Jesse Ross | jesseross.com

I got my G1 on Tuesday, and two days in, I already love it. It’s largely eliminated my need to carry my iPod touch with me everywhere. Sure, there are problems, and I’m constantly comparing it to the aforementioned gadget, but most of the issues I find with it (with the notable exception of multi-touch) look to be resolvable with software.

My biggest issue so far is that it’s really, really easy to get lost. The screen transitions so readily apparent in the iPhone are truly useful, giving you a sense of flow and sequencing that make the system feel much more physical and navigable. I don’t know what degree of difficulty there would be in trying to get something similar implemented in Android, but it should definitely be doable now that the system has been open sourced. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that very feature built into Android version 2.0.

I also find myself not very keen on all the buttons on the chin of the device. The iPhone shows us you can get away with just two physical buttons (Home and Power/Lock/Sleep), and taking a cue from that design would have been nice. I have to admit, the scrollball is a nice input mechanism, but I would have preferred that be the only addition above the two buttons of the iPhone. The Menu button is a constant source of consternation for new users, as everyone I’ve let play with my phone gets totally confused when they try to figure out how to input a URL in the browser. One could argue it’s a case of having been trained by Apple’s devices, but I think there is an obvious disconnect between the locus of attention (the address bar) and the physical button at the other end of the device you have to click on to interact with it. Again, it’s resolvable in software, but only if developers eschew the Menu button.

Speaking of the address bar, a non-physical keyboard would be handy at times… I find myself missing it, but that feels more like a UI convention I’ve become accustomed to with my iPod, than an actual limitation of the device.

Enough complaints, though… what’s good? The Google apps integration is seriously top notch. My email always hits my phone first, before it hits either my desktop or my iPod email client, and IM and search are really well done. The Market is good, comparable to the App Store, and will only get better as we get more apps (someone build a better Wikipedia browser than what’s up there now and I will be forever in your debt… oh, and I could use a PDF reader while you’re at it…). The fact that it has removable storage means I can make this device grow with my disk usage, and SD cards will only get cheaper and higher capacity.

Overall, it’s a solid device, and I’m happy with the fact that it’s open source and that it has a much more open development and distribution model than the iPhone. Of course, you have to do development in Java instead of Objective-C, and you don’t have the benefit of Xcode or Interface Builder, so whether that development is even worth doing is another question.

The only thought that I have left after playing with this device for two days is…

How does not having a non-carrier based Android device affect Google’s potential developer base… and when are we going to see the iPod touch equivalent of the G1?

And lo, The Great Googley One said unto me, “I bring to you a phone, a phone powered by open source, which you will still pay through the nose for, because the telecom companies are greedy, greedy bastards, but nevertheless, a phone that will let you easily add new applications, and share those applications with the world, in a share-y, share-y, love-y, love-y, socialist-y sort of way, and it will not be an iPhone, but it will at least provide a decent alternative, and it will not force you to switch to Ma Bell.”

And thus, I bought said phone, and I will patiently wait until October 22nd, when it appears at my door, as if delivered from the loving hands of The Great Google itself. And in my waiting, I will learn the SDK and develop applications. And it will be good.

I got my Zaurus on Thursday. It’s a pretty cool little thing. After struggling with it for two days, I finally figured out how to get it to do (most of) what I needed. I first flashed the ROM to use OpenZaurus and Opie, rather than the provided Sharp ROM. I don’t know if it was just me or what, but as soon as I did that, I ran into a zillion problems. I couldn’t install software, battery usage was really bad, and I was just not a happy camper. So, I did some research, came across the Crow ROM — which is basically a version of the Sharp ROM modified to use an SD card as your home directory — and have been getting along pretty well with that. I got a working Jabber client on it, and was better able to install software. I’m still having issues — it seems like IPKs over 1 MB just kind of crap out after a while. I’m not exactly sure why that is, but I’m basically left without Opera for the moment. I did really like the Opie interface — it had a lot of great features: screen rotate, larger pool of apps to draw from, better Wi-Fi handling, nicer overall interface. Still, I think the Zaurus will prove to have been a good investment.

In other news, I’ve made some decisions into how the phone’s interface will be set up (thanks in large part to Jeff and Robb). The faceless phone idea, while really cool, just won’t let me explore everything I want to be able to do with this phone.

In reality, it’s not a phone. It’s an IM device.

And with that comes a lot of really cool explorations. Jabber just provides so many possibilities for providing services: live weather, restaurant reviews, address/direction search, blogger, news feeds, file transfers, whiteboarding, email notifications. It would be a shame not to take advantage of everything that Jabber is through this device. Thus, I’m definitely going touchscreen based, with no hardware buttons, save for power on/off and screen lock. That gives me the most flexibility to explore interface variations, makes i18n much easier and more cost effective, and allows for doing some more PDA and tablet-like functionality. It will still be most definitely a “phone-ish” form factor though. It needs to maintain a distinct identity from PDAs, and shouldn’t feel clunky holding up to your ear to talk into.

So I finally caved. I really wanted to get one of the new Nokia 770s. They are brilliant little machines that are great in so many ways: nice form factor, Linux-based, Wi-Fi enabled, internet-centric, inexpensive. But, unfortunately, I didn’t jump on the bandwagon fast enough; by the time I was ready to buy one (to have for my trip to London before Christmas), they had sold out in the States. Damn.

But, I really need something for my trip. In case the Big Work Project blows up while I’m over there, I need to be able to do minor text editing and receive emails and IM the office. So, I caved. I had been talking about getting a Zaurus 5500 for a few years now, and they’re pretty much the next best thing to a 770. Yes, the one I want is a few years old, but it already has had tons of open source software written for it. And, it also is great is so many ways: nice form factor (with a hardware keyboard!), Linux-based, CF slot for Wi-Fi card, inexpensive (used from Amazon for $200). It’s more general purpose than internet-centric — I’m a bit worried about web browsing on it — but it looks as though GAIM will run like a charm. And baby, Jabber is alls I needs.