Something for those thinking about the DROID to chew on...

[n0cturne74]

Good post. I had used WinMo "smart phones" before moving to the Droid and Android OS and have realized that the term "smartphone" is widely over used. The Droid is truly the first phone I can honestly say is smart. It's scary smart. I'm teaching it to get me a beer atm.

 

[s-one]

Besides being one ugly a** phone plus a few quirks the Droid does outdo my Blackberries.

 

[zegolf]

I think the whole "integrate your life with google" point is probably one of the most important things to take away from this post. This is a GOOGLE phone, which means the more stock you have in google and their software, the more you're probably going to take away from this phone. I was impressed simply by the fact that I had to do nothing more than sign in on this phone and my contacts, email, IM and picasa features were ready to go. The phone took care of me. I didn't have to make any adjustments, or sign up for a new email account, or use some new IM client (BBM) to communicate now. Everything was where I needed it to be.

 

[zegolf]

Besides being one ugly a** phone plus a few quirks the Droid does outdo my Blackberries.

I disagree. I think, too often, phones have become more "aesthetically pleasing". Too me, mobile devices have become metrosexual. The droid is rugged, tough, and stands out in a crowd. Walk into a Best Buy and look at their spread of phones. Everything is an iPhone clone. They all have curves, and nice looking builds. Not the Droid. The Droid says, "Hey pal, Don't F with me."

I love it.

 

[LordKastle]

Yet you have bought in to the same illusion. The Droid to you is "aesthetically pleasing" while other phones are not. It's all a lie to begin with. It comes down to personal preference..not whether the actual device has a true form of beauty.

Either way...you got what you wanted. I got what I wanted..and they have what they wanted.

 

[zegolf]

Yet you have bought in to the same illusion. The Droid to you is "aesthetically pleasing" while other phones are not. It's all a lie to begin with. It comes down to personal preference..not whether the actual device has a true form of beauty.

Either way...you got what you wanted. I got what I wanted..and they have what they wanted.

Haha, yes I can see your point. Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder, right?

 

[Elysian]

To Everyone thinking about buying a DROID....

I thought I would make a post about the adjustment period you WILL have switching to an Android device for the first time. This does not apply for those who are just upgrading their current Android phone to the DROID. Let me start by saying that the DROID is the first Android device I have owned. Prior to this I owned A BB Curve, Storm, and a Palm Pre. The first thing I noticed coming to the DROID was the lack of applications it came with in its stock form (looking back this was mostly because I was only familiar with BB applications and the way they function). I wouldn't say I was underwhelmed by the stock apps more so I was overwhelmed with having to learn how to live in the "google cloud" and try not to miss a beat in my daily life... I had to learn to integrate my life with google. After I adjusted to this, I started getting more and more functionality out of those stock applications and I started REALLY enjoying my phone. This is about when I realized that there literally thousands of apps and widgets in market I could now use to supplement, replace or run alongside my pre installed apps. It was after this that my DROID became great. VZW and MOTO left all the proprietary crap off the phone so we could make ours. Now my phone is ME, it does what I want it to do and everything I ask it to do, it looks like MY phone, it just DOES everything the way I want. This is the best part about Android your phone is completely custom, it is what you make and it will only ever be what you want it to be. So my message is don't get frustrated it will come together and if your phone doesn't do what you need it to its probably because you haven't asked yet! PM me if you need help or just search this forum and you will find lots of great apps and advice from very helpful people. Lastly enjoy your phone it IS the best phone on the market now!

DroidHoff

This is the most intelligent post I have ever seen on this forum, should be sticky'd.

Not until it's broken up into paragraphs to remove the wall of text effect :icon_eek:

 

[JayMonster]

Yet you have bought in to the same illusion. The Droid to you is "aesthetically pleasing" while other phones are not. It's all a lie to begin with. It comes down to personal preference..not whether the actual device has a true form of beauty.

Either way...you got what you wanted. I got what I wanted..and they have what they wanted.

You are of course correct in that it is an illusion and that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." but it also seems quite unfair that at least through most review sites, the Droid is automatically marked down for not be "iPhone-ish" enough, by (supposedly) *unbiased* sites and reviewers and people who say things like the phone is "ugly as hell." I don't particularly like the iPhone or even the Droid-Eris look all that much, but I wouldn't call them ugly... but for some reason that has become the big knock on the Droid.

As to the original point of this thread, I can't help but wonder if it isn't really a bit backwards. It is not really that the Droid has that steep a learning curve, so much as people such as Blackberry owners have a lot of "unlearning" to do.

Every system has its quirks that people adjust to and even come to like (because it is what they know) and expect every system to work the same way and push back against anything that doesn't work in that fashion. So really it isn't (as I see it) a need to learn, so much as it is a need to try and avoid preconceived notions of "it supposed to work this way because that is how it works on XYZ phone"

And I am not trying to pick on Blackberry owners, this certainly applies to iPhone and Pre users as well. It would have applied to WinMo users (and perhaps may for a dwindling few) if the OS wasn't so outdated and difficult to use that people are actually looking forward to seeing a different way of doing things. (that is of course what finally broke me away from WinMo after using it since 2002).

 

[aaf709]

nice post OP. well put. summed up my learning curve.

Same here. I came from a Voyager and realized there would be a learning curve. I also knew that a brand new system may still have some bugs.

 

[LordKastle]

Beauty may be in the "eye of the beholder" but I am not ready to, or rather, I do not have the knowledge to disprove the claim that each of these devices have some form of the essence of beauty in them...there is something underlying in each that one could begin to perceive the essence of beauty. So while the perception may be in the eye of the beholder, I am not ready to claim that it is simply that alone which distinguishes it.

 

[destrekor]

Personally I feel the exact same way. I started noticing the things I could do in a day or two, spent so much time just playing around with it after purchasing it.

I came from a Windows Mobile phone (Omnia), and even after countless custom ROM flashes and other non-standard apps and whatnot, I felt I had maxed the capability of the device in terms of what I wanted from it. The Droid, on the other hand, like all the PS3 developers say, I think I've only gotten to maybe 20% of what this phone is capable of.

While Windows Mobile and Black Berry are indeed initially better focused for Business purposes, and offer a great deal of power in that department, I do think Android is quite capable of matching up to that, but it will take the third party developers a little time to really wring out that functionality in such a easy to use manner. A lot of it, as was said, is adjusting to the cloud-style approach that Google has. I've become quite accustomed to it as I've been using many google services for awhile now, and so I can feel this phone will completely integrate into all aspects of my life in short time, right now it's well on its way.

 

[luckmylife]

Thanks ahead of time for this post! I am a current BB user and will be getting my droid on the 30th! Im excited and scared all at once...

 

[johnflo88]

Thanks ahead of time for this post! I am a current BB user and will be getting my droid on the 30th! Im excited and scared all at once...

Hi that's the beauty of it. ANTICIPATION!!! I am happy for you.:icon_ banana:

 

[JessiesGirl]

Thanks ahead of time for this post! I am a current BB user and will be getting my droid on the 30th! Im excited and scared all at once...

That's how I felt the first day, too. I came from a dumbphone but have had BB's in the past.

And I am not what one would call a techie.

But I've got this phone figured out well enough to use it well already (4 whole days now!) and I'm sure I will keep learning new ways to make it even better. :icon_ banana:

 

[Martin030908]

first, "Beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder":beer2:

having come from BB myself, the Storm be specific, I would have to agree that there is a bit of 'un-learning' as was mentioned. Certain habits, necessities with BB aren't needed with an Android device (batt pulls for starters ) Also I believe that a lot of the concern some people have regarding permissions for applications and what part of the phone they can access stems from past BB users who have had it drilled into our heads that permissions are security risks.

and.... the BB button on BB devices. It is the one button that controls everything.... Android devices vary and one button doesn't hold all controls.... just a change you gotta get used to initially.