Pogue on "App Phone" Droid: Toss up vs. iPhone

Seth Weintraub
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November 06, 2009
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A couple of points to note:

  • AT&T's poor network is really killing the iPhone's popularity and Pogue points this out.  As someone frequently in NYC, the iPhone is useless as a phone here.   I know many people who have an iPhone and still need to use a Verizon phone for phone calls.  The Droid will be tempting to them.  I've had similar experiences in SF.
  • The Droid OS/apps are way less polished than the iPhone's.  While it isn't getting a lot of airtime, I think this is akin to Windows vs. Mac.  To many people, this won't matter. The Droid is definitely a techie phone.  Everything from the name to the feature-set is for techies.  Most people who've played with it so far are techie/journalists (like Pogue).  It will be interesting to see what everyday smartphone users think.
  • Those docks are pretty cool but not a technology breakthrough.  Apple should allow docks to communicate with the OS so that Belkin can create a $20 car dock and nightstand dock.  OS 3.2?
  • Not a fan of "App Phone"

Jim Goldman, below, is much more in favor of the iPhone.

Comments (8)

LD (not verified) | November 06, 2009 - 8:59am

Really?  The iPhone was innovative, the first of its kind.  Droid is just another Android phone.  And Android itself isn't innovative.  It's a Linux OS for a phone, which isn't new.  And it has only been trying to play catchup to iPhone in terms of quality and features.

Phone makers aren't being innovative, they are simply continuing the trend of making generic hardware.  There's not even anything innovative about the Droid hardware (or any Android phone).  Then they slap an iterative OS on it.  At the very best it's evolutionary, but I wouldn't even call it that.

Cancer (not verified) | November 06, 2009 - 9:02am

....too bad the carrier sucks.

Vaganza (not verified) | November 06, 2009 - 9:06am

The caption in the video feed says, "Droid $200/yr with 2 yr contract"  I hate when the media gets stuff like that wrong.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | November 06, 2009 - 9:17am

I never have any dropped calls, But then I work with in 1 mile of the FCC building and live near the FCC commissioner.

9to5Mac Knob (not verified) | November 06, 2009 - 11:54am

I can vouch for the 2nd verizon phone to make calls. I do it. It's pretty much a must where I live and work. At the moment I'm trying to figure out how I can get google voice to help me with that set up. I really need the second phone have a google voice app to make it work though. 

Zennmaster (not verified) | November 07, 2009 - 1:10pm

I regularly go into NYC and SF and never have any problems making or receiving calls on my iphone. I have much more difficulty on my farm in Massachusetts where Verizon does not fair much better.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | November 07, 2009 - 3:43pm

What the hell is an "iPhone Killer?" Anybody ever seen one? Seems to be another worthless catch-phrase being run into the ground. Have a nice day.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | November 07, 2009 - 4:42pm

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