iPhone killer? Think again.

In case you were living under a rock, the much-hyped T-Mobile G1 launched today. You know, the first cell phone that runs Google's Android mobile operating system. It was also the phone that the media dubbed as the "first real iPhone killer." 

Well, it's here, and I doubt any one of the 6.9 million iPhone 3Gs currently sold and the other millions of original iPhones are vibrating in fear tonight. Google announced the Android project a few months after the iPhone first went on sale in the summer of 2007, and the G1 is the product of nearly a year's worth of work. It should be known that the actual G1 hardware is made by HTC, not Google.

What I'm really astonished to find, however, is that in the four or so months we've had to digest the images of what the G1 would look like, no one has commented on its aesthetics, or lack thereof. Bottom line: the G1 is not a pretty phone, and Android is not a pretty OS. Contrast that to the G1's chief competitor, the iPhone 3G which is, in many people's opinions (including mine) a work of design magic. The iPhone feels like something special when you hold it in your hand, like this is way more than just a phone. iPhone OS has an elegant and graceful user interface, with animations leading you from one thing to the next. Android, on the other hand, just looks cartoonish. The G1's sliding display and hidden keyboard is just lame. And don't get me started on the whole T-Mobile network issue. T-Mobile was very late in getting into the 3G game, and its 3G coverage pales in comparison with other companies like AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

I'll give the G1 one thing: push Gmail. I've long been a Gmail devotee, but I've started to really become addicted to MobileMe's push email service on the iPhone, even if it costs something like $90 a year to subscribe.  If Yahoo! can get push email working on the iPhone, why can't Google? I guess the G1 seals the deal that we'll never see push Gmail on the iPhone.

Of course, I won't make my final judgements until I actually see and touch a G1 in a T-Mobile store, but I doubt that will do much to sway my opinion. 

New MacBooks!

Well, Apple has done it again: after the iPhone 3G launch earlier this year, the company has once again succeeded at making me feel quite inadequate with the launch of the new models of MacBook and MacBook Pros, introduced in San Francisco on Monday. 

Since my penchant for tinkering around in Final Cut Studio and the Creative Suite make me more of a MacBook Pro person than a standard MacBook guy (I've been a proud MBP owner for just about a year now), I'm going to focus on the Pro variant of the new launch. In an effort to make myself feel somewhat better on the day my beloved MacBook Pro was rendered obsolete, I'm going to focus on the things I don't like about the new MBP before touching on things that I do like. 

• Glass display. I've never been a fan of the glossy screen on the original MacBooks, as I think all that glare is just too annoying. Sure, it might make the colors look prettier, but if I'm going to be staring at a screen for a few hours, I don't want to have to do it through glare from overhead lights.
• Glass trackpad. This just seems a little excessive, doesn't it? This is supposed to be a durable machine, and all that glass just makes me nervous. I have yet to drop my MBP (knock on wood), and I'd have to think that between the glass display and glass trackpad, something is going to end up in a shattered mess. At least they still have a MagSafe adapter port...
• They all look the same. Call me pretentious, but I liked how the MacBook Pro had an extremely different look from the regular MacBooks. I could spot an MBP user from across the room--now that they look identical (only the size separates them), it's going to be hard to distinguish between the two. 
• Keyboard. This might be a rush to judgement, but I've never been a fan of the chicklet keyboard. The old MacBooks had a certain spongy feel to them--but this may have been due to their plastic construction. I'll reserve my final judgement for when I actually get to type on one, but the first impressions are not good.

OK, as hard as this is, now for the things that I like about the new MacBook family and what makes me want a new one.

• Unibody construction. Cool. Just awesome. Being able to carve a notebook computer out of a single block of aluminum (or al-yoo-mini-um, if you're Jonathan Ive) is pretty amazing, and sure does a lot to protect the stuff inside that case. 
• Style. I think Apple is genetically incapable of putting out anything short of beautiful. I might complain about the glare, but you have to admit that Apple's latest notebooks are truly a work of art. It also brings everything in line with the iMac/MacBook Air style.

If you haven't watched the MacBook video yet over on the Apple website, I highly suggest you go and watch it. The production values, as usual, are very nice--and you actually feel inspired to buy one when it's over. Inspired. By a notebook computer. If I get that feeling, then Apple is certainly doing their job.