Motorola Droid vs. Apple’s iPhone
There has been a lot of hype around the Motorola Droid (release date October 30th, yay!), which I think is well-deserved. A lot of people, myself included, have been waiting for an Android phone on Verizon’s network since HTC came out with the G1 on T-Mobile. But with all the hype has come the inevitable comparison of the Droid and the iPhone.
I can only speak for myself here, but really, the comparisons are a waste of time. I’m surrounded by Apple supporters who continually attempt to convince me of the merits of the iPhone versus other phones. What most seem to not understand is that it doesn’t matter. The iPhone can win on the fronts of aesthetics, user experience, hardware performance, application availability, whatever – it is still a closed device backed by anti-competitive Apple on a pretty poor AT&T network. So save your arguments, I don’t care which phone you believe to be better because of whichever features you choose to flaunt. The fact is that my buying another phone is not a loss of a sale for Apple, because I was never an Apple customer to start with.
The same goes for the Droid advertisements, too. They don’t do anything for me. I want the Droid to deliver functionality that I want, and it doesn’t matter how it relates to the iPhone, because I don’t care about the iPhone. Instead of showcasing the many features that the Droid will have that are lacking in the iPhone, I want an ad that says “It is a great phone with substance, it is on the excellent Verizon network, it runs the open Android mobile OS, and it is produced by the proven mobile handset manufacturer Motorola.” We all know the iPhone exists and that it is the phone the Droid will be compared against – but why stoke the fires? Let the Droid speak for itself as the best option for those who aren’t interested in the iPhone.
There are lots of reasons to consider the Droid. Insisting it is better than the iPhone isn’t one of them.
And a note to anyone commenting: this is not an admission that the iPhone is better, nor the the Droid is superior, regardless of my own thoughts. Also, I will disclose that I am highly looking forward to this phone and plan on purchasing it very soon after its release.
Oct 19th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
This past winter I decided to join the herd and get an iphone. I signed up on the Apple site, headed to the Southcenter Apple to store to pick it up, but when I got there they couldn’t sell it to me because “the network was down.” I took this as a sign, obviously! I’m sticking with my Verizon Blackberry until the Droid arrives. It’s my destiny. Good post.
Oct 20th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I would temper your excitement… As much as I would love some real competition in the cell phone market, it is hard to ignore Verizon and Motorola individual abilities to completely screw up anything they touch. With those powers combined? I fully expect this device to be a disaster.
Oct 21st, 2009 at 8:37 am
@grahams really? I’ve had a Motorola Q for about three years now with Verizon as my carrier, and haven’t had a problem with either of them. If you mean in terms of marketing, however – yeah, I can see them messing it up.
@Narndt See you at the Verizon store :P
Oct 21st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
http://xkcd.com/662/
Dec 14th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Oh, oops, I violated one of your email rules and posted a link without explaining why it’s worth clicking on. It’s (sort of) relevant to your post and it’s humorous. Maybe you should make an addendum to your email/twitter post for blogging rules, I’d like your input on what I’m possibly doing wrong in that arena as well :)
Dec 14th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Robert! I like the blog, man. Emilie mentioned you were blogging, so I directed my trusty firefox to seek you out. I hope you had wonderful holidays, and love the opinion on the Droid. I’ve been lusting after one since I saw Motorola was developing something for the Android OS. Not that I have the computer prowess to do any of my own programming, but I just want to stick it to the Apple and Windows hordes. Get my number from Em. We should hang.
Jan 2nd, 2010 at 7:09 pm