I pre-ordered my T-Mobile G1 today. Here's the important new info:

• $179 for new customers and upgrade-eligible customers. ($300 for upgrade-ineligible customers.)
• Pre-ordering doesn't mean paying that money today. It will get put on the first bill after you actually get the Android. This is the "take the phone now and we'll bill you eventually" model, as my friend Ed says, and it's a model I like.
• Data plans at $25 and $35 per month, not counting voice plan. Minimal voice + minimal data = $55. Next lowest voice (my current one) plus minimal data = $65/month, which I'll do.
• It has an Amazon MP3 store app pre-installed, which is awesome because Amazon MP3 is way better priced than the iTunes store, and MP3s are way better than any DRM. I already use Amazon for all my music buying needs.
• Boy scout surprise: it's got a compass.

It was the coolest just to see a major mobile carrier talk about open source in such glowing terms. The mobile industry has always been the most closed, most greedy, and most unfriendly industry I have ever had the displeasure of seeing and working with, so this was a huge breath of fresh air. Apple went a long way, a huge way, towards changing this, pushing AT&T's competitors out of their comfort zone, and raising the bar of quality for everybody.

But, a commitment to open standards and development has been completely absent from the entire iPhone story, a flaw in an otherwise amazing phone and software culture. The G1 not only rectifies this, but brings a phone that is great in its own right, to a different carrier and set of subscribers, with the promise of coming to even more. It's got its own cool ideas, and, most blessedly, gives Apple much needed competition. Apple's iTunes music store vastly legitimized and stabilized the industry for buying music online, and made it a viable alternative to piracy, but it took Amazon's MP3 store to force Apple to offer songs without awful DRM. Apple is a force for good, but it has to be arm-wrestled into being a force for great.

Ultimately, Android will be good for the iPhone, and it will be great for all of us. October 22nd can't come soon enough for me.

Update: Ed rightly suggested I tell you what the T-Mobile rep said to me in the store yesterday. I was told that if I wanted the full discount (which I'm not eligible for), I should call Customer Care and ask them. I replied that I had done just that, and when they asked me how many times, I said "...Once." The lady winked at me, smiled, and said, "Third time's the charm."