The New Droid Phone
- Thread starter Lawrence
- Start date
dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
Have had it for two weeks now. Reasons.....hmmm..... love the iphone concept but many say the network sucked so I wouldn't bite. They're touting this as the iphone killer.....we'll see. So far, so good.
Last edited:
dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
I've never had AT&T so I can't compare the two but we've had no problem with the Verizon network. I'll get skinned (again) for saying this but we don't have a dropped call problem. Just compare the maps of the coverage....that says a lot.
When I was buying my Droid, the gentleman beside me had an iphone that he was putting on ebay that afternoon after purchasing a Droid. He said he couldn't even get on I-71 (we were in Fairlawn/Akron area) without dropping calls. I don't know anyone but you that has the iphone so I have nothing to compare those comments to.
As one reviewer put it, it's not an iPhone killer, but it is a killer phone.
The iPhone is about style as much as anything. It's sleek, curvy and shiny and pretty, black and silver and glass. It just looks kewl. The iPhone is sexy, almost feminine. The chocolate brown and gold accented Droid is hard edged, industrial, masculine, a utilitarian favor for utility and usefulness over beauty, tho it's certainly far from ugly.
The iPhone does what it does right out of the box. It has an elegant, intuitive interface (so easy a cave man, or a 4 year old, or your grandmother, can do it). The Droid is open, complicated, insanely customizable, a cave man will be daunted and frustrated by it. Once you learn it, learn what it will do, customize it, then the interface is as elegant and intuitive as you want to make it.
Every iPhone is the same, every Droid is different. You can be a long time iPhone user, pick up someone else's iPhone and you're right at home. A Droid user who picks up someone else's Droid will have a new learning curve, because each Droid can be customized to the point of not being able to recognize what you are looking at, yet still have it work. The interface and everything about it is 100% customizable.
Those who want quick, easy and simple, the iPhone is your C3PO. Those who like to tinker and tweak, make it personal, the Droid is your R2D2.
Those who have a Garmin or some other good GPS will be impressed to a point, but those who have never used a standalone GPS or have only used navigation apps on the iPhone and other smartphones, they'll be blown away by the Google Navigator turn-by-turn directions that come free with the phone. I'm a Garmin geek and after using it for a bit even I'm impressed. The folks at Garmin are beyond thrilled, I'm sure. Fast, accurate mapping and routing, voice turn-by-turn directions, available from within any app that utilizes Google maps, with traffic and Google Earth layers, and then there's the 360 degree street-level photos of most destinations. Did I mention it comes free with the phone? It's free. Dock it to the $30 car dock and no one will know it's not a $500 standalone GPS unit.
One thing Verizon insisted upon was that first and foremost the Droid be a phone, and Motorola came through. It works on the Verizon network without issue and the call clarity is excellent. Some people have reported that they sound slightly muffled to others (as with the iPhone) and some others have reported that those on the other end of the call hear an echo. It's not widespread, but an over-the-air software update coming in about 3 weeks will fix that (as well as other problems like the bizarre quirk with the camera and it's autofocus software). Meanwhile the video camera is eye-popping, just like the Droid's screen which has nearly twice the resolution of the iPhone.
One huge drawback to the Droid, at least until it gets fixed via a software update, is no voice dialing via Bluetooth, which could be a deal-breaker for some. It still has voice dialing, even with a Bluetooth headset connected, you just have to do it through the phone's speakerphone. At least it's a one-button press operation.
As for cell calls, dropped calls, coverage... Verizon probably does have better coverage than AT&T, but AT&T ain't all that bad. In certain cities where the problems are well known, like NYC, San Francisco, Dallas, parts of Chicago, yeah, AT&T has their problems. But out on the road like we do, Verizon and AT&T are likely to have just as many or as few dropped calls as the other.
It's the 3G coverage where Verizon really shines. Those "There's a map for that" ads are telling, where Verizon compares it's 3G coverage map to that of AT&T, and there's no comparison. AT&T sued, saying the ads were misleading. Verizon responded in a brief to the judge saying, essentially, that AT&T is suing because it's the truth and the truth hurts. A judge agreed, saying that while some people may be confused, the ads are not misleading. You can get Verizon 3G coverage in some of the most bizarre places where you'd never expect to get it.
Another big one in the Droid's favor is the multitasking, where you can have many apps open and running in the background, and switch quickly and easily between them. It's great for apps that you run a lot, not having to wait for them to open up each time, and it's also great for when you want to listen to music (MP3's or even Internet radio) at the same time you're texting, surfing the Web, doing e-mail or working on a spreadsheet.
The iPhone wins hands down on style and elegance, ease of use, certainly the sheer number of available apps (100,000 versus 10,000, but the Droid universe is catching up relatively quickly), and it wins in the OS-level implementation of multitouch (Droid has it, but for some reason they didn't implement it at the OS level so that native apps use it, although many 3rd party apps are starting to take advantage of it). The Droid wins in many areas, speed, crisp display, camera and video camera, that physical keyboard that some reviewers hate, but it's awesome once you get the hang of it, the tight integration of all-things Google (unless you're anti-Google), the Verizon network, Google Voice, and the unprecedented level of customization and openness of the phone, not to mention tethering and corporate e-mail Exchange Server support right out of the box.
Again, those who like to tinker will love the Droid, those who just want a phone that will run some apps, it's the iPhone. The iPhone is the safer choice, to be sure. The iPhone meshes perfectly into the whole Apple Macintosh universe, so if your iPod and iTunes is an extension of you, the iPhone is the way to go. The Droid is edgier, more hardcore, better suited to not only the tinkerer but the power smartphone and business user (that would also be happy with a Blackberry) because of that Verizon 3G network coverage. No one is going to recommend that you dump one phone for the other. They're both good, and both have their strengths and weaknesses, neither is hands-down better than the other. It all depends what you want out of a phone. Unless you need a phone that does the things the Droid does and the iPhone doesn't, or unless you need the Verizon network, there's certainly no reason to dump a perfectly good iPhone in favor of a Droid.
For the foreseeable future, there will not be an iPhone killer. You'd have to kill off the fanboys first. There are simply too many people that are too loyal to all things Apple to even for a moment consider something different. To the fanboys, the iPhone was designed to the exacting tastes of Steve Jobs, and anything else is merely pedestrian, barely worth acknowledging, certainly not worthy of any serious consideration. Even if the Droid were better, and in many ways it is, it's not going to cause very many defections from the Apple/Mac/iPod/iPhone universe.
The iPhone is about style as much as anything. It's sleek, curvy and shiny and pretty, black and silver and glass. It just looks kewl. The iPhone is sexy, almost feminine. The chocolate brown and gold accented Droid is hard edged, industrial, masculine, a utilitarian favor for utility and usefulness over beauty, tho it's certainly far from ugly.
The iPhone does what it does right out of the box. It has an elegant, intuitive interface (so easy a cave man, or a 4 year old, or your grandmother, can do it). The Droid is open, complicated, insanely customizable, a cave man will be daunted and frustrated by it. Once you learn it, learn what it will do, customize it, then the interface is as elegant and intuitive as you want to make it.
Every iPhone is the same, every Droid is different. You can be a long time iPhone user, pick up someone else's iPhone and you're right at home. A Droid user who picks up someone else's Droid will have a new learning curve, because each Droid can be customized to the point of not being able to recognize what you are looking at, yet still have it work. The interface and everything about it is 100% customizable.
Those who want quick, easy and simple, the iPhone is your C3PO. Those who like to tinker and tweak, make it personal, the Droid is your R2D2.
Those who have a Garmin or some other good GPS will be impressed to a point, but those who have never used a standalone GPS or have only used navigation apps on the iPhone and other smartphones, they'll be blown away by the Google Navigator turn-by-turn directions that come free with the phone. I'm a Garmin geek and after using it for a bit even I'm impressed. The folks at Garmin are beyond thrilled, I'm sure. Fast, accurate mapping and routing, voice turn-by-turn directions, available from within any app that utilizes Google maps, with traffic and Google Earth layers, and then there's the 360 degree street-level photos of most destinations. Did I mention it comes free with the phone? It's free. Dock it to the $30 car dock and no one will know it's not a $500 standalone GPS unit.
One thing Verizon insisted upon was that first and foremost the Droid be a phone, and Motorola came through. It works on the Verizon network without issue and the call clarity is excellent. Some people have reported that they sound slightly muffled to others (as with the iPhone) and some others have reported that those on the other end of the call hear an echo. It's not widespread, but an over-the-air software update coming in about 3 weeks will fix that (as well as other problems like the bizarre quirk with the camera and it's autofocus software). Meanwhile the video camera is eye-popping, just like the Droid's screen which has nearly twice the resolution of the iPhone.
One huge drawback to the Droid, at least until it gets fixed via a software update, is no voice dialing via Bluetooth, which could be a deal-breaker for some. It still has voice dialing, even with a Bluetooth headset connected, you just have to do it through the phone's speakerphone. At least it's a one-button press operation.
As for cell calls, dropped calls, coverage... Verizon probably does have better coverage than AT&T, but AT&T ain't all that bad. In certain cities where the problems are well known, like NYC, San Francisco, Dallas, parts of Chicago, yeah, AT&T has their problems. But out on the road like we do, Verizon and AT&T are likely to have just as many or as few dropped calls as the other.
It's the 3G coverage where Verizon really shines. Those "There's a map for that" ads are telling, where Verizon compares it's 3G coverage map to that of AT&T, and there's no comparison. AT&T sued, saying the ads were misleading. Verizon responded in a brief to the judge saying, essentially, that AT&T is suing because it's the truth and the truth hurts. A judge agreed, saying that while some people may be confused, the ads are not misleading. You can get Verizon 3G coverage in some of the most bizarre places where you'd never expect to get it.
Another big one in the Droid's favor is the multitasking, where you can have many apps open and running in the background, and switch quickly and easily between them. It's great for apps that you run a lot, not having to wait for them to open up each time, and it's also great for when you want to listen to music (MP3's or even Internet radio) at the same time you're texting, surfing the Web, doing e-mail or working on a spreadsheet.
The iPhone wins hands down on style and elegance, ease of use, certainly the sheer number of available apps (100,000 versus 10,000, but the Droid universe is catching up relatively quickly), and it wins in the OS-level implementation of multitouch (Droid has it, but for some reason they didn't implement it at the OS level so that native apps use it, although many 3rd party apps are starting to take advantage of it). The Droid wins in many areas, speed, crisp display, camera and video camera, that physical keyboard that some reviewers hate, but it's awesome once you get the hang of it, the tight integration of all-things Google (unless you're anti-Google), the Verizon network, Google Voice, and the unprecedented level of customization and openness of the phone, not to mention tethering and corporate e-mail Exchange Server support right out of the box.
Again, those who like to tinker will love the Droid, those who just want a phone that will run some apps, it's the iPhone. The iPhone is the safer choice, to be sure. The iPhone meshes perfectly into the whole Apple Macintosh universe, so if your iPod and iTunes is an extension of you, the iPhone is the way to go. The Droid is edgier, more hardcore, better suited to not only the tinkerer but the power smartphone and business user (that would also be happy with a Blackberry) because of that Verizon 3G network coverage. No one is going to recommend that you dump one phone for the other. They're both good, and both have their strengths and weaknesses, neither is hands-down better than the other. It all depends what you want out of a phone. Unless you need a phone that does the things the Droid does and the iPhone doesn't, or unless you need the Verizon network, there's certainly no reason to dump a perfectly good iPhone in favor of a Droid.
For the foreseeable future, there will not be an iPhone killer. You'd have to kill off the fanboys first. There are simply too many people that are too loyal to all things Apple to even for a moment consider something different. To the fanboys, the iPhone was designed to the exacting tastes of Steve Jobs, and anything else is merely pedestrian, barely worth acknowledging, certainly not worthy of any serious consideration. Even if the Droid were better, and in many ways it is, it's not going to cause very many defections from the Apple/Mac/iPod/iPhone universe.
dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
Good review with one falsehood. The droid isn't "chocolate brown", it's black. Leave it to a woman to argue color. 
Dakota
Veteran Expediter
Verizon's coverage is top notch better than most others.
We have been comparing my Wife's Droid's Google GPS to my Garmin and it seems to be pretty accurate, plus all you need to do is say"Panera Bread" into the speaker and all the nearby locations come up. Very cool. I am gonna read the whole manual and if my Wife still likes it by January, I will be getting one
We have been comparing my Wife's Droid's Google GPS to my Garmin and it seems to be pretty accurate, plus all you need to do is say"Panera Bread" into the speaker and all the nearby locations come up. Very cool. I am gonna read the whole manual and if my Wife still likes it by January, I will be getting one
More of a bad phrasing on my part than anything. The accents of the phone are chocolate brown and gold, as opposed to the silver of the iPhone. The Droid itself is licorice black.Good review with one falsehood. The droid isn't "chocolate brown", it's black. Leave it to a woman to argue color.
Last edited:
Jack_Berry
Moderator Emeritus
its not the iphone dropping calls along i-71. it is the at&t service dropping out. we would love to have an iphone if only it worked on our uscellular service. since neither at&t nor verizon can touch our plan we are not changing.
dieseldiva
Veteran Expediter
Well, it's available now (tried it the other night and it works fine). That Web site is a little misleading, sort of (in their defense, it's pretty dаmned confusing - you have to look closely at all the plans, and then at all the available options to figure it out). When they say tethering will cost you $30, that's correct, but they fail to make it really, really clear that the "Must be added to one of the following plans" part means adding that $30 to a plan that's already costing you an additional $30 over and above the regular calling plan of a phone. (Go to Verizon's site and closely look at the plans, and then also go through the motions of changing your current data plan by adding a e-mail and Web data plan to it, you'll see what I mean)
Verizon has the higher cost plans (the e-mail and data plan, called the "Email and Web for Smartphone") that gives you "unlimited" data (which isn't unlimited in the traditional sense, stay with me), plus unlimited e-mail and messaging. Or, you can do a regular calling plan and then add on the $30 "unlimited" data plan. The "unlimited" data plan in either case means unlimited for the 3G phone data, like for downloading apps and all the things they use 3G data for (like news feeds, Youtube videos, stuff like that), and for surfing the Web and doing e-mail using your phone. If you want to use the Corporate Email and sync with MS Exchange Server and Outlook, then you need the extra $15 Sync plan on top of the $30 plan, for an extra $45 total on top of the regular calling plan. Most here won't need that. It's really only for those who need to sync with their office's Exchange Server, for ignore the $15 thing.
This really isn't anything new, as the same addon plans have been in place pretty much since Verizon stated offering smartphones, Palms and Blackberry's. My former phone, a Motorola Razr2 v9m, is a smartphone, and I could have used it to tether as an Aircard, but all the while it's tethered it wouldn't work as a phone.
With the $30 data plan, you really can do tethering just as it is, so log as Verizon doesn't catch on (and they almost certainly will). In either case, Aircard or Droid tethering, it's still a 5GB cap, not unlimited, unlimited. Again, the unlimited is only for phone data, not tethered computer data.
OK, so, before you look at the current $30 (or the $45) and think it's a better deal than the Aircard, keep in mind that the Droid (any Verizon phone, actually) is not the same as a GSM iPhone where you can talk on the phone and use 3G-anything at the same time, 'cause you can't. If you tether the Droid, as long as it's tethered it's not a phone, it's an Aircard. Period. The structure of CDMA is such that you cannot use the phone as a phone and use anything that uses 3G (which is about 85% of all the apps and features of the phone) at the same time. If you are tethered and also have a WiFi connection, then many of the apps and features will work, but not at 3G (National Broadband) speeds, they'll only work at the much slower WiFi speeds (National Access).
If you check out the plans carefully, making sure to read the service agreement, the one for a phone data plans specifically talks about data such as P2P, streaming videos (like Hulu) and lots of other specific applications and operations as being expressly forbidden by the agreement.
So, right now, for that $30 data plan (or one of the bundled Email and Web for Smartphone plans), you can tether and you get the 5GB limit (because the phone is already limited to 5GB per month for data, even though if you go over that, and they can see that you went over it for phone and not computer data, they won't charge you anything for it). But Verizon's Service Agreement specifically disallows the Droid to be used in that manner. That will change sometime next year, where for an additional $30 on top of the Data Plan or the Email and Web for Smartphone bundles (ah, hah!) you can add the 5GB tethering option. In effect, you'll be paying (ta-da) $60 for 5BM of unlimited data, be it phone or computer, just the same as you'd pay for an Aircard.
If you really and truly know what you're doing and are very careful about it, and know for sure that you won't need your phone while tethered, yeah, a tethered Droid can replace an Aircard. Otherwise, you probably don't want to go there. I actually do know what I'm doing, but can clearly see that it's not worth the time and effort, especially since Verizon's computers are set up specially to look for computer-type data being sent and received through a tethered Droid. The risk/reward simply isn't there. For me, at least.
I moved from the Nationwide Plus Canada plan to the $59.95 Basic National Calling plan, which gives me 900 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends and unlimited mobile-to-mobile (which includes my 5 Friends and Family phone numbers which are treated like M2M minutes). I added a $5, 250 message text plan, and added the $30 data plan for the phone. That's $95 a month. That's the most bang for the buck depending on how many text messages you might send. If it's more than 250, then the same 900 minute plan except on the Mobile E-mail and Data bundle (for $110 I think) is a better deal. I kept the Aircard for the computer as a separate $60 per month deal.
If you want National Broadband for the computer, the real-world option is, pay $60 for an Aircard to use with the computer, and then either get a data bundle or pay the extra $30 for a data plan for the Droid and use the Droid as a phone, or, if you want to use just the Droid for both phone and computer data, pay the $30 for the phone data plan, and an additional $30 for tethering (in effect $60 above the voice calling plan itself), but you don't have a phone while tethered. You will get 5GB for the primary data plan, and another 5GB for the tethered plan, for a total of 10GB, so other than not having a phone while tethered, it's actually a pretty good deal, if you choose to go that route.
So, Mr Moot, tethering is not an option at all without some kind of additional data plan above and beyond the regular voice calling plan, but it's available right now with no extra fees (above the normal data plan) if you're careful and don't get caught, or it's available next year with Verizon's blessings with extra fees (above the normal data plan).
I actually went through each and every plan and every combination of available options, and did it from two angles, one as if I were a new customer doing it from scratch, and the other from the point of view of changing my current plan to each of the available plans and options. Then I confirmed all of it with the manager of the Verizon store at home. I can't believe how anal you have to be in order to understand these plans, as some options weren't even available on some plans (the email and Web data plan wasn't an option with the Nationwide Plus Canada plan).
The upside to a part of it is, I was still grandfathered in on the higher New Every Two deal, where I got $100 off the new phone, so the online discount of $100 and the New Every Two discount of $100 means I only had to pay $99 for the phone, instead of $149 or $199. The next New Every Two and I'll only get $50 off the new one, tho.
Verizon has the higher cost plans (the e-mail and data plan, called the "Email and Web for Smartphone") that gives you "unlimited" data (which isn't unlimited in the traditional sense, stay with me), plus unlimited e-mail and messaging. Or, you can do a regular calling plan and then add on the $30 "unlimited" data plan. The "unlimited" data plan in either case means unlimited for the 3G phone data, like for downloading apps and all the things they use 3G data for (like news feeds, Youtube videos, stuff like that), and for surfing the Web and doing e-mail using your phone. If you want to use the Corporate Email and sync with MS Exchange Server and Outlook, then you need the extra $15 Sync plan on top of the $30 plan, for an extra $45 total on top of the regular calling plan. Most here won't need that. It's really only for those who need to sync with their office's Exchange Server, for ignore the $15 thing.
This really isn't anything new, as the same addon plans have been in place pretty much since Verizon stated offering smartphones, Palms and Blackberry's. My former phone, a Motorola Razr2 v9m, is a smartphone, and I could have used it to tether as an Aircard, but all the while it's tethered it wouldn't work as a phone.
With the $30 data plan, you really can do tethering just as it is, so log as Verizon doesn't catch on (and they almost certainly will). In either case, Aircard or Droid tethering, it's still a 5GB cap, not unlimited, unlimited. Again, the unlimited is only for phone data, not tethered computer data.
OK, so, before you look at the current $30 (or the $45) and think it's a better deal than the Aircard, keep in mind that the Droid (any Verizon phone, actually) is not the same as a GSM iPhone where you can talk on the phone and use 3G-anything at the same time, 'cause you can't. If you tether the Droid, as long as it's tethered it's not a phone, it's an Aircard. Period. The structure of CDMA is such that you cannot use the phone as a phone and use anything that uses 3G (which is about 85% of all the apps and features of the phone) at the same time. If you are tethered and also have a WiFi connection, then many of the apps and features will work, but not at 3G (National Broadband) speeds, they'll only work at the much slower WiFi speeds (National Access).
If you check out the plans carefully, making sure to read the service agreement, the one for a phone data plans specifically talks about data such as P2P, streaming videos (like Hulu) and lots of other specific applications and operations as being expressly forbidden by the agreement.
So, right now, for that $30 data plan (or one of the bundled Email and Web for Smartphone plans), you can tether and you get the 5GB limit (because the phone is already limited to 5GB per month for data, even though if you go over that, and they can see that you went over it for phone and not computer data, they won't charge you anything for it). But Verizon's Service Agreement specifically disallows the Droid to be used in that manner. That will change sometime next year, where for an additional $30 on top of the Data Plan or the Email and Web for Smartphone bundles (ah, hah!) you can add the 5GB tethering option. In effect, you'll be paying (ta-da) $60 for 5BM of unlimited data, be it phone or computer, just the same as you'd pay for an Aircard.
If you really and truly know what you're doing and are very careful about it, and know for sure that you won't need your phone while tethered, yeah, a tethered Droid can replace an Aircard. Otherwise, you probably don't want to go there. I actually do know what I'm doing, but can clearly see that it's not worth the time and effort, especially since Verizon's computers are set up specially to look for computer-type data being sent and received through a tethered Droid. The risk/reward simply isn't there. For me, at least.
I moved from the Nationwide Plus Canada plan to the $59.95 Basic National Calling plan, which gives me 900 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends and unlimited mobile-to-mobile (which includes my 5 Friends and Family phone numbers which are treated like M2M minutes). I added a $5, 250 message text plan, and added the $30 data plan for the phone. That's $95 a month. That's the most bang for the buck depending on how many text messages you might send. If it's more than 250, then the same 900 minute plan except on the Mobile E-mail and Data bundle (for $110 I think) is a better deal. I kept the Aircard for the computer as a separate $60 per month deal.
If you want National Broadband for the computer, the real-world option is, pay $60 for an Aircard to use with the computer, and then either get a data bundle or pay the extra $30 for a data plan for the Droid and use the Droid as a phone, or, if you want to use just the Droid for both phone and computer data, pay the $30 for the phone data plan, and an additional $30 for tethering (in effect $60 above the voice calling plan itself), but you don't have a phone while tethered. You will get 5GB for the primary data plan, and another 5GB for the tethered plan, for a total of 10GB, so other than not having a phone while tethered, it's actually a pretty good deal, if you choose to go that route.
So, Mr Moot, tethering is not an option at all without some kind of additional data plan above and beyond the regular voice calling plan, but it's available right now with no extra fees (above the normal data plan) if you're careful and don't get caught, or it's available next year with Verizon's blessings with extra fees (above the normal data plan).
I actually went through each and every plan and every combination of available options, and did it from two angles, one as if I were a new customer doing it from scratch, and the other from the point of view of changing my current plan to each of the available plans and options. Then I confirmed all of it with the manager of the Verizon store at home. I can't believe how anal you have to be in order to understand these plans, as some options weren't even available on some plans (the email and Web data plan wasn't an option with the Nationwide Plus Canada plan).
The upside to a part of it is, I was still grandfathered in on the higher New Every Two deal, where I got $100 off the new phone, so the online discount of $100 and the New Every Two discount of $100 means I only had to pay $99 for the phone, instead of $149 or $199.
The next New Every Two and I'll only get $50 off the new one, tho. 
$30 is a decent deal considering I pay Verizon $45 for phone service and $60 for 5 gigs of data.
That right there is where the rubber meets the road... you won't be able to use the Droid on a $45 plan for anything other than a phone. In order to use it for data (e-mail, Web surfing, Google Maps, Navigation, RSS newsfeeds, Weather, etc.) you will have to pony up $1.99 per MegaByte, just like you do now for MobileWeb or GetItNow stuff, or add the standard $30 data plan. So, that $45 plan becomes $75.
Then, if you also want to tether, it's another $30 on top of the $75. It's that second $30 that the Web site is talking about.
Seriously.
Tethering on an iPhone is a big deal, and is why iPhone users want it, because you can do 3G and talk on the phone at the same time. Can't do that on Verizon, can't do it with any CDMA phone. With Verizon you can talk and do regular WiFi, but not 3G. Because AT&T still does not allow tethering, many iPhone users will be jealous that the Droid can, but many of them won't realize that it's an either/or situation, either phone or Aircard, but not both at the same time. So while the idea of tethering on the Droid may sound attractive, make sure you know what you're getting into if you do it.
RLENT
Veteran Expediter
Hmmmm .....
Likely a fair and accurate statement. As I mentioned to you, this weekend's experience was an interesting one, which I'll relay here: I was traveling over to Nogales, AZ and I got off I-10 onto Highway 90 and headed south, and then grabbed Highway 82 heading west on into Nogales. This is mostly a fairly desolate area of Arizona, with the exception of a couple of very small towns.
I spent the entire time (going in and coming out) on the phone with a couple of different friends .... I did have several dropped calls ..... but then I wouldn't have really even expected to have service at all in that area.
Again, likely true.
Here's where I think we'll have to agree to part company .....
I am a fan of Apple's products .... if that makes me a "fanboy" (whatever that is
, other than a derisive or perjorative term) so be it ...... I certainly feel no need to apologize for it.Having said that and gotten it out of the way, I have to say that the quoted text (above and below) certainly smacks of the self-same bias and stereotyping that Apple users are often accused of .... kinda snooty actually .... pretty funny ....
Huh ?
Is that how the computation works - if Steve likes it, then it's ok and we need to adopt it ? ..... or if he doesn't, then we should even consider it ?
I guess I missed the memo .....
That's actually pretty funny .... cause I really never paid all that much attention to what Steve had to say (although the keynote addresses at MacWorld Expo were always a hoot for the ".... and just one more thing" lines for the new product intro's ..... I was always more focused on what I had to do or accomplish, and what was the best tool for doing it.
And that has also been true for most Mac users that I know (many of whom are dual-platform) .... although many of us (certainly in the graphic design field) have alot of admiration for Jonathan Ive's (click for info) abilities and talents as an industrial designer, and for Avie Tevanian (click for info) for his stewardship in making sure that we got an BSD Unix OS that was also elegant and easy to use (OS X) and ensuring it all came to fruition.
That's also probably true - but if you have convinced yourself that the reason for this is because that somehow Apple has managed to become the anti-theses (brainwashed drones) of what was depicted in the "1984" ad (<----click to play), rather than the thesis (freedom, representing by a girl throwing hammer), then I would submit 1. your observation is off (or is at least biased), and 2. you have indeed missed the larger picture, which is in fact the relevant point - and is really fairly simple:
Apple designs, builds, and sells products that people want - and they do it very well.
This is particularly true as regards the iPhone:
"We’re in a global economic recession, right? You wouldn’t know it from looking at the latest iPhone sales statistics. Apple’s stock jumped six dollars to $158 per share after the company announced its revenues for the third quarter.
Total revenue was $8.3 billion, leaving Apple with a net quarterly profit of $1.2 billion. According to Tim Cook, the Chief Operating Officer, “Apple can’t keep up with demand in the 18 countries where the 3GS model is now sold, a situation that won’t change in the short term.”
It’s no wonder. Apple sold 5.2 million iPhones in the third quarter, which is a 626 percent increase over the same quarter last year.
According to a report by Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff, Apple’s share of total cell phone industry profit is a whopping 20 percent.
Pretty impressive considering Apple first introduced the iPhone only two years ago."
Apple iPhone Sales Going Ballistic
At some point - apparently in the not too distant future from the looks of things, if iPhone sales continue at their present torrid pace
- one might just have to stop blaming the so-called "fanboys" and reconcile themselves with the obvious fact that Apple is just good at what they do ..... very good.Having said all that, I'm sure that the Droid is a very kewl device (looked pretty kewl to me on the website) ..... I like technology generally, no matter whose label is on the nameplate ..... and more competition in the marketplace is always a good thing, for all concerned.
Last edited:
So, Mr Moot, tethering is not an option at all without some kind of additional data plan above and beyond the regular voice calling plan, but it's available right now with no extra fees (above the normal data plan) if you're careful and don't get caught, or it's available next year with Verizon's blessings with extra fees (above the normal data plan).
I had my son's iPhone with me for 3 months last winter. I thought about buying one, but at the time tethering required hacking, jailbreaking and other illegal and technical stuff. I found Verizon's service and coverage to be better than AT&T, but not a deal breaker had I been able to tether for less than Verizon's monthly phone and data plan.
It appears tethering is now legal with AT&T. I'm sure there are extra fees involved. I'm 6 months into a Verizon voice and data plan so I guess I will sit on the sidelines. Technology has passed me by once again.