I am a classic late-boomer early adapter of new technology. I like having new stuff. I like it when that new stuff is whiz-bang and comes in black. I wait until the first reviews are in, but never until the second release - I'd rather buy the upgrade than be late to the game. The only reason I don't have an i-phone is because I am on T-Mobile. Imagine my excitement when the G1 phone with the Android OS was released! I diligently waited until the first reviews were out, and then I scooted down to the T-Mobile shop to dutifully hand them my hard-earned scratch in return for this techno-bauble. Amber was helpful (as always when the smell of my wallet wafts into the store) and immediately had the demo G1 out on the desk. I checked out the very cool street-level view on Google Maps using the compass function. I used the keyboard. I moved apps from the menu folder to one of the three desktops. Then I went to the central functionality as far as my needs go: the browser. The window opened, and - nothing happened. It didn't connect to the Google homepage. Google is where I live. Email, calendar, chat - all Google. I am their dream user. But the screen remained grey. Amber was a bit embarrassed. The manager called another location to find out whether they were having trouble with their demo device. Nothing happened. The Yahoo! homepage was available. MSN was available. But no Google homepage. Well, eager beaver that I am, I was willing to assume this would not happen with a brand-new out of the box device. I loved that little machine and it would be mine. I turned to Amber, looked into her eyes and, using my most sincere consumer baritone, told her I would take it - 2 year contract extention be damned. More embarrassment. "We don't actually handle those out of the store. You have to go online to upgrade your device". Wait, what? Since my home market is not yet 3G, T-Mobile do not provide in-store 3G product for sale. Maybe they are afraid a black hole will form. I don't know. However, not to be deterred (even though my enthusiasm was waning by now), I had her go online to my T-Mobile account. Login, password, etc. Click on "Upgrade your Device" - again nothing. "We are unable to process your online request". I looked at Amber. Amber looked at Eric. Eric looked vaguely uncomfortable. Amber perked up "You could just do it from home later!" she chirped happily. I smiled, picked up my wallet and left. Before climbing into my car, I cast a last look over my shoulder at the T-Mobile logo. A store which sells what some central office decides it will send them, can't stock what people want, and advises customers to find work-arounds to get the product themselves. The socialist centralized economy did not break down at the end of the Cold War. It moved into the mall down the street from me.
Postscript: Soon after this posting, my T-Mobile device crashed. I was so fed up that I went across the street to Verizon. I now have a BlackBerry 8830 World Edition running on a 3G network.
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