I wouldn't consider myself an early adopter. I'm a heavy technology user who loves playing with new gadgets, but when it comes to my tools, laptop and cell phone, it is with fear and trepidation that I approach upgrading or updating. Nearly everyone I work with has a sleek shiny iPhone. For months I've salivated over the ease of access they have to their email and Twitter feeds, but I couldn't give up my QWERTY. Over the last year I cannot count the times I've found myself blurting out "I'm waiting for the Google Phone" in response to someone multitouching their way through beautifully rendered web pages, not even completely believing my own words. Driving by a T-Mobile store today I was surprised to find that they weren't sold out. Fate struck and forced my hand. When I called to find out how long was left on my current 2-year plan the stars aligned and the cheerful Sprint operator informed me that today was the day I was free.

 

G1 first impressions

I can't say this is the prettiest phone I've ever seen.  I chose the matte black version. I kind of like the utilitarian look and feel (sorry Mr. Jobs, I don't require my technology to double as bling). For those that want to make a statement the G1 makes a loud "ffffftt ... CLACK" sound every time you expose the keyboard that will announce to the world you have the latest gadget. It is much heavier than I expected and the seams, buttons, and camera shield seem far more like a prototype than a mass market device.

The T-Mobile sales people were smiling like it was Christmas, my representative remarked, "now adults get toys too." I agree, but when my 6-year old is already begging for my phone so she can watch Youtube videos, whose toy is it really ?

The Good

The GUI is dead simple to understand. Setting up wireless was very easy. Connecting to all of the Google Services is a no brainer. The app store was very straight forward; downloading and installing were simple buttons. I loaded iSkoot and Pac-man and both worked flawlessly. The integration of Google services into the phone is not overbearing but well thought out. I'm a heavy Google user so perhaps I am biased but I like having my default email available without having to delve into POP or IMAP settings.

The Bad

Without having the phone 24 hours I can already tell that opening and closing the QWERTY for something as simple as typing two letters for a contact search is going to be a major pain. As mentioned above the manufacturing is not top shelf — for example when sliding the screen out it doesn't come to rest perpendicular to the keyboard; there is a slight angle to the screen. If it gets worse over time it will feel like bad design and grate on my 90 degree nature. There are some quirky navigation issues that I think I'll get used to. For example I find myself hitting Menu constantly for app switching, but menu is restricted to the app itself unless you are on the home page. Another example is the back key which first preforms actions within an app but then switches you back to the Desktop. The camera also defaults to panorama — not sure how to stop that.

World Changing?

I bought this phone on the promise of it being an open platform. I believe in the development community and I think great things will come to the platform. Currently, though, the Android Market is all but empty. I am counting on this ghost town becoming the next gold rush boom site. Without great apps this phone is a one trick pony, that being Google Integration. Everything else on this phone has been done better somewhere else.