This is a general reply to all the geek writers that keep reporting how terrible it is that there are all these different android devices out there for users to try to figure out. This is just writing from your own perspective.
Most users are not going around and trying to figure out all the different ‘Android’ devices. They are not like you. They are not comparing Nexus One with Droid or looking at the differences between 1.5, 2.0, 2.0.1 and 2.1 to make their decision. They are not sampling every possible smartphone on the market, looking at trends, attempting to make sure they are on the ‘best’ platform or device.
I think for most people the search starts with the network provider, then goes from there, especially now that there are ‘options’ on each network.
The Facebook app that came already installed on the Droid / Android 2.0 is simple and would seem to have everything you need. The funny thing is that I find myself using the facebook mobile site available through the browser more.
On the positive side I like the simplicity, always wins with me. In fact when my wife first saw it she blurted out that she wished Facebook on the web could be like that. There seems to be a tight integration with the camera and Gallery application which works nicely. It shows your update stream, friends, photo, profile, notifications, and let’s you take a photos for immediate upload to your profile. For viewing friends status updates it works great. I use groups on the web side so I can filter out my different types of ‘friends’ but this just takes the whole feed of updates together. Updating status is simple.
All my notifications come to my GMail account so now those are popping instantly into my Android GMail app. When I first started to get them I was flipping back over to the Facebook application to find the comment or message and reply to it. It wasn’t easy to find… even using the Notifications tab. I found that clicking on the link itself ending up redirecting me over to Facebook mobile site touch.facebook.com which seemed just as simple and yet have a little better set of features.
One important piece in particular that the stand alone app is sorely missing is my ‘Inbox’ where I can view direct messages friends sent me. Besides that, going from GMail to facebook mobile site was much more seamless and a better overall experience.
May be I will introduce it to people who are getting tired of the cluttered web browser experience, but then they might miss their Mafia Wars.
This is one of the questions I faced when considering the Droid purchase. See my first post on why I bought the Droid. Besides the iPhone allure, the issue around keyboards and which wireless carrier to go with. There was also the possibilities of other Android based phones to consider.
Verizon currently only has two Android based phones the HTC Droid Eris and Motorola Droid. Cellfanatic.com has a good detailed comparison of these two. For me the decision to get the Motorola goes back to the keyboard thing. The HTC was tempting. It feels nice in the hand (more like a phone, less like a device). It also has HTC’s pinch zoom (iPhone-ish) functionality. The other thing about Eris for me that was a hard sell is that it’s only $100 less than the Motorola but spec for spec it seems you get so much more from the later. I expect Verizon will have one or two more Android based phones in 2010… and possibly the famed iPhone.
If you are not tied to a certain network like I am then options abound. I know that Garmin-Asus, Dell, Sony, Kyocera are all planning 2010 new Android based phones on various networks.
Why would I a mac loving techie buy a Droid? Two simple answers… I live rural and I like physical keyboards. Well, it was a lot more painful than that.
Apple has some powerful mojo though. I was almost ready to move over to ATT, even though the coverage is horrible at my house, just to possess the beautiful iPhone. I had been able to ignore the fact that on screen typing wasn’t working for me (big hands? old fashioned?). Then the buzz around the possibility of VZ carrying an Android based phone caught my eye. Early guesses and word of mouth stories indicated that had a keyboard and iPhone like specs == promising. The iDon’t ads and preview reviews came out, cool but… too hyped perhaps? Truth is iDon’t need an iPhone killer, just need a solid device that does what I need. Most early hands on demos were positive but always reserving something for the master the house (iPhone). Starting to think I will just live with a VZ phone and a iPod Touch.
By the time I finally went to my appointment with Best Buy I was pretty sure I was not going to get this lame flush keyboard, camera lagging, app store lacking, so not an iPhone killer wanna be device. There are good iPhone vs Droid comparisons and reviews but I think I was over saturated. Had it just go in to try the thing out. It was my first time using Best Buy for mobile phone stuff and liked working with them. They were low pressure, let me play with it for a long time (mid day no one in there), let me compare with iPhone and the other droid Eris. They also process the rebates without me having to mail anything in. Once I got the Droid in hand and had a chance to play with it, type on the keyboard, carry it in my pocket, compare with iPhone in the hand, Eris in the hand. I decided it would work for me.
So here are the basic reasons for plopping down the cash…
- must have VZ network being rural it just works better out where I am
- needed to upgrade soon, was eligible for my new every two
- flexible platform
- real keyboard
- geek now factor
What changed from when I was walking into the store to making the actual purchase. There are a lot of reviews… probably more now. They all seemed to focus on two things… 1. comparing with iPhone 2. comparing with other android based phones. When I started messing with it I realized that I didn’t have that frame of reference so I wasn’t wishing it would do something like the iphone or that like the HTC or whatever. Actually holding the device and trying it out is what sold me. The interface was really clean and understandable to me. Yes, the device seemed a little heavier than the iphone or htc Eris… but it’s more like a metallic vs plastic heavy, not a I can’t carry this in my pocket heavy. The screen is bright (not as big a sell point as the reviewers made out for me personally). The keyboard worked fine for me. It seem to do everything I would have thought and more. It seemed like a very useful tool full of potential…. perhaps that’s what woke the geek in me.
Unboxing the Droid