T-mobile G1 UK launch FAIL

Well in all honesty, i’ve had a great experience getting the G1. I signed up to the G1 notification email on the T-Mobile website, got notified that the launch was going to happen in the Oxford Street store and that they would open at 7am.

I also managed to call the store the day before and find out about tariffs available and the price of the phone, got through first time.

I got to the store around 7am, and had a phone ready to go by 7.30am. They had plenty of staff, but obviously they could only sell the phone to you if they had access to a till, which there were only 7–8 of. Remember, most people wouldn’t have had a chance to play with this device properly, and so it made sense to have a lot of staff on hand to demonstrate.

The reason there weren’t massive queues for this phone, is in part for the lack of advertising on T-Mobile’s part, but mainly because they allowed T-Mobile customers to pre-order them, which last time i checked, 25,000 had done so. Fair enough its not as sexy as the iPhone, but i’ve shown it to my friends with iPhones and they want one now.

I’ve had zero problems with my phone, downloaded loads of free (yes, Apple, free!!) applications from the Android Market, all of which have added loads of functionality, and shown how the G1 can outperform the iPhone. Just a quick note on performance too, the phone is actually a lot faster than it appears in demos shown on the web. Even i was surprised.

The reason this OS will make phones in the future bigger than the iPhone, isn’t because its backed by Google, or because of any fancy adverts, it’s going to be because the programs on the phone are being created by developers with no restrictions (unlike the iPhone), and a real incentive to make money from the Market, without having 60% of the profit taken by Apple.

Just think about it… who produces a better product or service, a private individual or company that has to fight and improve its product in a highly competitive market with access for all… or a highly restricted company that has to accept the terms of Apple or be unable to reach the market at all.

Android will be a success because it can quickly evolve to what users want functionality wise, and quality companies like Samsung and HTC will make both functional and sexy phones to back that up. Apple has a high quality interface, and a sexy phone that’s nice to show off, but try typing a message on it! If the user wants functionality in a phone that doesn’t fit in with Apple’s brand image, they won’t get it period.

So anyway, i wish you luck with the phone, because i’m finding it great, and i recommend anyone who’s interested in the phone to go try it, and not be put off by what’s reported from the launch. I was there listening to people speaking to reporters, and they were obviously Apple fanboys with a lot of editorial flair, as half of the stuff reported wasn’t even said by the people they were speaking to, or was completely out of context.

> they were obviously Apple fanboys

Right, whereas you sound like a completely unbiased observer.

> Android will be a success because it can quickly evolve to what users want functionality wise

Ah yes, just like Linux, the number one desktop, up there in front of OS X and Windows.

[...] Kai was definitely not having a good day — he went on to list out his experiences yesterday on his blog: * Though I signed up and pre-registered T-mobile’s newsletter did not provide any information [...]