Response to the iDon't commercials from droid....what do you think?

[palmerc2]

So I've taken out the obvious ones like the 5 megapixel camera, etc....I want to know what you think of the following 5 features droid has, that iPhone doesn't....how important are these features to you?

1. real keyboard

in my opinion, I LOVE the keyboard on the iPhone...spell check would be nice, and that can be updated. iPhone is my first smart phone, my girlfriend has a blackberry and can't stand the iPhone keyboard

2. simultanious apps

3. widgets

4. open development

5. interchangeable batteries

 

[Maclver]

1. real keyboard

I feel that I type faster on the iPhone that I did my blackberry

2. simultanious apps
I have never had the need to run multiple apps... If I want to listen to music and surf safari ill use my iPod

3. widgets
ummm we have over 100,000 its called apps!
4. open development
seems pretty open to me again 100,000 reasons i feel its open
5. interchangeable batteries
again I have never had the need for this

 

[aristobrat]

2. simultanious apps

I'm iffy on this.

I've had years of Windows Mobile experience, where a poorly coded app running in the background can kill your battery/slow the whole system down (and unless you really pay attention to how your apps affect your phone, it can be a PITA to isolate the bad app), so I sort of see where Apple's coming from.

On the other hand, not being able to multi-task third-party apps can also be a PITA. For example, if I'm using RunKeeper to "GPS" my walks, it sucks that if I respond to a text, RunKeeper stops running (which means it stops tracking my walk). Sometimes I forget to restart RunKeeper, and then the whole walk is borked (tracking wise). If RunKeeper were allowed to keep running in the background, I wouldn't have this problem.

So it goes both ways for me on this issue. Other than RunKeeper, I really haven't missed third-party apps running in the background.

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

1. I'm with you. I love the virtual keyboard, although the spell checker doesn't seem to be as reliable as it used to be.

2. With the introduction of the 3GS, multi-tasking is completely possible and I see no reason Apple left it out. Using Backgrounder on my phone doesn't change the performance a bit. The 3G is another story altogether.

3. Couldn't care less. LockInfo is nice, though. I have a feeling Apple will be doing something like this in 4.0.

4. See 5.

5. See first sentence of 3.

 

[-aggie-]

The problem with your OP is that you don't state the corrollary, i.e., what is missing in the Droid vs. iPhone.

1. real keyboard

I'd like a real keyboard, since I have a problem typing on the virtual one and can only use one finger (typing in landscape with two hands just doesn't work for me with my thumbs). The spell checker sucks, IMO, on the iPhone (would like a way to add words or delete words from the dictionary).

2. simultaneous apps

Possibly nice to have, but not a biggie to me.

3. widgets

Don't care.

4. open development

Don't care.

5. interchangeable batteries

I'd like that, but I can always use an external one, so not sure.

 

[MTI]

The ultimate response . . . be happy with whatever non-Droid handheld you have.

 

[Michael CM1]

So I've taken out the obvious ones like the 5 megapixel camera, etc....I want to know what you think of the following 5 features droid has, that iPhone doesn't....how important are these features to you?

1. real keyboard

in my opinion, I LOVE the keyboard on the iPhone...spell check would be nice, and that can be updated. iPhone is my first smart phone, my girlfriend has a blackberry and can't stand the iPhone keyboard

2. simultanious apps

3. widgets

4. open development

5. interchangeable batteries

1) I like the virtual keyboard just fine. I like it better than any physical keyboard because of the limitless options for keys in certain settings instead of throwing all the keys there on the device. Some people like real keys better, so it's just personal preference.

2) Quick, what really important function do you need to do with multitasking? Yes, it would be better to have that available, but at what cost to battery life?

3) Widgets? Um, OK. I thought a bazillion apps would be fine, but whatever. I hardly ever use widgets on my notebook.

4) Customers don't give a rat's patoot about open development. They want useful apps. Does the iPhone have useful apps? As OP said, there are 100,000 apps. It's not as if China is locking down on what apps can be made.

5) If you need an extra battery, third parties make external ones. I think I have replaced a battery twice in all the cell phones I have used. I didn't have to do it with my original iPhone in about a year and a half, and my 3GS obviously doesn't need it yet. If your battery isn't crap, this isn't an issue.

 

[ARF900]

1. Im content with the iphone keyboard, I can even fluently type in portrait mode.

2. Droid wins on that one, but its not that hard to close one app and load another one.

3. Appstore

4. Appstore is pretty good

5. Would be nice, but not sure if it would be worth any extra weight or bulk.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

1. real keyboard
Apple has mastered the touch keyboard, I'm content with it.

2. simultanious apps
I don't see the need for it. Mail updates, that's all I really want.

3. widgets
I believe that's covered by the Apps?

4. open development
App Store + jailbreak. Open development is pointless if you have a fraction of developers.

5. interchangeable batteries
I don't use my iPhone a whole lot, so battery life isn't a huge deal. I believe however, that using removable batteries would probably make battery life decrease without purchasing a second batter.

 

[darngooddesign]

2. simultanious apps

I use backgrounder a lot, I like being able to listen to Pandora in the background. Another example would be not having your GPS app quit when you receive a call. This would be handy if you are receiving turn-by-turn directions they would still function even during a call.

For me, its a marked improvement toggling between two apps that have been backgrounded than doing the quit and launch dance between non-backgrounded apps.

In the end, it should be my choice if I want to devote more resources and battery life to background apps.

3. widgets

These are not covered by the app store apps. These would be an example of lockscreen apps that feed you small bits of info, upcoming events, unread mail, etc., that you can see without having to unlock the phone and launch the full apps.

4. open development

Many of the really useful jailbroken system mods are just that, unsanctioned by Apple but extremely useful. And to be frank, they make the iPhone way more interesting.

To sum up, the Droid does more than a stock iPhone, but less than a jailbroken iPhone.

 

[jav6454]

So I've taken out the obvious ones like the 5 megapixel camera, etc....I want to know what you think of the following 5 features droid has, that iPhone doesn't....how important are these features to you?

1. real keyboard

in my opinion, I LOVE the keyboard on the iPhone...spell check would be nice, and that can be updated. iPhone is my first smart phone, my girlfriend has a blackberry and can't stand the iPhone keyboard

2. simultanious apps

3. widgets

4. open development

5. interchangeable batteries

1. Virtual Keyboard is a keyboard nonetheless. So if they mean hard keyboard, I could care less. Loved the virtual one so far.

2. Besides the iPod, what other app do I need running in background....? None... IM clients do a great job with the Push Notifications.

3. Uhm, we have apps, 100k of them (and growing...)

4. It's called Jailbreak, look into it

5. By the time my iPhone's battery starts to die out, it will be time to upgrade to a new one. So.... why would I need interchangeable batteries. Oh and if you are thinking of a defective one, then Apple Care takes care of it.
3.

 

[LinMac]

I give the Droid its due and I hope Apple takes their (in some ways) well deserved lumps.

1. real keyboard

I prefer the virtual keyboard so I don't think this is a big deal. The form factor matters more to me so that is what I've focused on. Apple has done a great job so.. we'll stick with that.

2. simultanious apps

This is one where Apple needs to take some lumps. There is virtually no reason why they can't incorporate special requirements to make it possible. I know Apple wants to make it elegant and I appreciate how well copy and paste is done. That doesn't excuse the time it has taken them to actually bring these features to market.

3. widgets

It would be nice to immediately see your calendar or local weather when waking the phone, but not that big a deal.

4. open development

Apple's real Achilles heel?

Look, I get the reasoning behind the strict application check requirements. It maintains a purity that helps Apple sell more phones. That said, it is also the biggest reason why we don't have some of the amazing killer applications that Android is getting.

Google Voice, Google Latitude, and more that have already been made. What about the applications that might have been made, but were passed up because of Apple's policies?

This needs to change and now.

5. interchangeable batteries

I don't really care about this and I doubt others do. How many people have you ever seen change their phone battery? Can you count them on one hand?

It is a nice feature to have, but I'm not really overly concerned with it. Would I appreciate a user serviceable battery held in by screws (think Macbook Proish style)? Sure.

 

[darngooddesign]

5. By the time my iPhone's battery starts to die out, it will be time to upgrade to a new one. So.... why would I need interchangeable batteries. Oh and if you are thinking of a defective one, then Apple Care takes care of it.

I think this comes down to whether you use your iPhone a lot, and has nothing to do with your battery wearing down normally. I can easily plow through the battery in a day of use, but that's what external packs are for. I have a Mophie and a second really high capacity pack that can charge other devices. So for me it's a non issue.

 

[palmerc2]

(widgets) These are not covered by the app store apps. These would be an example of lockscreen apps that feed you small bits of info, upcoming events, unread mail, etc., that you can see without having to unlock the phone and launch the full apps.

That would be nice to have....you can jailbreak it to do that, but would be nice if it could be done out of the box.

 

[MarlboroLite]

Droid owner here, but ex iPhone owner when I lived in Europe (was not willing to switch to at&t crap service in new york)

For starters the physical keyboard on the Droid is unusable to me. It's absolute crap--the keys are flat, right next to each other, the D-pad gets in the way, and so does the top of the phone for the upper keys, I never use it.

the iPhone's virtual keyboard is really the gold standard, though the Droid's is perfectly fine, and the dictionary and spell check is superior.

On simulatinuous apps--meh, don't care dont use it. I loved the push notifications on Beejive when I used the iPhone, it works perfectly well and load time for Beejive on the 3Gs is super fast now. I didn't need it on the background.

On widgets, so far I only have 2 on weather and controlling wifi, bluetooth etc and it's great. Would be cool to have on the iPhone. I hope they implement it.

Open development? I don't really care.

Intercheangeable batteries? I don't care either, I don't have a spare and I'm not planning on getting one.

The Droid is a great phone, it does some things better than the iphone, some much much better like notifications, status bar, the iphone's screen is super crappy compared to the Droid's, native google voice etc....

But the iphone's ipod integration really is unmatched and it sucks now to carry two devices. The touch gestures are also I think much smoother on the iphone than the droid. That's software related so that's Google's problem to fix. Overall I am content with my Droid, but I do still think the iPhone is the best device out there and as soon as it comes to Verizon (and I assume there will be major improvements for the 4th generation) I will throw out the Droid!

 

[Wicked1]

So I've taken out the obvious ones like the 5 megapixel camera, etc....I want to know what you think of the following 5 features droid has, that iPhone doesn't....how important are these features to you?

1. real keyboard

in my opinion, I LOVE the keyboard on the iPhone...spell check would be nice, and that can be updated. iPhone is my first smart phone, my girlfriend has a blackberry and can't stand the iPhone keyboard

2. simultanious apps

3. widgets

4. open development

5. interchangeable batteries

1) Don't Care
2) Don't Care
3) Don't Care
4) Possible to have some value
5) Depends on the cost and what it does to the look of the iPhone, I currently have the 3GS in White and 32G, plus I am using the Incase Hard White two piece case which I love, so it all depends on what it does to the look.

I tried the Droid and HTC Droid at Verizon, although they are quicker then the Blueberry's and the GUI is nice'r, I still do not think they are a real threat to the iPhone, I think the downfall of the iPhone will come from AT&T, especially that people aren't getting the use of the features and services that they should be.

 

[CocoaPuffs]

Whatever happened to that last iPhone killer, Pre?

 

[jav6454]

I think this comes down to whether you use your iPhone a lot, and has nothing to do with your battery wearing down normally. I can easily plow through the battery in a day of use, but that's what external packs are for. I have a Mophie and a second really high capacity pack that can charge other devices. So for me it's a non issue.

Even after a year of usage (heavy) the iPhone's battery is bounded to loose 20% capacity which leaves a high 80%. 80% will get you thru your next year if need be and if you see the newer shinny iPhone comming out, well it won't matter.