Android – Keep on Waiting?
I believe I want an Android phone.
I am still using my Tmo Dash, which – has been the best phone I ever had. It is nearing 3 years old now (can’t be). It is obsolete and very tired now. But it still works. I just feel somewhat obligated to have a cutting edge phone.
I’ve seen friends upgrade their phones to theiPhoneand new Blackberry models. People love their phones. They are making fun of me.
I more or less decided last Fall that I wanted an Android phone, but not the first version. I expected there to be many more by this time. The 2nd phone has finally arrived – the MyTouch. Not too exciting. I want a keyboard and it just isn’t that slick of a device.
Now we have moved our office from Exchange to Google Apps – and I am using Google Voice for some calls. The Android phone still makes the most sense (but the Dash has adapted well too, to resync the Dash from Exchange to Google actually required a PC).
Anyway, I am tempted to get the MyTouch, but unsure since I’ve waited this long. Here are my reasons not to, but would love your thoughts:
- No keyboard
- Reviews indicate soft keyboard is not very good.
- Press reports suggest new models still coming, but no one knows when.
- New models (Motorola/Bigfoot, HTC Hero, Samsung i7500) already in the blogosphere.
- NYT reports to expect several models this year.
But Android phones are sure coming out slowly. It isn’t clear if/when the new phones will hit this year and which ones will have a keyboard. Tmo is just now launching the MyTouch (2nd generation phone), 9 months after the first. The Hero, is now available in Europe, but I imagine Tmo wants to stall it here so they can sell some MyTouch’s first (they are the same hardware generation).
Back in March, I blogged that Android was the disappointment of the year. Because they are taking so long to get phones on the market.
Honestly, I guess there is no reason I can’t keep waiting- but I ridicule people that wait to by a computer because they think the prices might be dropping soon. That excuse never goes away, and there will always be a better model coming.
I could have bought a G1 last October and almost be done with my 1 year contract. That was the right move in hindisight. But doing so now seems to make no sense.
There are not very many of us telecom types that are still holding out with old phones. Even (formerly) Nokia’s Phoneboy traded his Nokia in for aniPhone and seems to like it. TheiPhone is a respectable device, but I don’t want AT&T; or the Apple Appstore. I am free – no contract and an osolete phone, don’t want to squander that on the wrong device.
What to do, what to do?
