad keyboard by any means, but I would prefer one more like the Sidekick. Multitouch would be a nice plus too. It's also worth saying something about the first paragraph of the NYT article. The author says there was no one waiting in line at the store for the G1. That's because we didn't need to. People who preordered the G1 had it delivered. I even had mine delivered a day early. I'm not sure that there would be people lining up otherwise, but it's still a little misleading.
redorb 18y ago
the writing style seems super lax for the nytimes , felt more like reading a blog. The g1 is good the battery is the same issue as the iPhone if you use it to surf for 5 hours it's going to get low, give it a week then it will last all day plus ; after the coolness wears a little .
- natrius 18y ago
  It is a blog.
STHayden 18y ago
Not only are my wife and I planning on getting one but I can name about four others who are also planning on getting one. For a lot of people price is really an issue. But I still think that Andriod is just a better phone system.
- unalone 18y ago
  What makes you think it's a better system? And what sort of people are those others who want to get the Android? Are they tech-focused? Because it seems to me that Android has the advantage there, but that it's got nothing that appeals to consumers. Not like the iPhone has.
  - jm4 18y ago
    What do you think the iPhone has that Android doesn't have? As someone who has used an iPhone and now owns the G1 I can tell you that they are incredibly similar. A friend and I were comparing the two side by side. Most of the applications are comparable and in some cases we both had installed the same exact applications from the respective App Stores. I doubt most average people would know the difference if they were using Android in an iPhone case or the other way around. The two platforms have far more in common than you may think. The Android SDK allows for some more possibilities than what is allowed on the iPhone, but this seems to be purely a business decision on the part of Apple. As far as features that appeal to consumers - branding and fads aside - I think it's pretty much a wash. The big difference is Apple's far superior marketing.
wensing 18y ago
How ridiculously easy to use is the G1? For example, how many clicks does it take to capture a photo and email it to a friend? On my iPhone I count 6 clicks to get into the "To:" field in the email, and then 1 more click to Send. And where is the G1's "display" appeal? As O'Reilly once said (when thinking about ringtones), people will pay more for display than consumption. For many (me not included?), the Apple logo on your phone is a personal exhibition of good taste. What does the G1 do for a person in this regard?
- jcl 18y ago
  It depends on how you have the phone set up and how well you know it. The obvious way: - One tap to open the menu of applications - One tap to open the camera application - One press of the camera button - One tap to choose to share the picture - One tap to choose gMail (vs. messaging) At this point you are in the To field, but you need to slide open the keyboard to type the address in. So it is essentially the same "number of interactions" as the iPhone. If you're a power user or curious, you might have figured out that you can also launch the camera application directly by pressing the camera button, which collapses the first two steps to one. ...Which highlights one of the strengths and weaknesses of the Android platform. While the iPhone has just a few inputs (the screen and main button being the obvious ones), the G1 has many (screen, five main buttons, trackball, the keyboard, and the keyboard slide). This gives the G1 more (and potentially faster) ways to do things, but it also means that the user may not always be able to guess which input is required to accomplish their goals. The G1 apps are pretty good about telling the user when they need to do something out-of-the-ordinary -- the camera app, for example, points out the camera button on the casing -- but third-party applications may not be as careful, or they may neglect to handle all possible inputs in an Android-consistent manner. I think it's a difference of philosophy, much like the difference between Apple's preference of a one-button mouse versus the preference of multiple-button mice on other platforms. One button is easier for users to learn and developers to implement consistently, but more buttons let you do more stuff.
starrwarrior 18y ago
Android is a step in the right direction for phone software, hopefully there will be more official devices sporting it.
paul9290 18y ago
Umm its on T-Mobile and their 3G coverage pales in comparison to Verizon and At&T. Definitely want one, but am waiting!
- jm4 18y ago
  I haven't used Verizon, but I have used ATT and currently have a G1 with T-Mobile. Data speed has always been better with ATT, but the rest leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. That said, the speed on T-Mobile isn't as bad as I thought it would be. On my old phone data speed was atrocious, but it's pretty usable on the G1. What's interesting is that I live in an area that T-Mobile claims does not have 3G, but in many of the places I go the phone says I'm on 3G. It's probably worth noting that T-Mobile costs quite a bit less than Verizon and ATT. They also offer some neat features like WiFi calling (not on the G1) that the others don't. In any case, it really sucks that people who don't like T-Mobile have to wait to get their hands on Android. I guess the bright side is that it will eventually be on other carriers unlike the iPhone. I probably would have gotten one of those long before Android was available had it not been an ATT exclusive. These carrier exclusives are terrible for consumers, but the situation only seems to be getting worse.
weegee 18y ago
no. was interested to read there is no headphone jack. imagine watching YouTube on the bus without headphones! you either can't hear any sound, or bother everyone around you! bzzt - wrong answer, try again Google!
- jcl 18y ago
  There is no headphone jack, but you can apparently use an adapter to plug standard headphones into the mini-USB jack.
  - weegee 18y ago
    ah, excellent, thank you!

19 points by walterk 18y ago

Just a couple talking to a salesman who too was figuring out how to work the new mobile phone which is powered by Google’s new Android operating system. This line in particular makes me realize something important: All of the media exposure that the iPhone got, including (and especially) the iPhone ads, effectively acted as tutorials on how to use the device long before someone actually bought one. Pre-launch consumer exposure to the Android interface, however, hasn't been anywhere close to what the iPhone received. That's partly because the iPhone sucked up the novelty factor, but has there even been a memorable advertising campaign for the G1 in which the interface is front and center?

netcan 18y ago
that kind of thing is apple's speciality. Hard to beat them on that turf. But it's easier (and cheaper) to follow. Once people know (from the iphone) what a phone is supposed to do, they'll be able to get other phones to do it too.
- unalone 18y ago
  Out of curiosity, are you speaking as somebody who's used Android? I'd like to know how similar the two interfaces are.
  - lacker 18y ago
    They're pretty similar. Both have a home screen with icons for programs, a button to return to it, and a similar touch-screen web-browsing interface. Notable interface differences are the slide-out keyboard on the G1, two-touch zoom gesture on the iPhone, the hardware "back" button on the G1, and the "system-tray" at the top of the G1 that notifies you when a background process has something to say, like you just got a chat or an email or a download finished.
  - netcan 18y ago
    no. sorry.
ken 18y ago
This is something I've noticed across all mobile phone ads, not just Android/G1. - iPhone ads show a giant iPhone and a hand using it. - Blackberry ads show flying beachballs and photos of puppies and people eating cake and whatnot, with meaningless voiceovers like "Your life! To go!" As somebody who doesn't even own a cell phone, the message is crystal clear: other phones suck compared to the iPhone, but they feel the need to run ads.

SwellJoe 18y ago

I bought one, and it's awesome. It's obvious, to me, that this is going to be a slow burn product, but burn, it will...in a year, there will be a dozen Android phones, spread from low end to high, and the market will begin to look drastically different. Apple will likely find themselves in the same boat they were in two decades ago going up against the ridiculous variety of PC compatible machines, with a single somewhat pricey product. Apple is about to be engaged in war on a dozen fronts, and I suspect that it won't be able to withstand the onslaught (sales of iPhone may continue upward, since the smart phone market is growing so fast, but I think its market share can only go down from here, if they use the same playbook that used for Macintosh vs. PC).

jm4 18y ago
I've got one too and I'm very happy with it. I've used the iPhone quite a bit and it's ok. So far I like the G1 better. The buttons on the front and the scroll ball make it a little easier to navigate around. The standard applications work well. I like how the notification bar works. I was surprised at how much was already in the Android Market on day one. It seems like some of them are also on the iPhone, but there are some exclusives too. Locale is an especially cool application that isn't possible on the iPhone. There are quite a few that make use of the GPS. One that I found amusing, although still innovative, is iSafe. Among other things it can alert you when you enter a high crime neighborhood or when there is a registered sex offender nearby. Call quality and reception are generally good. I like how the screen automatically locks when I put the phone up to my ear during a call. Overall, I'm impressed by it. I had expected it to be much less polished than it is. It's also not nearly as ugly as it looks in the pictures. It's actually kind of nice looking in a minimalist way. I do have a few gripes, though. First is battery life. I expected it would be mediocre, but it's downright terrible. I have to recharge it in the middle of the day. The silver lining here is that the battery is removable so I can carry a spare with me. I really hope they come out with a higher capacity battery soon. Another part that could have been better is the keyboard. The keys are just a little too flat and feel just a bit spongy. It's not a bad keyboard by any means, but I would prefer one more like the Sidekick. Multitouch would be a nice plus too. It's also worth saying something about the first paragraph of the NYT article. The author says there was no one waiting in line at the store for the G1. That's because we didn't need to. People who preordered the G1 had it delivered. I even had mine delivered a day early. I'm not sure that there would be people lining up otherwise, but it's still a little misleading.

redorb 18y ago

the writing style seems super lax for the nytimes , felt more like reading a blog. The g1 is good the battery is the same issue as the iPhone if you use it to surf for 5 hours it's going to get low, give it a week then it will last all day plus ; after the coolness wears a little .

natrius 18y ago
It is a blog.

STHayden 18y ago

Not only are my wife and I planning on getting one but I can name about four others who are also planning on getting one. For a lot of people price is really an issue. But I still think that Andriod is just a better phone system.

unalone 18y ago
What makes you think it's a better system? And what sort of people are those others who want to get the Android? Are they tech-focused? Because it seems to me that Android has the advantage there, but that it's got nothing that appeals to consumers. Not like the iPhone has.
- jm4 18y ago
  What do you think the iPhone has that Android doesn't have? As someone who has used an iPhone and now owns the G1 I can tell you that they are incredibly similar. A friend and I were comparing the two side by side. Most of the applications are comparable and in some cases we both had installed the same exact applications from the respective App Stores. I doubt most average people would know the difference if they were using Android in an iPhone case or the other way around. The two platforms have far more in common than you may think. The Android SDK allows for some more possibilities than what is allowed on the iPhone, but this seems to be purely a business decision on the part of Apple. As far as features that appeal to consumers - branding and fads aside - I think it's pretty much a wash. The big difference is Apple's far superior marketing.

wensing 18y ago

How ridiculously easy to use is the G1? For example, how many clicks does it take to capture a photo and email it to a friend? On my iPhone I count 6 clicks to get into the "To:" field in the email, and then 1 more click to Send. And where is the G1's "display" appeal? As O'Reilly once said (when thinking about ringtones), people will pay more for display than consumption. For many (me not included?), the Apple logo on your phone is a personal exhibition of good taste. What does the G1 do for a person in this regard?

jcl 18y ago
It depends on how you have the phone set up and how well you know it. The obvious way: - One tap to open the menu of applications - One tap to open the camera application - One press of the camera button - One tap to choose to share the picture - One tap to choose gMail (vs. messaging) At this point you are in the To field, but you need to slide open the keyboard to type the address in. So it is essentially the same "number of interactions" as the iPhone. If you're a power user or curious, you might have figured out that you can also launch the camera application directly by pressing the camera button, which collapses the first two steps to one. ...Which highlights one of the strengths and weaknesses of the Android platform. While the iPhone has just a few inputs (the screen and main button being the obvious ones), the G1 has many (screen, five main buttons, trackball, the keyboard, and the keyboard slide). This gives the G1 more (and potentially faster) ways to do things, but it also means that the user may not always be able to guess which input is required to accomplish their goals. The G1 apps are pretty good about telling the user when they need to do something out-of-the-ordinary -- the camera app, for example, points out the camera button on the casing -- but third-party applications may not be as careful, or they may neglect to handle all possible inputs in an Android-consistent manner. I think it's a difference of philosophy, much like the difference between Apple's preference of a one-button mouse versus the preference of multiple-button mice on other platforms. One button is easier for users to learn and developers to implement consistently, but more buttons let you do more stuff.

starrwarrior 18y ago

Android is a step in the right direction for phone software, hopefully there will be more official devices sporting it.

paul9290 18y ago

Umm its on T-Mobile and their 3G coverage pales in comparison to Verizon and At&T. Definitely want one, but am waiting!

jm4 18y ago
I haven't used Verizon, but I have used ATT and currently have a G1 with T-Mobile. Data speed has always been better with ATT, but the rest leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. That said, the speed on T-Mobile isn't as bad as I thought it would be. On my old phone data speed was atrocious, but it's pretty usable on the G1. What's interesting is that I live in an area that T-Mobile claims does not have 3G, but in many of the places I go the phone says I'm on 3G. It's probably worth noting that T-Mobile costs quite a bit less than Verizon and ATT. They also offer some neat features like WiFi calling (not on the G1) that the others don't. In any case, it really sucks that people who don't like T-Mobile have to wait to get their hands on Android. I guess the bright side is that it will eventually be on other carriers unlike the iPhone. I probably would have gotten one of those long before Android was available had it not been an ATT exclusive. These carrier exclusives are terrible for consumers, but the situation only seems to be getting worse.

weegee 18y ago

no. was interested to read there is no headphone jack. imagine watching YouTube on the bus without headphones! you either can't hear any sound, or bother everyone around you! bzzt - wrong answer, try again Google!

jcl 18y ago
There is no headphone jack, but you can apparently use an adapter to plug standard headphones into the mini-USB jack.
- weegee 18y ago
  ah, excellent, thank you!