I think the difference between the Droid and the other past "iPhone killers"

[ViViDboarder]

You want to know what makes the iPhone such a hard thing to beat?

Apple.

It's all advertising. There have been COUNTLESS phones with great systems and great specs. Droid is just the latest and the Dragon is going to be another.

You can say it's the App store but I doubt the 3 legged dog that is the crippled app store is really keeping the iPhone afloat. It's the WAY the phone is sold. It's sold as dead simple but elegant high tech. Anyone who can afford one can show their friends how "technologically advanced" they are and still be comfortable using it.

Until a company can advertize and sell better than Apple, no one will compete on their level. I mean, come on people... How did Steve convince us that we wanted the electronic compass? Or how about that Cut, Copy and Paste were a "feature" that took YEARS to implement? Steve is a salesperson. He does it very well and he's Apple's best asset. Just look at how the company did while he was gone.

 

[ctt1wbw]

Advertising comes into it, but are there other smart phones that are as easy to use as the iPhone? Any others that can do what it can? There are more than enough apps to find what you need to do and yes, there are many stupid apps out there too.

I think it comes down to ease of use. I've had a 3G iPhone for a year and have played with other people's smart phones and they are nowhere, nowhere, as easy to use as the iPhone.

 

[crackbookpro]

It's not really about building a better phone. It's about being able to "out brand" Apple. Apple doesn't just sell phones and MP3 players and computers. They sell a culture, an image, and a lifestyle. The fact that tons of people w/horrible AT&T coverage are buying iPhones is testament to that. They are buying a phone, that doesn't work very well as a phone in their area, for no other reason than owning an iPhone is hip & cool.


Lethal

A lot more truth to this than people think...

(I can see people belittling the post by LethalWolfe, but this is sadly true of a large percentage of iPhone users! They buy it for the 'Apple cult' that they want to belong to - without knowing the full capabilities, advantages & disadvantages of AT&T/iPhone)

Apple is one of the best companies in the world in marketing, PR, and branding. The iPhone is another step in their dominance of marketing strategies & ploys!

The Motorola Droid seems like a great a phone, but I believe on the whole, Android will be making its way to popularity due to Google's large array of capabilities. Google is the one who can outsmart the iPhone with Android and the app store. Google could take Android to a whole new level!

If I was Android/Google, I would be pushing our PR/Marketing team to show the side of smart vs. cool! I know this sounds pretty stupid at first glance, but there is a market opportunity out there. The opportunity lies in AT&T's iffy cellular service & the dominance of google applications & capabilities. The one thing that Google will have a hard time overcoming - iTunes. iTunes is way too popular and mainstream. But, they are making way in this type of service. I just don't know if they have a solid chance.

If Android 2.0 becomes the giant that I expect it to be, they will apply more useful features from applications & the 'Google dominance' - Create an innovative way to look at documents, pdfs, presentations, etc. Google has one of the largest capabilities of any company ever created to date. They can take the advantage(opportunity) of a good cellular service like Verizon, the know how of useful applications, the "free" app mentality that they constantly portray, and the syncing of all google capabilities to a smartphone!

I will not be getting the droid, but I will be getting a solid smartphone with Android 2.0 sooner than later!

 

[thelatinist]

If I was Android/Google, I would be pushing our PR/Marketing team to show the side of smart vs. cool!

Right now they are advertising it like a Transformers movie. They really need a new marketing team...this isn't going to create the buzz they need.

 

[xcrunner]

And you also say this not yet knowing the specifics of the Verizon Droid, remeber that this will not be a google branded device so the market place is only optional. We'll have to see if Verizon uses the android market place (which I like) or if they decide to use their own application store.

Wrong. This is a google experience device and Verizon themselves have confirmed that it will have the android market pre-installed. And of course the FREE new Google GPS turn-by-turn nav app.

 

[firewood]

in the past, that have all failed, is that the Droid actually DRASTICALLY improves upon many of the 3G/3GS specs.

The iPhone never had the greatest of pure hardware specs. If the iPhone did so well without the best specs, then yet another phone with just better specs won't displace the iPhone very much.

However the Droid device has a few things beyond just specs. Growing above 10K apps in the Android app store plus a carrier that has a big (in the U.S.) and different coverage map might be parts of a good start.

Choice in the market often spurs competition and better products in the future.