I’m a Droid. Why I passed on the iPhone.
By woozy | February 18th, 2010 at 9:54am
It’s been 2 years since I ditched my Palm Treo and opened the box to my new Nokia N95. I must say the N95 served me very well in my travels. My international travels, in fact, were the reason I chose it over the iphone. The ability to swap a sim card was a must and the N95 was already a popular and proven device in Europe among other countries. Even as the iPhone rapidly grew in popularity with so many cool apps somehow I was only slightly envious (mostly of the touch screen and browser). I found the iPhone still did not do a lot of things the N95 could (or at least well). iPhone was still was far behind in its hardware and utilizing more advance tech like great streaming apps like Slingbox, Qik, Kyte, Flixwagon. As a traveler, these apps were my crack that made me a fan of the Symbian OS and my N95. And not just the apps but the hardware. The camera on the N95 embarrasses the iPhone with a Carl Zeiss lens, 5mp, flash, and a button to press to take the shot. It’s standard camera app with a UI and settings similar to that of a point-and-shoot digital camera, pressing the button partially to focus and then fully to take the shot at that instant, the camera’s feature and function was not an afterthought as it is on iPhone and most other mobile phones. The proof obviously is in the shot quality – still and video (and audio). My friends with iphones were always amazed with the pictures and audio/video quality of my recordings. While it’s not totally on par with a good point and shoot, I have on occasion considered leaving my Canon behind when traveling.
A month ago I finally decided it was time to upgrade. My N95 was pretty beaten up now having gone through 11 countries, many drops, moisture (my sweaty jersey pocket!), hard resets, re-installs, and replacement batteries. When the phone started restarting every time it experienced a slight bump (even from opening and closing the slider!) I decided it was time to get a new device. For a techie like myself two years with the same phone was certainly too long. Surely there were devices far more advanced to be had.
I previously passed on the N96, not only because my N95 was still fairly new, but the rumors and promise of the N97 with touchscreen and fill QWERTY had me waiting. But it was with great disappointment to find the much hyped N97 had fallen short in delivering anything significantly better (if better at all) than the N95 to compete with the iphone’s superb multi-touch screen capabilities even with a full keyboard. It seems like yesterday, but it was a year ago at CES when I first handled one under the close supervision at the Nokia booth. While their Ovi app market has grown, it hasn’t really hasn’t gained the developers and momentum I thought it would. It had left me hungry for more.
Once again, I was considering an iphone purchase but didn’t know if I could stand another year on AT&T. Beyond the network I knew there had to be a smarter device out there that could rival the usability Apple is so well known for. Google and it’s Android OS had emerged but the devices were something left to be desired. That is until the Motorola Droid came out.
So you know how this post is supposed to end, so here it is… When I picked up the Droid, I couldn’t get past the amazing 854×480 (WVGA) screen. As a big user of Google services (gmail, maps, gtalk, picasa, voice) I looked forward to the seamless integration of my contacts and data. The fact that I would be back on Verizon was a huge plus despite not being able to swap sim cards for travel. I realized most of my usage this year would be domestic in the US. Verizon is unbelievable better than AT&T when it comes to coverage despite AT&T and Luke Wilson’s best efforts to communicate otherwise. And it’s not just coverage, but availability. Going against the iPhone grain has allowed me network availability at concerts and venues with crowds infested with iPhone users.
While my friend at Google offered no help whatsoever (and certainly did not influence my decision) I took the leap and jumped on the much hyped Motorola Droid. So far, not bad. I say that from a very techie perspective. Using it as a phone actually takes getting used to. The fact that there are no physical buttons to control the phone (other than volume) and makes it a bit frustrating to use. But like other smartphones, you usually don’t buy for its phone function but for everything else it does and is capable of doing. I’m primarily talking about the Android OS. Google, while they always seem to release products forever in beta and therefore very buggy, you can’t deny the juggernaut and the innovation and the fact that they’ll be around for a while. Whereas Apple limits app developers to certain parts of the iPhone OS, Google provides little restrictions for developers of Android apps. This strategy could result in more developers and potentially apps with greater capability. The flipside is there will be a lot of buggy apps to weed through and ones that could potentially crash your phone.
I have accepted the fact that my Droid or any future Android phone I purchase may not work as perfect as an iPhone, but I’m willing to work through minor pains to have the latest tech, innovations, and apps without restrictions of use or service. I like the potential of the Android OS and the growth of their app market. I will certainly be following it closely now that I’m invested. So for now, no iPhone for me. I’m a Droid – at least for 2010.
