The Nexus One is not for you

Look, I love my Nexus One. But it's not for everyone. In fact, I'd suggest it's not for most people. If you're a whiner, don't even THINK about getting this phone. Not yet, anyway. Google isn't about delivering a finished product. And the Nexus One is far from a finished product. It has some of the smartest people in the world developing for it and working on it which means that between today and tomorrow you'll likely be able to SEE it change. But I'll guarantee there's something wrong now, today, that'll drive you absolutely batty if you let it. So, if you're a whiner, or if you want a phone that's a finished product, please stay away. If you like to fiddle with things, open them up, see what's inside and tinker then you should consider the Nexus One because that's pretty much a requirement. Do you have to be Linux knowledgable? Not necessarily but it sure helps. If you know what root or superuser is then you're ahead of the game. If you're adventurous and like to learn new things, then this may be the phone for you.

Here's a checklist:

The Nexus One is not an iPhone, it's not even an iPhone competitor.

If you've got an iPhone, chances are you're an iTunes user. This phone doesn't come with iTunes integration. Yes, you can download an app that will integrate it with iTunes but if you're an iTunes user, get something else.

Some apps that are available for the iPhone are available for the Nexus One but many are not.

If you're looking to replace your iPhone and you have apps that you absolutely depend on, don't switch. You'll just get annoyed and waste your time. You can look for similar apps or even ask the developer if the app is avaliable on Android or the Nexus One but it'll look different and act different. See my first point, above.

The Nexus One is not "finished".

Apple delivers consumer quality products that are pretty nearly "done". Google doesn't do that. If you want something that "just works". get an iPhone. Like their online offerings, Google delivers products that are pretty close to complete but you can bet they'll have to rev the software and, until they do, you either have to live with the problems or find a way to fix it yourself. Don't get me wrong, there are a LOT of people out there who can help you fix it but they aren't Google.

You get a charge out of seeing a Linux command prompt

The Nexus One may be for you. I log in to my phone at least daily and do things that I could do via the phone's GUI but I find it easier and quicker to do a lot of things this way. If you're uncomfortable with the command line, consider something else.

You've got a lot of MP3s.

Not just music files in some format but files that end in ".mp3", are VBR or CBR, up to 320Kbps. Or you've got a lot of Ogg Vorbis files. If so, consider the Nexus One. But If you've for DRM WMA files, forget it cuz it won't play 'em.

You stream Slacker or Pandora or Shoutcast.

There are apps for these services. Slacker and Pandora apps come from Slacker and Pandora. There are several apps that stream Shoutcast quite easily. No, I don't know what the iPhone app looks like. If you care, you shouldn't be considering the Nexus One.

There are loads of other things I could suggest but, honestly, if you're hesitant about getting a Nexus One then please don't. You may be happy but, then again, you may not. As Rober Heinlein said, never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

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