Michael Gartenberg
Member
Since it’s introduction, the AT&T logo has reminded many users of the Death Star. Sure, that’s not what it’s supposed to look like but no matter how many times they tweak it, I just see the Death Star. So it was amusing to me when over the weekend the first leaks (or release depending on your point of view) came about Verizon’s latest campaign about a phone called the Droid that’s poised to take on the iPhone.
Full Story: Can a Droid take on the Death Star?
Rattyuk
Member
“They all liked the trackball, they all loved the widgets and they were all iPhone owners!”
I don’t believe you. But, even if I did, doesn’t it make you feel a bit odd that everyone else appeared to be using the iPhone?
Look the droid might be the best things since sliced bread. But at the moment it is a device based solely on hype. Verizon are obviously pissed that they don’t have it which is a little ironic in that they were offered it first but said no. Several million subscribers later the same management is in control and they are clutching at anything to pull back some of the losses.
The question about the droid that needs answering is can Verizon keep out of the way and let the openness of the thing work for it or will they try and control things. The first clue to this will be the app store. Will Verizon allow the droid to connect to the android store or will there be a Verizon run droid store.
If it is the latter then the device is done for and worse than that it will effectively fragment the android value in and of itself. So let’s see what happens when this thing comes out.
KojakWeb
Member
“….doesn’t it make you feel a bit odd that everyone else appeared to be using the iPhone?”
Not at all, the iPhone was released a good 2 years before the HTC Hero came out, and I wouldn’t even begin to deny just how successful the iPhone has been, still is and will continue to be. But, and maybe I didn’t stress this enough, it’s telling that:
a) the only people who asked me about my HTC Hero were iPhone owners, and not owners of feature phones or other smart phones. Read into that what you will, but Apple’s smartphone marketshare is small when compared to the other players, particularly Nokia.
b) they were impressed that my phone could support multitasking/widgets/etc., and they expressed frustation that their iPhones couldn’t do multitasking (save music playback)!
And that’s what struck me as odd, these people weren’t gadget geeks, just ordinary users, and yet they had grown to dislike the limitations of the iPhone. I’m not talking about a huge sample of people here, about 5 people, 4 of which were complete strangers. Whether you believe me or not is neither here nor there, most iPhone reviews have expressed the same sentiments on this issue, particularly on the 3gs. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple were to completely change their UI/OS to support widgets/multitasking. I do believe that the iPhone is a better phone, it’s also a better multimedia device (it supports TV-Out), it offers a better casual gaming experience and has faster performance, and it is the reason why I also own an iPhone (it’s my business phone).
I think you guys are looking at this ad the wrong way.
Anyone would be foolish to try and compete with Apple at its own game, especially at this stage.
I think Verizon is not trying to push the Droid is an iPhone-killer, but rather as an anti-iPhone. That is, focus on the fact that its NOT THE iPHONE more than try to convince Apple fans to switch. Believe it or not, not everyone wants an iPhone.
There’s a more detailed explanation here:
http://www.mopocket.com/2009/1.....rategy.php
Not only can it take it on, the ewoks i mean the droids are slowly winning the battle next year the war.
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SlashGear JP
