mrluc

Can Anything Displace the iPhone in Consumer's Eyes?

I just thought I'd mention the pre-order numbers for the G1:

1.5 million. The first two batches of pre-orders are sold clear through, and they may be trying to do more. That's a surprise, I think, to everyone -- although clearly nowhere near current iPhone numbers.

Now. What does it mean?

From a development standpoint, I would mention that it's far easier to whip up an application for Android than for any other competitive platform. But what's driving the pre-orders, and what does it mean for google?

It's simple. Pre-orders are driven, not by people seeing a better iPhone, but by people seeing a simpler and cheaper *netbook*. The keyboard. The choice of a mildly tacky, "desktop" background. The integration with google's net-apps. It's "netbook", not "iPhone".

People, if you can use it to surf the web and type and cut and paste ... then you can use it to write documents and emails and do anything you can do online. It's more a computer than a piece of consumer electronics. That's what people want to buy.

Writing word processors and other apps for the Android system may, in fact, become a great market! Awesome. We all hope so, because Apple has got a lead-pipe lock at the moment, and competition amongst cutting-edge mobile development is important. But the apps for Android are not the determinants of whether or not the platform will succeed; for the user, the question is whether or not the phone provides a pleasant usability experience for things like typing and viewing on the web, and for companies, does the software make my sky-high development costs a bit more manageable?

And the answer to the second is yes; consumers are hoping that the answer to the first is yes also.