HTC Dream, T-Mobile G1
This is an amateur review of the T-Mobile G1 cell phone, also known as the HTC Dream.
Contents
Background
I'm devotee of open source and feel deeply wronged by Microsoft. I used to love Apple when they were the Apple II, but reluctantly switched allegiance to the IBM PC when that platform became the most transparent as opposed to the hermetically-sealed Macintosh. I believe the slogan of Make Magazine: "If you can't open it, you don't own it."
I've drooled over the iPhone and assumed that I would probably end up getting one sooner or later, but DRM makes me crazy. So I held out with the cheapest possible cell phone I could find until I was pushed iPhone ownership. Then my wife demanded a better phone and forced the issue. It didn't take much shopping to decide that the current (first generation) of Android phone would be the right choice.
What rocks
Location apps
For me, the killer app is Latitude and location-based searches. It is insanely useful to be able to open up my phone and see the location of my friends, or at least the ones that aren't scared by the erosion of their privacy. It is also stunning that I can flip open my phone and speak "pizza" into it and be presented with a list of local pizza joints.
Other location apps look cool and it seems like there ought to be something fun that could be done with BreadCrumbs or whatever they call the personal mapping app.
I'm a little surprised at how little I've used the GPS. It is such a battery hog that I haven't really turned it on much. The wifi and cell tower triangulation method works surprisingly well.
What stinks
The pricing structure
T-Mobile demands a two-year contract and an expensive data plan. If I were allowed to buy just what I use, I would have a phone that was used for voice calls only in emergencies, SMS for receiving hourly alerts, and email every other day or so. I don't think I should have to pay for all the junk that I don't want.
T-Mobile coverage
How much sense does it make to have a cell phone with no coverage at your house? I'm wrangling with a powered antenna to try to boost the signal, but right now, my phone is useless as I sit in my living room.
