I spent the Thanksgiving holiday watching my dad play around with his new Droid. To my surprise, he was kind enough to let my try it out while he slept off Thanksgiving goodness. In short, it is Way Ugly, Blazing Fast, and ** Surprisingly Fun**. It won’t dethrone the iPhone, but I think Google is onto something if they can fix a few shortcomings.
Way Ugly
The aesthetics of the physical device and the OS itself was quite disappointing. It is a big rectangle, and rectangles went out with Zach Morris. It is on the large side, heavy, and gets fairly hot. Even though it brags about a QWERTY keyboard, I bet you won’t use it, I didn’t. The buttons are in cumbersome locations, and it is easy to accidentally hit one while doing other tasks (like swinging a Schwartz Saber). These are all minor, but compared to the iPhone they are big differences.
As for the software, there seems to be very little unifying UI traits, unlike the iPhone. Every app looks, feels, and behaves differently. And since it is open to everyone to build on, I don’t see this changing. It is definitely a step backward in UI design, whereas Apple is the opposite.
Blazing fast
My dad told me the Droid was faster than his laptop at browsing the internet. I laughed. Then I actually played with the Droid and realized he wasn’t that far off (his laptop is pretty old anyways). Verizon’s 3G is fast and ubiquitous (unlike AT&T;). Not to mention the Droid hardware performs very well. After a few hours of perusing, I realized slowness wasn’t an issue, especially compared to my BlackBerry. Even though the iPhone slightly out performs it, I have no doubt Android phones will continue to push the envelop on speed.
Surprisingly Fun
The overall experience was good with the Droid, even though the aesthetics were lacking. It had all the functionality I would need, plus a lot more. The device is easy to use, which is a big plus (my dad hasn’t asked me once how to do something).
Let’s not forget the Android platform. I didn’t have to pay a dime (unlike iPhone) to create an app that I could sell on the Android market, without the pain of going through the iPhone Apps process. This is an awesome plus for the techie world.
Would I buy the Droid if I needed a phone? Absolutely. I have a BlackBerry which works great for email, but lacks fun. Also, I am not an Apple fanboy (I have a Zune HD), so I would get it over the iPhone too.
The bottom line?
Microsoft should be scared. They need something huge with Windows Mobile 7, otherwise they will end up being last in the mobile device market. The Droid could easily surpass any Windows Mobile device I have ever seen.
BlackBerry’s still meets the business users needs best, but I think this will slowly erode unless they improve the web experience and build a better/easier platform to develop on.
iPhone has nothing to worry about for now. If they just keep innovating, the Android won’t pass them unless Google gets serious about its mobile involvement. Their only concern should be AT&T; and will their network support future innovation.