T-Mobile G1: The 80s called…

by Bharat Suneja

The launch of T-Mobile’s G1 phone, based on Google’s Android OS, was arguably the biggest news event on the planet the day it happened. Although I’m mostly indifferent to Android, I couldn’t help but chuckle at some of the media coverage and commentary.

Reader colamix comments on the G1 review on News.com:

The 80s called, they want their form factor back.

Engadget, on the G1’s lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack:

Hey, that’s pretty awesome that Amazon’s thrown together an MP3 store app for the G1, isn’t it? What would be even cooler still, though, is if you could actually listen to those tracks without a crazy dongle hanging off your phone.

Here in Silicon Valley, it’s hard to avoid the myopic world-view of Google, Apple and other valley-based tech companies. San Jose Mercury News’ Chris O’Brien tries to put things in perspective in “Why we’ll all soon forget about Google’s Android“:

But isn’t Android, the latest wonder to come tumbling out of the Google Innovation Factory, going to change the world? Or at least the world of mobile phones?

Nope. And Tan’s response provides a little perspective on the immense hype Android has generated in Silicon Valley. Around the globe, Android is barely a blip on the radar. And that’s unlikely to change.

Instead, expect Android to remain the latest in a long list of Google curiosities introduced amid great fanfare, only to quietly fade into the background.

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Charlie October 13, 2008 at 3:43 pm

I’m surprised your listed issues contain things like MP3 support, yet leave out the lack of Exchange Server support.

I was shocked that this was left to 3rd party developers. I would like to take Android seriously as a business tool, but they make it difficult to do that by not taking their product seriously, themselves, as a tool for business.

:(

Reply

Anonymous February 24, 2009 at 10:07 am

Android has its flaws but you are rapidly being proved wrong about it being a blip on the radar.
More and more manufacturers planning to support and the G1 which is hardly a thing of beauty is flying off the shelves!

Reply

Bharat Suneja February 24, 2009 at 10:36 am

@Anonymous: The most glaring of flaws with the G1 are with the hardware, not the Android OS itself. Software can be easily updated, and improves over time.

I’ve quoted media coverage and opinions.

Regardless, experts are and will continue to be proven wrong when trying to predict the future, but in this case it’s a little too soon to call it either way, imo.

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