The day my G1 arrived in the mail, I discovered that it was useless without activation and that I needed a data plan to activate it. Now that I’m fulfilling all my mobile networking needs over WiFi and enjoying all the plain-old-phone features, I thought I’d share my experience.
This Should Not Be Possible
The issue is complicated by contradictory myths from a few high-profile sources. Most notably, T-Mobile asserts that the G1 would not be functional without their G1 data plan. According to representatives, even an activated phone would stop working the moment the data service is disabled.
Let’s think about this logically. What if one takes the phone on a plane or into the subway system where radio connectivity is nonexistent or limited? Since smartphones also serve PDA-like functions, it would upset most users if their phones became nonfunctional during their commute. Still, many people believe the implausible claims of the company who’s trying really hard to sell their value-added services.