It's interesting that for me--and I'm probably not alone--a change in the appearance of the Google.com landing site is a minor event along the lines of seeing a handwritten envelope behind a bunch of junkmail. Today's unveiling (quite literally given Google's new JavaScript fade-in) was the equivalent of getting a card with money in it.

It's been a couple months since I last heard rumors of a G-phone and at the time I had written it off as gossip. Well, the Nexus One is here. Google is selling phones.

FIRST TAKE

After reading the pre-release Engadget review and taking a quick look at the specs and marketing material, this really seems like a misstep to me. It just isn't special enough for the long-speculated foray into hardware by theInternet company. Granted, it's miles ahead than Apple's first phone (do we remember the get-rich-quick abomination, the ROKR?) but while it's good--and better than its competition in many regards--it's still just an incremental step forward in a predictable trajectory that Motorola, Samsung, RIM, etc. have under control. Don't get me wrong, if it had a physical keyboard instead of a somewhat below-par virtual one, it'd be ordered already, but it shouldn't have been Google's big event. How about a service plan paid for by advertising? Or a new design to focus on browser maximization?

Needing something special for an initial release isn't the only reason I think that Google may have erred. What happens now with the Open Handset Alliance? When Android was released, it was presented like a gift unto the world. That is, after all, what most of Google's services feel like ("here, have free email, have a decent web browser, have a search engine, have some maps and a calendar...it's all good software that you can use as long as you put up with these ads we'll conspicuously place on the sidelines"). By giving away an open source, cross-platform operating system, Android not only makes things better for manufacturers, software developers, and users, it also standardizes compatibility with Google's applications and brings more people towards the little ads. Doesn't getting in the ring and competing with those it gave Android to seem to run contrary to those initial intentions? Also, Google is just now starting to be the target of public murmurings of Big Brotherness. Control of the Internet, the software used to access it, AND the hardware housing the software could even make a Googroupie like me uncomfortable.

SECOND TAKE:

But LO! I see now that the event isn't the Nexus One. The event is a revolution in the cell phone marketplace!

Google doesn't seem to have been any more involved in the development of this device than it has been in past Android endeavors (the G1 in particular). It's manufactured by HTC, just like the G1 and several other Android-based phones. The big difference is where and how it's sold. Google.com/phone should really have a more prominent link to the post on its Official Blog titled "Our new approach to buying a mobile phone."

The first phone.

Cell phone carriers would like to lock you into phones and contracts and create a giant cost to exit. By selling an unlocked phone (as unlocked as possible at the moment) while simultaneously lobbying for greater FTC and FCC protections for openness and creating an alternative market through which to buy the hardware, you place the power in the hands of the consumers in the same (exact) way you can pull up and compare plane tickets, APRs, and car rental rates.
(Sidebar: Maybe if phone carriers were run by Steve Jobs, honed their cutsy and colorful design aesthetic, and ran condescending ad campaigns that portray anyone who likes Google as stupid and less attractive they would be able to somehow convince THEIR customers to welcome higher prices and tethering technologies....oh nevermind).

So Google gets points for using its brawn to muscle power away from carriers and into the hands of users. ...and Nexus One is a pretty good phone. That's my take anyway.