Attendees of GDC this year received a free Android phone. After standing in a long, long line to clear all of the documents, attendees were handed a random choice of phone: Verizon Droid or a Nexus One.
I, unhappily, received a Droid. And I am not the only unhappy one. There was a line of attendees with Droid in hand at the exit of the Google booth, begging the lucky Nexus One recipients to trade with them. I passed the Google booth several times, but there was always a long line of unhappy new Droid owners.
I imagine that Google was extremely surprised by this state of affairs. The Droid is selling 10-to-1 over the Nexus (see chart). What’s wrong with these game people?
I think this indicates that the popularity of the Google phone is not that everyone wants an Open Source, Freedom Now, let’s-get-away-from-Apple’s-walled-garden smartphone. It’s really about the network.
Tim Bray’s assessment of the Android vs. iPhone ecosystem is (hat tip to Slashdot): “The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet’s future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what. It’s a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord’s pleasure and fear his anger.” 
But this isn’t what drives our average techie.
No, what legions of Droid purchasers want is a smartphone with all of the abilities of the iPhone, but which uses Verizon’s robust and superior cell network rather than AT&T’s. The average GDC attendee, given the choice, will much prefer a free phone with a choice of cell service providers rather than being stuck with Verizon. Those who are already stuck with Verizon need the Droid, since they have no alternative.
Lesson for Google: you have a short time to certify Android as a worthy alternative to the iPhone. Once the iPhone is on Verizon’s network (should that come to pass), Android will be left without any advantages. Not to say Android is bad: the screen blows the iPhone’s away, the GPS is far stronger and the ability to link to Google’s services is reasonably cool. Both Android and iPhone suffer from severe, unexplained email problems compared to the Blackberry.
But, in the end, iPhone offers a bigger market to app programmers, and that makes all the difference. Runkeeper and TweetDeck are on the iPhone, so that will remain my phone of choice. Yes, there are worthy alternatives on Android, but there are fewer and their free versions are less usable.