Internet News, Soapbox - Written by Mat on Thursday, October 16, 2008 7:49 - 1 Comment

T-Mobile G1 (Android)

So after much much much deliberation, I decided to save my coin and forego getting the Android phone after all. Though it’s reviews weren’t terrible, I think I’ll just hold out until a better one comes along, or at least until T-Mobile decides to finally get the 3G infrastructure more distributed. I admit some envy when Jennifer gets to whip out her iPhone and surf while I sit at Starbucks twiddling my thumbs (a whole other story since I don’t like their coffee anyway, which only adds to the pain) and playing Bubble Breaker for the 4000th time. Nonetheless, I guess that in this economy, I’d better save that cash cuz who knows if my job will be there tomorrow.

In any case, it comes at a weird time since I’m (finally) taking a crack at more Java coding due to school - Dr. Jo got me really into it and I love the Eclipse IDE (which is weird because no one else in my class likes it, but especially since that Frenchy company came out with the Silverlight toolkit for Eclipse, I am rockin’). Part of me wants to get the G1 just for pure technogeeky reasons but this silly WM Dash (which now seems pretty ancient) that I tote is just plain boring.

So maybe I’ll get it and just put up with the spottiness for now. And maybe I’ll win the lottery too. Any comments? Would you get the phone knowing full well that a better one will probably be released in 18 months? Were you an iPhone 1 buyer who said “doh!” when they first announced iPhone 2? Should I buy it and just hope they do a firmware upgrade? Or should I save the pennies and get that sweet Dell E4200 after all?

[photos courtesy of EngadgetMobile - read the review]

1 Comment

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Stone
Oct 17, 2008 14:20

I thought for a while about ordering the Android (sold out, so too late now anyways, at least for the initial release), but I decided against it myself. Aside from the lack of enthusiasm about switching carriers, I’m actually not so thrilled about development being open-source for it’s apps. Yeah, we might see a flash player sooner than iPhone gets one, but I also think this freedom has a good chance of leading to problems with people having easier access than ever to untrusted, potentially malicious content.

Also, I do admit to being a bit afraid of new technology, seeing as how as soon as I spend all of my money on something, a better one is released, and no free upgrade for the loyal fans who went out of their way to support the company and pre-order even knowing that the product could suck.

If I ran a company interested in the development of new hardware, such as this, I think There would need to be major changes to cause the need for a new release. All customers owning the version immediately prior should get:

1) First priority in ordering and shipping the new product.
2) First priority in beta testing if it is open and they want to participate.
3) A very generous discount if they pre-order it.

#3 would totally make sense for the company. Marketing is about building a customer relationship, and this would only solidify that relationship with your loyal customers, who already have your prior product. This would also be a good way of “shotgunning” your new product into he market, since so many people who already have the old product would upgrade. Your stock would also go up, as sales of your prior model would skyrocket as people would rush to buy them, so they could get the discount on the new one.

Come to think of it, this should happen on other things too. If nintendo did that, I would actually own a Wii, and not my dusty old gamecube.