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Bottom line, unless you are rich and can afford the latest and greatest, then get real. I love Android but those phones will be a dime a dozen to maybe its prudent to wait to see what manifests. Besides, the Droid is 70's ugly. The thumb pad looks like an Intellevision controller.
I'm 44years and I get a kick how life revolves around facebook or twitter "demands". And I get a kick how the author has 5000 contacts he must suck into a new phone.
I'm with you, he is ready to switch phone and has never tried one.
Therefore, he is getting rid of a great phone.
of course i could be wrong..
I'm sorry, but as great as I thought the iPhone would be, I didn't understand it till I had it in my hands. Bottom line, I've heard this before with the Pre, Android, Storm and countless others. I'll believe it when I see it and when it's in my hands. My boss did the same thing and switched from his iPhone to the Storm and regrets it every time he uses it.. ESPECIALLY since they've practically forgotten the device and moved on (something Apple hasn't done with any version of the iPhone).
Also, to make an article saying it's going to finally "bury the iPhone" and then in the next paragraph say the iPhone will still be around just fine because it has a lot of traction, is contradictory and makes it sound like you're very anti-Apple and not being a very neutral positioned journalist. IE: It sounds just the same as the Pre and Storm fanboys at their respective launches... that have since been quieted with the iPhone still on top of the pack.
Wake me up when you have hands on proof or when something better comes along.
Is the iPhone perfect? No, especially for those who only care about email (which is the only reason Blackberry exists). AT&T isn't bad, any more than anyone else. In my area (SF Bay Area) I am constantly in places where AT&T has MUCH better reception than Verizon (Sprint and others don't qualify for the conversation, their service stink so badly).
Customer service? AT&T is as crappy as EVERYONE else. I dumped Verizon because their customer service was so freaking horrible. None of the big companies care about us, this should not be a surprise.
File this review in the "whatever" bucket. Dumping your iPhone a month before it comes out? Smart move. Although, you sound like an email only guy anyway. Apple isn't targeting you, for good reason.
batman22, the Palm Pre? He didn't write a comparison because none was necessary. What need is a comparison for the biggest flop of the 21st century thus far? Talk about all hype and no substance. Storm users are glad the Pre came along so they had something to make fun of...
Their customer service issues are now history,the company has revived its reputation greatly, JD Power numbers prove this and those that bring it up just do so for the sake of false argumentation.
ATT service is horrendous, worse than any other carrier, but here you are supporting the carrier just because it carries a great phone.
Theres something wrong in that line of logic, figure it out, we all have before you.
In any event, I question the wisdom of hyping something that isn't yet released. "The check is in the mail..." and all that. When I see an unbiased, side-by-side comparison, then I will listen. This article sounded more like an advertisement to me.
And yes, I do own an iPhone. I'm also in my 40's (wrong generation I guess!), and my spouse in in her 50's (even more wrong.) We both like them. Quite a bit. I'm an IT professional, have been for 20-odd years, and I find my iPhone to be a very useful tool. Email works fine, as does ssh for quick logins to servers, and I web browse on it all day. On top of that, I'm legally blind and find the iPhone's support for my needs exceptional. I can use the thing without looking at it, thanks to the VoiceOver in OS 3.x and the 3GS.
I would need something compelling to make me switch,and a keyboard isn't it.
This trend hasn't, to my knowledge, hit the NYT yet, however.
"That’s significance because Verizon"
"the Droid is vastly better interface"
"and description, and you’re click, you’re done."
"I haven’t seen the phone, but I’ve talked with someone who has worked directly with it"
I wish I could write about up and coming electronics like it's Jesus' second coming, get paid for it, and not even proof read it.
How is it working for Verizon? Maybe you should actually test the phone before giving a biased review without any credibility. If you do not like the iphone or ATT then you should have cancelled instead of running around with two phones. I would not be Stup** enough to get a carrier that does not work in my area.
I am hopeful the Droid improves on the current state of mobile devices, but I'll wait to see what the product is actually like before I start chucking Iphones and Blackberries in the trash.
Funny that most of the complaints are not based on the iPhone, but the AT&T service, which Apple will almost certainly branch out to other providers in 2010.
Please do switch to the DROID phone, and while your at it, buy a Zune and an HD-DVD player.
The customization of the interface and OS that some complain about are a bonus to me. If I get a new iPhone, I don't have to take an hour to re-learn where the stuff is. I'm instantly on my way.
I hope your excitement for the droid matches the reality for you.
"I haven’t seen the phone, but I’ve talked with someone who has worked directly with it."
Wow...just WOW.
Apple is clearly a monopoly in this situation. But that's ok by me. We are just talking about a phone here.
And I wouldn't get rid of the iPhone just yet. There's been hype about other phones that turned out to be crap.
For what it's worth, I saw an early version of the phone in which this article was about and the UI was slooowwww. Apparently the graphics drivers weren't "working yet" so there was no hardware acceleration of the UI (which makes sense at this stage in the development cycle). The fact that this is made by Motorola would be scaring me, if I was betting my life on it.
I hope you have better luck on the other network with the new phone and suspect I'll be erroneously labeled an iPhone fanboy just for owning one but I must point out that the original Android phones were also supposed to be iPhone killers. This new one will attract some techies and those that think Apple can do no right but I doubt much more than that.
Never a dropped call, streaming video is never an issue. Emailing is never a problem.
Not to say that Droid won't be a great phone or that Verizon isn't a great carrier.
But the author comes across like a "Paid Consultant" - He'll have no problem selling is iPhone on Ebay.....hope he was well compensated for his promotional advertisement.
It sure must be good... and it syncs with the Droid!! oh my goodness, I'll definitely drop my iPhone in the toilet and flush it to join the Zune!
You may be right. But really, the only way to know on these phones is to try them.
Hey, I heard from a guy on the bus that beating your head with a hammer is great. Can't wait to try it and recommend it NOW to everybody! What an embarrassing article!
Given the catastrophe the last few weeks with the loss of ALL the information on Microsoft's 'cloud' servers for T-Mobile's sidekick, that resulted in ALL users losing ALL their contacts, emails, etc, it is surprising that anyone would be advocating a solution where all your information is stored remotely on someone else's computers in some distant foreign land, rather than being under your control, in your hand, and backed up on your computer. Android's huge flaw is complete reliance on cloud computing. Until this is resolved, the platform will go nowhere as it is simply not an option for anyone that has confidential information of any sort.
Additionally, this author's decision to drop his iPhone contract for a phone that hasn't even been released, should speak volumes about how much his opinion is worth.
I got a chance to use my brother's G1 and saw the potential for Android, and it may eventually be all you expect it to be.
But, seriously, to have any credibility at all, you have to have actually USED the thing. Also, Verizon's 3G network looks speedy now, but it doesn't have millions of smartphones using it like the AT&T network. That may only last until Android phones get popular.
Let us know when you get your hands on it and use it for a month. I'm curious what it has that compares to iTunes. I'd like to know if it drops 30% of calls like my iPhone. Can it actually handle your 5000 contacts, or is that just speculation on your part? How's the Android app store?
These are questions that matter to users that you only guess at and that's not good enough.
Go Android.
Hit whore.
And don't discount blackberry - I think they will come up with something very revolutionary soon.
Watch out.
I'm not being biased or anything, but tracking the start of the iPhone, then all the other smartphones I realized that Apple came out with the iPhone as "a cool phone, revolutionizing smartphones using Apple technology with iTunes, safari, etc". But everyone else came out with their smartphones 1. based on what the iPhone can do and 2. as an "iPhone killer". Now that, with this article, clearly says that the iPhone is still the leader and that everyone better hurry up to catch the ever updating iPhone OS. It's established because it's built on some of the cornerstones of Apple software, iTunes, Calender, Safari, etc that's always been a part of Apple computers. This is stuff that tons of people have always loved - The Mac OS. There isn't a crazy long history and reputation of Android or some of the other OS out there and even if there is, the reputation clearly hasn't been as cool, reliable, steadfast, innovative, etc as the Mac OS. These are most of the reasons why the iPhone is so so successful. So sure more smartphones trying to 1 up the iPhone will come out and companies may join forces against Apple, but... it's the reputation and the steadfastness of just being reliable, wise and versatile that will keep people buying this iPhone.
To be honest I really wouldn't want any apps working in the background... to me that'll make the smartphone crash more than anything (and drain the battery pretty quick).
one more thing to all blog people out there: it's calendar not calender....
Thought controlled, fastest network ever (ever heard of 5G? No? EXACTLY). Be one of the first to get it. What? no, can't have you try first... but that does not seem to be a problem for you... you just need to believe me. It kills the Droid, hands down! Awesome!
I'll give it a pass, because, I'm not perfect in that area as well.
But secondly, it struck me strange that you gave this thing a glowing review on not ever seeing or using it, but relying on friends of friends for the review. If this thing is not even out now, one would assume that the only people that have these devices are with Moto, or big red, so it seems a little partisan to me of the review.
Look, I love my 1st gen iphone, because it does everything I want it to do..., except be a phone.
AT&T has to be the worst carrier i have ever seen.., even rural Alltel had better reception than AT&T!
My contract was up last month with AT&T, and I dumped them like TLC dumped Jon, of Jon & Kate + 8. Strangely enough, I got a call from AT&T asking essentially why I was no longer with them, and I said there service sucked (in so many words) and their reply was maybe it was the phone I was using, and I might want to upgrade (3Gs) or switch phone brand. I thought this a bit odd, but replied back, I have switched.., I went with another vendor that uses the Verizon network, and gives me a better price. Straight Talk trac phone from (of all places) Walmart. http://www.straighttalk.com/
No contract..., $45 includes unlimited everything, and nation wide service.
My iphone, has now become a itouch. Maybe when Apple finally decides that all the bad press that AT&T is bringing down on them, they will reach out to other carriers.
Sorry Apple..., love ya, but hate AT&T worse. Throw them overboard before they capsize the ship.
Don't get me wrong. I don't care much about whether this or that phone is "best." I think having a lot of different phones which are or could be "best" is a good thing. And that's why I think this post is odd. Because the author disagrees with that.
It will be interesting to see if Verizon opens up their walled garden, because they haven't in the past on any of their phones.
And make sure you read those T&C about what you're allowed to do on the Verizon network. Our company used Verizon in the past, but they TURNED OFF some of our phones for excessive data usage. Really. They turned off our account (to their credit, they didn't charge us an early termination fee).
As a mobile expert, I would NEVER review a phone, until I had my hands on it- I have tested numerous HTC devices, and Samsung and iPhone/ and Blackberry.....
Apparently, much like John Stewart's Daily Show acknowledged, he must have got it from CNN's fact checking of SNL....., and as CNN's anchors always say... (always) "we'll leave it there!"
The picture & some of the stuff appears to be sourced from:
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/16/andro...
Another thing about your statement:
"Android,” the name given by Google to its mobile phone operating system that it has licensed to manufacturers and carriers to use"
Really, Google licenses the Android OS? Whatever hapenned to Open Handset Alliance? See, http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/
Makes me think of the 1984 video of Apple against Big Brother (IBM)
http://bit.ly/5rILn
...but I will say that paying for new apps is up to each particular company. As with any platform switch, you'll usually have to pay again -- unless you're talking about an ongoing service or a web-based app, of course. Whether or not you can play your music [from/(via?)] iTunes is a matter of Apple's hellish bureaucracy and dictatorial clench. Assuming your songs are in mp3 form, you should have them backed up (i.e. backed up on multiple sources: drives and DVDs, given the importance/cost), and you'd then merely load them on to Droid as you would any device or mp3 player. Or you could use an online service for storage or music streaming.
Android gives developers the freedom to cater to an open market.
It's nice.
If a person is into only having access to whatever Apple deems available, by all means, he or she should stick with Apple. But in 2 to 3 years, Android's market will surpass iPhone's market. Indeed, the apps you want will exist -- and more so -- soon, if they don't already. Software, hardware, and developers flourish most in an open market.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of the iPhone, I'm talking about the real alternatives on the market - head to HTC's website, even their most basic model is stunning compared to this thing.
No need to cover ground that's already been covered by anyone with half an ounce of sense in the comments right here, but the more market share Android gains, the better the world gets for everyone. Even iPhone users and die hard, long suffering WinMob fans like me.
You really are a sucker aren't you.
my service is alot better than AT&T and best of all, i watch sportscenter and PTI on my commute in the morning. try that on an iphone ..
The Droid is THICKER... and HEAVIER.
The flat keyboard is useless. And the keys are packed right next to each other.
What good is a keyboad that you can't feel????
1. no solid backup solutions - sure your mail, calendar and contacts can sync, but if you lose your phone and need to restore, plan on some hours and never getting quite back to where you were
2. no v-card (.vcf) contact file handling - this is common in the business world. Blackberry has been doing this for years, is it that hard?
3. No .ics file handling - get a meeting invite from a Blackberry or some calendar clients in this standard, can't even open it (pretty stupid).
4. You have to have an app just to kill other apps, tons of apps stay open, no way to close them upon exiting like on the Blackberry Storm. Ends up eating memory and killing performance and battery. My battery drains faster than my iPhones, and I thought the iPhone's was terrible. You have to baby this thing to nurse more battery life out of it.
5. Crappy apps, lots are not compatible with the Droid. Few are solid.
6. No media management - as a working professional, the last thing I have is time to mess with loading media. Apple makes it way too easy.
7. No auto-text - I need a dictionary I can edit for often used words and phrases (I couldn't do this on my iPhone but could on my Storm II, is this that difficult to implement?), shortcuts for auto-correcting into words or phrases often used.
8. Contact scrolling is lame, I can't jump to a letter section. More steps involved to search and find a contact. Slower than iPhone in so doing.
This is a frustrating experience for me. I've had quite a few smart phones for almost a decade now, from the old Nokia bricks to the original Blackberry, to the Moto Q and other WinMo devices and now this - though this is my first Android phone because I've read about such issues, I thought now would be the time to try on 2.0. Boy, was I mistaken. I am actually thinking of going back to AT&T after eating the ETF's! Ah! And their coverage is just so terrible. Or go back to a frustratingly slow and proprietary experience on the Blackberry Storm II. Sigh. Not sure what to do. I had high hopes for the Droid.
Collation of info about droid release today: http://bit.ly/did-droid-conquered-USA-today
Hope Droid will serve as a hand of midas to Verizon Corp. Soweet
http://www.guysfromqueens.com/?p=765