The android phone to me is a me-to device. When meeting people with android phones the first thing that comes to mind is not “wow cool phone” it is “poor guy – he was not able to get an iPhone”. I am in the same boat – I am on T-mobile and I refuse to buy a $300 hand-me-down iPhone on e-bay so I still use my 2 year old blackberry phone. I do not believe that anyone goes to their carrier to get a new phone and think “I really want an android phone” (except for a few hardcore geeks and lifehackers) – but people are very excited to get their first iPhone.
Now, I was very excited at the end of 2008 when rumors were that Google was going to launch their new phone and totally change the customer/carrier cell phone relationship. Obviously I was sorely disappointed when the Nexus One came out and it was still tied to a carrier plan (true it is not absolutely tied but at the price of $500+ for a phone I consider it as such). In retrospect the interesting thing is that I was not excited to get an android phone – I was excited to get an iPhone-like phone and to be able to break the contractual relationship between me and my carrier. Don’t get me wrong – I love T-mobile – that is the only reason why I am still using my old blackberry. But for a phone to really be revolutionary it would be great to get it without a 2 year jail sentence called a “contract”.
Depending on what comes out this summer and for what carrier I may sign up for another go to jail card and finally get the device that I have been developing for for the last 2 years.
