5 ms·

I don't think the design of the physical phone itself is enough to beat the iPhone. I know people say it's all about the software, but that's not really true.

I don't think the design of the physical phone itself is enough to beat the iPhone. I know people say it's all about the software, but that's not really true. I don't understand why companies are trying to compete with apple without making good aesthetic and behavioral design THE top priority. It's like the zune vs. the iPod, and the G1 is the zune.

enomar 18y ago
It's been said many times before, but beating the iPhone isn't the point. Google wants more people using phones with good web capabilities. Android is trying to beat what most people have; crappy phones that can't access the web very well. If Apple sells 100 million iPhones, Google profits too; more people on using mobile web means more people using Google.
- yesimahuman 18y ago
  That's a good point. But that only applies to google. T-Mobile would prefer to beat the iPhone, wouldn't they?
  - kqr2 18y ago
    Actually T-mobile is an iphone carrier in Europe. I'm sure they would offer the iphone in the US if AT&T didn't have an exclusive deal.
davidw 18y ago
Except that it isn't. It's completely different. The Zune and iPod are two competing products from two proprietary vendors, that go head to head and someone wins. The G1 is the first device of many, built on an open, configurable, hackable, repurposable platform called Android. Perhaps the G1 isn't quite what you want, but the possibilities are wide open, and not limited to what Google, or Microsoft or T-Mobile wants. The important thing in this equation is Android, not the first device that happens to run it.
lacker 18y ago
Aesthetics of these phones is not primarily about the design of the physical phone itself. If you ran Symbian on iPhone hardware it wouldn't be anything remarkable at all, it would just be another normal phone. The hope for Android is that lots of different hardware will be running Android, as opposed to the iPhone model where only a small number of handsets will ever run the iPhone OS.

enomar 18y ago

It's been said many times before, but beating the iPhone isn't the point. Google wants more people using phones with good web capabilities. Android is trying to beat what most people have; crappy phones that can't access the web very well. If Apple sells 100 million iPhones, Google profits too; more people on using mobile web means more people using Google.

yesimahuman 18y ago
That's a good point. But that only applies to google. T-Mobile would prefer to beat the iPhone, wouldn't they?
- kqr2 18y ago
  Actually T-mobile is an iphone carrier in Europe. I'm sure they would offer the iphone in the US if AT&T didn't have an exclusive deal.

davidw 18y ago

Except that it isn't. It's completely different. The Zune and iPod are two competing products from two proprietary vendors, that go head to head and someone wins. The G1 is the first device of many, built on an open, configurable, hackable, repurposable platform called Android. Perhaps the G1 isn't quite what you want, but the possibilities are wide open, and not limited to what Google, or Microsoft or T-Mobile wants. The important thing in this equation is Android, not the first device that happens to run it.

lacker 18y ago

Aesthetics of these phones is not primarily about the design of the physical phone itself. If you ran Symbian on iPhone hardware it wouldn't be anything remarkable at all, it would just be another normal phone. The hope for Android is that lots of different hardware will be running Android, as opposed to the iPhone model where only a small number of handsets will ever run the iPhone OS.