Answer Guy Central

A few weeks ago I had some harsh words for David Pogue. Dave, The New York Times’ lead technology columnist—among other things—had expressed an opinion about copy protection that I felt was so out of touch with reality he needed to be called on it.

Pogue didn’t like my opinion. He told me so. Well, David . . . this time I’m with you: today, Pogue comments on Google and their new Nexus One cell phone. And I’m happy to report that he’s back in the fold as “the voice of reason”.

Over the last few months, and especially the last couple of weeks, the hype for Nexus One has been in full overdrive. Without every saying so officially, Google had let us know that they were about to release a new, super-feature-rich phone that you can buy without a contract. And they’ve done exactly that. The Nexus One is very, very cool, leap-frogging even my beloved Droid in a few areas (while falling short in a few others).

And that’s it. Business Change from the Nexus One? Very close to zero.

My disappointment with what Google has done stems not from my feelings about the device itself; I’ll repeat that the Nexus One is a great SmartPhone. But let’s be clear: while it’s theoretically true that you could just buy the phone and then 1) get service from the carrier of your choice and 2) get that service at a lower cost , the reality is that differences in the way cell carriers move calls and data around means that the only place you can get service for the Nexus One is T-Mobile. Yes, you could use AT&T instead, but then your data would be too slow.

Oh, and by the way: if you buy your Nexus One from T-Mobile, on contract, you’ll pay about the same thing that AT&T gets for an iPhone and Verizon gets for a Droid. And if you buy a Nexus One without a contract it costs . . . you guessed it . . . pretty much what AT&T and Verizon’s flagship phones cost without a contract.

Overall, this makes the Nexus One announcement a non-event in my book. So why write about it?

Because this is the very first time that Google has hyped/announced/released something that qualified as nothing more than a me-too. Love them or hate them, Google pushes the envelope on everything they do, and the Nexus One is not business change, phone change, power-to-the-people, or anything else, other than Google wanting very much to usurp Microsoft and Apple in the phone operating system wars.

I concede, Google; Android is spectacular. The Nexus One is a great Android phone; I almost want to replace my Droid. But . . . really, when you tell the world you’re going to change business, you need to actually bring some business change to the table. The Nexus One is no such thing.

Simple: Because They Don’t Get It.

I’m not about to go off on a the-iPhone-is-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread rant. In fact, let me state, right here, right now, for the record, that I am not a user, and on my last birthday was offered one as a gift and just couldn’t do it. I TRIED, by the way. I went to an AT&T Store, explained to a very nice associate that I needed to be left alone to play with one, was set up to do so, spent nearly an hour, and walked away hating the iPhone.

Anyone that knows me knows that I like gadgets. But I don’t like them in the way that most people would think. I like gadgets when they make my life easier, better, or more fun, not because they are cool, and to be honest I haven’t come across too may things that strike me that way lately.

Is this because I’m old and curmudgeonly? I hope not, but can’t promise anything.

The iPhone is undoubtedly very cool. And I’ve had a chance to play with iPod touch devices—which work exactly the same way and do everything the iPhone does except make phone calls—many times. They are just plain . . . neat. VERY cool. And sure, I like what they can do for you from time to time: Need a restaurant? Directions? Something that makes having the Internet in your pocket and accessible from almost anywhere as easy as possible? The iPhone is the way to go. But I hate the iPhone, and here’s why:

The iPhone is still too hard to use because there’s no easy way to rearrange your application screens.

Anyone who’s used an iPhone for a while and downloaded apps to it knows what I mean, and will be happy that Movement now exists. Click the link, look at the picture on their front page, and you’ll understand instantly what Movement does. And it will make sense.

And you can’t use it unless you hack your iPhone in a way that’s too hard for most users, might be illegal, and certainly puts you at risk of turning your iPhone into a paperweight.

Apple could fix this. There are rumors floating about that they might, but every time I use an iPhone—or a Macintosh computer, since I’m being honest—all I feel is that I WISH I LIKED IT. Apple creates amazing stuff, makes it as easy to use as they think makes sense, and then stops, because “they know best” and we, like children, are not supposed to question their parental wisdom.

That was fine in a world with few choices. But in the world we inhabit today, a world where change happens so fast you can miss it, where we have hundreds of television channels, unlimited free access to magazines and newspapers that used to cost money, choice of the computers, phones and software we use, REAL change happens when you make the change clear, and make the change easy.

Change is everything. And it doesn’t stop with a pretty user interface. Take that, iPhone.