It was almost like Christmas, and I was an 8 year old boy again. Only it wasn’t Christmas and this wasn’t a puppy I had found under the tree. It was just after Valentines Day and this was a brown cardboard box in my hands. This brown box was a gift from The Greatest Girlfriend In The World, and it was my drug of choice… a brand new gadget. But it wasn’t just any new gadget; it was a Nexus One.
My HTC Dream had served me well for over the past 12 months, but like any gadget geek I was attracted to the latest and greatest new toy. Faster processors, better screens, more features… this is what keeps me up late at night reading blogs about the next big rumor just a split second before anyone else. For being over a year old, my Dream was in remarkably good shape. It still had the original screen protector on it and there wasn’t a single scratch on it’s surface. The cover for the mini-usb port was still dutifully attached, and there wasn’t a spot of dirt anywhere to be found on it’s pristine white surface. However none of this had mattered since I had heard the first whispers of the Nexus One… the rumored “Google Phone”. The device that would pack the kind of hardware that could finally utilize Android to it’s fullest extent.
And now it was mine.
My Nexus One has usurped my Dreams position in my pocket and become more useful than any other device I’ve ever owned. My constant companion, it has replaced my many other gadgets. No longer do I carry a PSP, an iPod, a phone, and a book in my backpack during my morning commute. I simply slip my Nexus One into my pocket and head out the door. If this device would dispense beer, I’d have no other needs.
I originally purchased my Dream because of Android. I wanted something different and unique. I’ve owned smart phones for years (from my old Blackberry on through an MDA and a Wing) but Android offered something new to me: a truly multimedia experience that I could carry in my pocket and connect my social life while on the go. But even then, it was still lacking. The UI wasn’t quite what I wanted, it was slow, and it didn’t have enough internal memory to really be very useful. Don’t get me wrong, I still dearly love my Dream. But it comes as no surprise to me that Android didn’t hit mainstream attention with the kind of hardware that the Dream had when it launched. Sure, I rooted it and installed different ROMS trying to make it what I wanted it to be. But even then, the Dream still didn’t have the “OMGWTFBBQ” that I wanted it to have.
That’s all changed due to my Nexus One. This machine is equivalent to a Cadillac XLR: pure beauty with a mean ass monster living under the hood.
I feel as though I have joined a club… When encountering another Nexus One owner, we both readily whip out our phones to share any tips or tricks (did you know that speech to text recognizes supercalifragilisticexpialodocious?). I don’t see this camaraderie with any other type of device. Sure, while some would say that Apple/iPhone users share a bond, I’d go so far as to say that it’s more like a cult with His Holiness Jobs looking down from on high instructing his minions on what to do. I have made friends with people in other cities, states, and even nations… simply because of our shared ownership of this handset.
Have I become what I loathe most? Am I the anti-thesis to the iPhone fanboys? The answer is a resounding “YES!” Thanks to the Nexus One, I will resoundingly defend Android on any blog, in any conversation, and during any circumstance. When I run into an iPhone fanboy it’s light versus dark, good versus evil, Jedi versus Sith. My pupils dilate, I begin to sweat, and the arguments move to the tip of my tongue. The only way I could become any worse is if I turned green, grew seven feet tall, and my clothes started to rip (Android SMASH!!).
Thanks to the Nexus One (my Precious!!) my transformation is complete. Sure, it has it’s (few) flaws. But I will say, that no matter what I am doing (outside of a few activities *ahem* with The Greatest Girlfriend In The World) my Nexus One enhances it. A bastion of entertainment and knowledge at my fingertips, this is my constant companion. Now to figure out how to affix a keg of my favorite brew to it…
Might We Suggest…
See the rest here:
My Life With The Nexus One (or, How I Became a Rabid Android Fanboy)
A few more details have emerged for the upcoming Motorola i1 handset. The first iDEN smartphone to run Android is said to be arriving with a 5 megapixel camera now instead of the 3.2 we were originally expecting. Additionally, rumors put the default browser in the hands of Opera Mini instead of the one we’ve all come to expect. Being this this device is not your true Google Android experience, handset makers can add what they see fit to the phone.
