Waiting to take the plunge

I did some research over the weekend to put a logical rein on my seemingly irresistible attraction to the idea of getting a smartphone, either an iPhone or an Android-based handset, and writing mobile applications.  As Orange is the exclusive distributor for HTC Dream (also known as G1) I went directly to the Orange shop and got my hands on the Dream. It's not bad actually.  Better than my current Samsung phone, obviously.  And the sliding display over the keyboard seemed a bit like a playful novelty to me.  But something kept bugging me.

So I decided to give a good look at the iPhone.  The temptation to go head-on with the iPhone was surprisingly strong once you've touched it; iPhone being the iPhone.  For such a stylish phone I'm willing to learn some Objective C.  Nevermind that more and more phones will soon be running on Android.   Nevermind that more and more PC companies are developing netbooks running on Android.  The iPhone is simply RFC (really f**kng cool)!  At this point I realized that I'm getting irrational, so I decided to call it a day and go home.

Still, I was more or less leaning towards getting an iPhone -- that is, until I found out earlier tonight that I couldn't develop iPhone applications on my PC.  What a bummer.  Buying a Mac is out of the question as that would mean I'd have to fork out around 2000 euros just to be able to have my hacking toy.  Unless some money angel comes around, it's way off my budget.  Logic -- and my wallet -- is now gaining the upper hand.

But I was not particularly impressed with the HTC Dream so I read more about it.  Most tests posted online seem to agree with my assessment of the Dream.  I therefore decided that I'd be better off with the next Android phone that comes around.  That would likely be the HTC Magic.  But who knows, maybe my current Samsung phone might simply be replaced by one of its younger cousins.

For the moment, I'll wait and keep playing with the Android emulator.

-- axx on android