First, thank you to Verizon for giving several of us in the Twin Cities loaner Droids Wednesday through Monday.
Second, I’ve been tweeting periodically about my Droid experience, and wanted to share a more synthetic view. This is not a feature-by-feature review of Droid, nor a feature-by-feature comparison with iPhone. If you want that type of review, there have been several good ones over the past few days, in ZDNet and BoyGeniusReport among others.
So here’s my non-technical take on iPhone and Droid:
iPhone The iPhone is one of the technological and stylistic marvels of my lifetime. Apple is rightly respected as having moved mobile forward significantly, instantly elevating the smartphone experience (especially in the U.S.).
iPhone is an ideal platform for those who want an easy-to-use, elegant smartphone with a vast number of Apps to choose from. The iPhone is the Lamborghini of mobile devices, hands-down. I enthusiastically recommend the iPhone to designers, artists, architects and anyone who appreciate a beautiful and well-behaved product. It’s also the obvious choice for anyone who owns an iPod and a Mac. Apple’s closed platform philosophy supports a gorgeous look-and-feel that requires complete corporate control. You’ll never get anything else - but you’ll love what you (consistently) get.
Droid If the iPhone is the Lamborghini of smartphones, Droid is the muscle car, ready to be modded by professionals and enthusiasts. And “muscle” is the right adjective: Droid runs significantly faster than iPhone: in several informal loading “acidtests” Droid loaded the same image set in 8 seconds compared to 18 seconds for the iPhone. (Motorola missed badly on Droid’s memory, but I hope this will be addressed in the near future.)
Droid’s operating system, Google’s Android, is free and open. It is already being used on devices as diverse as set-top boxes and netbooks. (Within a year it will probably be used in cars and refrigerators.)
Because the Android ecosystem is open, like a Mustang in Carroll Shelby’s hands, Droid is just waiting to be souped-up. Without the equivalent of the Apple App Store benevolent-dictator, 1,000 flowers will bloom. (And of course in an open system, quite a few will be ragweeds.)
Droid is a Swiss Army Knife smartphone in function, look and feel. It’s dense, and although the corners were slightly rounded after a very sharp-corner initial design, it’s still angular. My iPhone nestles adorably in a Paul Frank SockMonkey skin; if I put Droid in a HelloKitty skin, it would figure out a way to mod itself overnight and electrocute me in the morning.
I recommend Droid to anyone who wants a full-featured, powerful smartphone with advanced features including multi-touch (up to three touches tracked on screen simultaneously), rugged email and contact support, multiple online account support, searchable messages, turn-by-turn (free) navigation and softkey support.
In summary: Want a beautiful and solid Lamborghini showhorse? Buy an iPhone. Want a workhorse Mustang that can be turned into a GT500 Super Snake? Buy a Droid.
You’ll be lucky and happy to have either one.
