Is Anyone Buying T-Mobile's Googlephone?

Hugh Pickens writes "Laura Holson writes in the NY Times that she 'wandered down to the T-Mobile store at Ninth Ave. and 43rd St. in New York City to see what kind of crowds — if any — were lining up to buy the new T-Mobile G1 which went on sale Wednesday' and saw no lines out the door, no crowding at the counter, and a complete lack of crowds. The iPhone appears to still be the gold standard and Etan Horowitz writes that the G1 'doesn't do a great job showcasing its potential. It isn't as intuitive as the iPhone, and it may take average users a while to figure out basic and advanced shortcuts and features' and 'may appeal more to techies who value open-source products and don't mind a somewhat steep learning curve.' Part of the reason for slow interest may also be that T-Mobile's 3G high-speed data network won't be up and running in many cities until the end of the year."

Comments

No wonder it's not selling

[Idaho]

Check out this story where Neil Gaiman tries to buy one. Indeed it literally doesn't seem to be selling. As in: you cannot obtain one even if you wanted to.

Re:You Lost Me..

[saihung]

The NY Times is a "rag"? Where do you get your news? Smoke signals?

Needs a better name

[AKAImBatman]

A better name would probably help, too.

Customer: "What do you have to compete against the sexiness of the iPhone?"
T-Mobile: "We have just the thing... a GOO-Phone!"
Customer: ...

Re:I love it

[Anonymous Coward]

The important question for you is this: Why do you know what your ex-girlfriend did yesterday? It's time to move on.

Re:I love it

[pavon]

Because she wasn't his ex until yesterday when she dumped him for the phone. That's why I'm not getting one; I just know my computer would do the same. Oh fickle love.

reputation

[Brigadier]

I think what your trying to say is Apple has a reputation for 'cool' innovation. They don't do mondain and they don't do what's been done before.

Google to the common folk is a search engine, albeit an awesome one but still it's just a search engine.

When I watched the add I could see it quite easy for someone to think the phone was just another iPhone look alike with access to google.

Re:reputation

[Chris Pimlott]

They don't do mondain and they don't do what's been done before.

I fail to see what the villain from Ultima I has to do with this...

Re:reputation

[geekoid]

And that's his greatest strength.

Re:reputation

[Fred_A]

I think the average person, when they hear the expression "Google Phone", are going to think "innovative" and "creative".

I think they're going to think "Beta".

Re:Mini Review

[stephentyrone]

I did get one yesterday. I knew I wanted one, just did not know when... Also, know that I usually take the wait and see approach to tech and not an early adopter. I am very tech savvy

Wait... what?

You take the wait and see approach to tech, so you went out and bought an completely untested product on launch day?

Re:Because they're not Apple

[wealthychef]

Apple doesn't need to anything (like not comment on a rumor) and it's the talk of the world.

And why do you think that is? The fact is that Apple has a long history of making original, compelling products that capture the imagination, so it genuinely is interesting to see what they are going to do next. The Googlephone doesn't really bring anything new to the table, really. Also, as you point out, there are no ads. But even if they were, what would they really say?

Re:Mini Review

[Dog-Cow]

but how can you screw up SSH?

Ask Debian.

Re:Because they're not Apple

[ArsonSmith]

They claim it two posts above yours.

Re:Stop calling Apple products intuitive

[shaping_innovation]

The only truly intuitive user interface is the nipple. Everything else is learned.

Re:I love it

[rhook]

My ex-girlfriend bought one yesterday and absolutely loves it. She's already got AIM and other IMs working on it.

Proof that restraining orders are worthless.

Re:Because they're not Apple

[FuzzyFox]

Did you try listening to music on the iPod?