Rather, the G1 is a small computer, that happens to have reasonably good phone functionality.
That pretty much sums up what you can expect if you want to be an early adopter of the first phone boasting the Android platform. But of course any prospective buyer wants to know more before they plunk down their cash, so here we go.
Almost every review of the G1 compares it to the iPhone. The main difference highlighted is that the iPhone has a more consistent experience (software and hardware by the same company) while the G1 feels less polished. This is a fair point, but being unpolished can have advantages as well.
Handling the G1 is a satisfying experience, hardware-wise. Despite the criticism of its aesthetics, it fits nicely in your hands (unless you have really small hands) and feels solidly built. Sure, the hinge could break, but any phone can break pretty easily (spill water, drop on concrete, etc.). And, while Apple is married to minimalism, HTC is all about functionality - so, you get a touchscreen, buttons, a full keyboard, *and* a trackball.
The last point is a particular delight - despite having a full touchscreen, I find myself using the trackball far more often when browsing or selecting menu options, as it is just faster and more precise. The keyboard is also quite nice, though I must admit that its not as much of an advantage over the iPhone as I initially expected. Any phone text-entry format is less than ideal and requires getting used to - a physical qwerty keyboard will be slightly nicer and have a less steep learning curve, but I don't think it's that much faster than even T9 if you have adapted to that.
The main advantage of the keyboard ties in to the point I opened with - this is actually a small computer. For regular text entry the keyboard isn't that special, but for entering symbols and numbers it's much better than any other phone I've used. This means you can have things like ConnectBot, an SSH program, and that it could actually be useful and not just a curiosity.
Already there are many Android apps out there, and I have no doubt that we'll only see more and more. The ecosystem is somewhere between the cathedral and the bazaar, and I at least think it's a pretty happy median. There's the "official" centralized market, several other stores popping up, and the fact that anybody who wants to can just make an .apk file and distribute it as they see fit.
Android is an appealing platform for developers - it's open yet able to be monetized, central yet resistant to censorship. The G1 is a capable piece of hardware to realize the aspirations of developers, but I am looking forward to when even more phones boast the Android platform. Other "smart" iPhone-esque phones may be appealing, but I think Android will really make a splash when it is on more "normal" phones in the flip and candybar form factor. Sure, it'll be more limited in some regards (probably no trackball), but the browser and other aspects just blow away other "normal" phones.
For the G1 specifically, the main limitation is that you can only install apps to the internal memory (e.g. not the SD card). This forces you to pick and choose what apps you actually want, and to go with apps that are smaller as well. This may seem annoying, but it's not that bad - if an app is really big it's probably badly written (apps can still store their data on the SD card as well). I hate to say "~40-50 phone apps ought to be enough for anyone", but really, well, 40-50 phone apps ought to be enough for anyone.
So, should you get a G1? It depends - if you're a bit of a gadget lover (and live in an area with decent T-Mobile coverage), then yes. It's good hardware, a great platform, and a lot of promise for future development. If you just want a normal phone though, you might be better off waiting for future Android phones in other form factors and perhaps on other networks.
Android is poised to make significant impact in the mobile market. What will be particular interesting to see is how its various competitors respond - we can only hope that the end result is greater openness for everyone, regardless of their phone or service provider.
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