jayshaffer.com

I resisted buying an iPhone because I thought it was too expensive and I would have to switch from T-mobile to AT&T. I thought for a while that maybe Apple would bring a better business model to the wireless business, but quite the opposite happened. the same old evil stupid way of ripping off consumers prevailed. Don’t get me wrong I am still an Apple fan boy abiet a cheap one.
I had the very cheapest cell plan I could find, which was T-Mobiles basic family plan  for $60 a month  with “free” phones between me and my wife. I was thinking of getting an iPod touch and keeping my crappy free phone. Since  I’m doing what I call forced entrepreneurship now, I felt a need  for a  smart phone, if for nothing else, being able to get my e-mail on the road.
I did a rough feature and price comparison with the iPhone and for my particular situation The Google Phone ends up being about $560 less expensive over the two year plan. So I got the new G1 Phone. and I haven’t been able to put it down for the two days that I’ve had it. Pretty darn cool, with a few caveats.

here are a few cool things:

1. Qwerty keyboard
2. Voice dialing (Beam me up, Scotty)
3. cut and paste!!!
4. G-Mail  and Google contact syncing
5. Google Maps with street view (Look a topless beach!)
6. Touch screen AND track ball
7. Active developer community ( lots of new apps)
8. Easy ringtones

here are a few lame things:

1. No Adobe Flash (why???)
2. No Microsoft Exchange ( no big deal for me)
3. No iTunes (obviously)
4. No standard 3.5 mm headphone jack, must use G1 headset or adapter( O-o)
5. No stereo Bluetooth A2DP ( C’mon)
6. No multi-touch (Zooming is a PITA)
7. No desktop synching with PCs or Macs (It’s all about the Cloud)
8. No video recording (hoping for a third party to step up on this)
9. No built-in video player, must download from third-party (no big deal)
10. No camera flash (Battery life is bad enough)
11. No proximity sensor
12. Limited to 1GB bandwidth cap, speed down to 50kbps after 1GB (Sleazy)
13. Limited 3G coverage (pedal faster T-Mobile)
14. Limited to Google email, contacts, calendar,and chat for free, POP email is charged per message
15. Limited to maximum 8GB memory, with additional microSD card purchase (I’m going to test whether this is true)

I think of it as a poor man’s iPhone rather than an iPhone killer. Nobody has made the perfect phone yet.