I'm going to skip the personal insults aimed at me (which will make this a short reply).
The dictionary.com definition of obsolete says; "of a discarded or outmoded type; out of date", which, as the G1 is no longer on sale as an unlocked developer 'phone and has no officially supported firmware which provide any of the last 3 versions of Android, seems to fit pretty well to me. As for prices; I didn't realise T-Mo US were hammering the price up that much. In the UK you can get the new Pulse for around US$150 which is within 30% of what G1s go for on eBay (and is cheaper than some eBayers Buy It Now G1 prices). I guess we're not going to agree, and nothing you've said has swayed me to recommending the G1 as a 'phone for new developers, so I'll guess we'll agree to disagree and let the OP choose which of our personal opinions he finds more useful. Al. On Jul 9, 9:49 am, Indicator Veritatis <mej1...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Only 20 years? I have you beat there. But more importantly, your > "review of key points" is still seriously deficient in logic. Your > conclusions still do not follow. Repeating conclusions that do not > follow IS a mark of being uneducated, no matter how much experience > you have. > > The G1 is not yet obsolete, nor would the OP be forced to "either > leave the OP limited to Android 1.6 and below, or [be left] with an > experience as painful as the experience they had with the emulator on > the Laptop which caused them to look at getting a device in the first > place", by choosing the G1 as his hardware platform. > > Furthermore, you are forgetting one of the OP's considerations: cost. > You cannot find a phone originally released with 2.0 or 2.1 for as low > a cost as he can find a G1. > > I don't know how you reached the conclusion a T-Mobile Pulse could be > bought for the same price as a G1: I see eBay prices of $273 for the > pulse, but I got my G1 on Craigslist for $80. > > On Jul 8, 10:44 pm, Al Sutton <a...@funkyandroid.com> wrote: > > > > > I've only been developing software for 20 years, but if you want to > > consider me uneducated, then I guess that's your call. > > > To me if you can't buy a device for the purpose you want to use it, > > the devices firmware hasn't officially been updated for a few revision > > of the OS it's running, and all the signs indicate it won't be, then > > it's an obsolete device. > > > Lets review a couple of key points; > > > 1) You can't buy the ADP1 (i.e. the shipped as unlocked G1) through > > Google any more. All you can buy is the ADP2. Yes, T-Mobile USA are > > still selling the G1, but carriers will usually sell anything until > > demand is almost non-existant. > > > 2) There is no *official* support for anything beyond 1.6, and it > > seems unlikely it ever will see an *official* update > > (seehttp://androinica.com/2010/06/29/will-the-g1-get-froyo-yes-no-maybe/ > > for the reasoning). > > > 3) As you've said, even if you do get a 3rd party Android 2.x ROM it > > is pig slow running it, making developing/testing any 2.x code with it > > an unpleasant experience (and the OP originally said he wanted a > > device because debugging on the emulator was too slow and painful). > > > 4) eBay prices for a T-Mobile pulse (an Android 2.1 HVGA device) are > > about the same if not cheaper than the eBay price for a G1. > > > At no point did I suggest writing apps to block their use on a G1, all > > I've done is point out that the G1 isn't the best fit for the OPs > > situation, and in terms of being a phone for developers it's no longer > > available for purchase as one, and using it for developing will either > > leave the OP limited to Android 1.6 and below, or with an experience > > as painful as the experience they had with the emulator on the Laptop > > which caused them to look at getting a device in the first place. > > > Al. > > > On Jul 9, 12:20 am, Indicator Veritatis <mej1...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > Lack of an official 2.1 update makes it 'obsolete'? Not in my book. > > > Nor in the book of any educated software engineer. It takes a LOT more > > > than that to make it 'obsolete', especially when Google ENCOURAGES > > > third parties to release their own ROMs, and Cyanogen has already > > > ported 2.1 to the G1 (http://androidspin.com/2010/04/29/cyanogen-ports- > > > android-2-1-rom-in-g1-and-mytouch-3g/). > > > > Of course, it is pig slow when running Cyanogen's 2.1 (compared to new > > > 2.1 phones), and it lacks the hardware features for much of 2.1. But > > > people are running 2.1 on the G1 already, and more want to do it. > > > > The G1 is nowhere near the "bleeding edge": but it is still a good > > > phone for testing new software against, since yet again, if it runs on > > > the G1, and accommodates "small screens" correctly, then it will run > > > almsot anywhere. This gets closer than JME ever got to the promise of > > > "write once, run anywhere". > > > > So don't write-off the G1 yet. You will risk locking your apps out of > > > 1/5 the market if you do. > > > > On Jul 8, 5:03 am, Al Sutton <a...@funkyandroid.com> wrote: > > > > > It's highly unlikely the G1 will ever see an official update to > > > > Android 2.x or higher, so it is obsolete. > > > > > In the OPs shoes I personally would put the money towards a better > > > > computer as it'll most likely make the whole development process more > > > > pleasant. > > > > > Al. > > > > > On Jul 8, 7:32 am, Indicator Veritatis <mej1...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > > > G1 obsolete? Well, almost. But take a look at the famous Platform > > > > > Version 'dashboard' > > > > > athttp://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html. > > > > > It shows that as many as 21.3% of phones connecting to the market are > > > > > still on 1.5. 45% are running 1.6 or 1.5. > > > > > > So by that standard the G1 is not obsolete, since it is already on > > > > > 1.6. > > > > > > Now sure, the hardware is slow and the runtime memory limited compared > > > > > to the hot new phones running 2.1 and accounting for 53% of the > > > > > market. But it would be a mistake to design your app -- or test your > > > > > app -- on only the latest and greatest (unless, of course, your app > > > > > relies on features only available on the latest hardware). Especially > > > > > when 45% of the market is still running 1.6 or earlier. > > > > > > When you are looking for development hardware, and are limited in > > > > > budget, there is really no point in buying "the most popular one". You > > > > > need a more general test platform than that. The G1 meets that > > > > > description since an application that runs correctly on the G1 will > > > > > run correctly on many other platforms as well. One cannot say the same > > > > > for the Droid. > > > > > > On Jul 7, 3:28 pm, "Maps.Huge.Info (Maps API Guru)" <cor...@gmail.com> > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > My personal opinion here... > > > > > > > Don't get a G1 - they are obsolete, hardly any of them exist in the > > > > > > real world and they are stuck on Android 1.6. > > > > > > > If you want to get a good device that is the most popular one, get a > > > > > > Motorola Droid, the one with the keyboard. There are more of these > > > > > > in > > > > > > the wild than any other device. If you app runs on this one, then > > > > > > you > > > > > > are pretty much good to go. The Droid should get an update to Froyo > > > > > > starting on the 15th of this month, if the rumors can be believed, > > > > > > right now it's on 2.1-update1. You can get a used Droid on eBay for > > > > > > about $200 or so. It doesn't run on AT&T but so what? > > > > > > > AT&T will be offering the Samsung Galaxy S line at some point, you > > > > > > might want to wait for that one to be released. The only downside is > > > > > > AT&T will offer a crippled version that can't accept non-market > > > > > > apps. > > > > > > AT&T sucks, what else can you say? > > > > > > > The bottom line is for app development, pretty much any device will > > > > > > do. You don't need a "development" device, but you absolutely will > > > > > > need a real one to debug your app. The emulator is nice for quick > > > > > > checks but it isn't much use in finding out if your app will really > > > > > > work, or for figuring out why it doesn't. The sensors on the > > > > > > emulator > > > > > > leave a lot to be desired as well, obviously, shaking your computer > > > > > > isn't going to do much. > > > > > > > -John Coryat -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
