"No. We won't sell it. We're out of the range and the Google and things that the phone comes with, they won't work on it. ... The G1 won't work. It won't do the Google here. So we aren't allowed to sell it."

This is, of course, stupid. Gaiman lives in Wisconsin, near the border with Minnesota. According to T-Mobile's coverage map, he's in an EDGE area rather than a 3G area.

The G1 will surf the Web more slowly in western Wisconsin than it will in, say, Minneapolis, which has the speedy 3G network. But it'll work - "the Google" will work just fine in any T-Mobile coverage area, not to mention in your Wi-fi hotspot at home.

I called a more intelligent local retailer, at the Mobile Solution in Eau Claire, WI (715-831-4044 - stop by, they're not idiots!), and he explained: because they're selling the G1 so quickly and have a limited supply, T-Mobile has only sent it to retail stores in 3G cities for now. That's a far cry from "it won't do the Google."

Right now, it looks like if you're in an EDGE market, your best bet is to order the phone online - which alas doesn't help Gaiman, who wanted some hands-on time.

Updated: Of course, you don't have to live out in the sticks to have trouble with this policy. T-Mobile fans in the Washington, DC area are also finding their stores G1-less because they're unlucky enough to live in a 2G city, the Washington Post reports. But oddly, according to the Post, DCers are in a reverse situation to folks in Wisconsin - they can play with the phones, but not buy them.