TIME: Moto Droid #1 Gadget of 2009

[phandroid]

According to Time , one of the most prestigious news magazines, Droid was the “Numero Uno” gadget of the year.The Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don’t miss it.The phone, which has only been out since the beginning of November, has [...]

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[Carl C]

Just a Quick post to remove this from the "Unanswered threads" forum

 

[detroid]

Well this is a no brainer isn't it?!

 

[IOWA]

Meh, I don't understand why droid got the win for that. I mean, my Samsung moment has similar if not better stats/specs than Droid. It's all marketing hype.

 

[Android_LIFE]

I'm pretty sure a total sales standpoint, had something to do with the Moto Droid getting Gadget of the Year.
How many did Verizon sell?
A BAJILLION??

Moto Droid was also 1st Android Device that brought Android 2.0 into our hands

 

[IOWA]

I'm pretty sure a total sales standpoint, had something to do with the Moto Droid getting Gadget of the Year.
How many did Verizon sell?
A BAJILLION??

Moto Droid was also 1st Android Device that brought Android 2.0 into our hands

Ok I'll give you that. The android 1.5 is kind of a bummer but an update will arrive soon I hope. If not I'll just do some ROM flashing.

 

[Jim W]

Meh, I don't understand why droid got the win for that. I mean, my Samsung moment has similar if not better stats/specs than Droid. It's all marketing hype.

That was the first thing that popped into my mind as soon I saw this post, though I figured it'd be a little bias of me to say it.....but since you did already, I'll just agree. haha

I think it's all in the marketing. It got the "cool" name and Verizon really went all out with advertising it. Sprint was all, "well here's the Moment from Samsung,oh yeah it has Android".

 

[ari-free]

I think when people see all these other phones with similar specs, they consider them to be iPhone copies. The Droid? "ah...this is different...it has a slide out keyboard..." Most people don't know the difference in OS but they can see right away that the Droid is unique.

 

[Jim W]

I think when people see all these other phones with similar specs, they consider them to be iPhone copies. The Droid? "ah...this is different...it has a slide out keyboard..." Most people don't know the difference in OS but they can see right away that the Droid is unique.

Slide out keyboards are not exactly new to the phone world.

I think the problem (for lack of a better word) is a lot of people look at the Droid as the "the" Android phone, having no idea that there are tons of other phones doing the same exact thing. People hear about Android and then see a commercial for the Droid, they think "hey there is that phone everyone keeps talking about".

 

[xmr405o]

Moto Droid deserved it. It was the best marketed, the thinnest phone with a slide out keyboard, the first with Android 2.0, etc.
It's a win for the Android OS all around. If you think about it, a lot of the candidates for best gadgets are Android based phones. The G1 started the movement and the Moto Droid put Android in the spotlight. Now all of us will be treated to a bunch of new Android phones for all the different carriers. Fun times are ahead.

 

[Android_LIFE]

Moto Droid deserved it. It was the best marketed, the thinnest phone with a slide out keyboard, the first with Android 2.0, etc.
It's a win for the Android OS all around. If you think about it, a lot of the candidates for best gadgets are Android based phones. The G1 started the movement and the Moto Droid put Android in the spotlight. Now all of us will be treated to a bunch of new Android phones for all the different carriers. Fun times are ahead.

This is what we ALL need to keep in the back of our heads, no matter what major wireless carrier you ARE with.
There will be plenty of options.
Again,
"Fun Times Are Ahead"

 

[SamuraiBigEd]

Giving anything that comes out that late in the year this type of award is ludicrous. All this proves is Time does nothing more than watch media hype and check sales figures when granting these awards.

If the Droid was truly groundbreaking, then yes, it deserves the award. Unfortunately, it is not; it is merely the first with Android 2.0. And, while being a well built phone, this is not a deciding factor; ALL phones should be built to this level of quality. The American public is, for the most part, nothing more than a herd of sheep that has become willing to accept whatever is handed them.

Lastly, my niece, who is an educated person, asked me if she should get a Droid, to which I told her yes. She was, however, totally surprised when I explained to her that it is not the only Android phone on the market. She, like so many others, are led to believe by the marketing hype and lack of mention of Android on other commercials (wake up HTC), that the Droid is the FIRST and ONLY Android phone out there.

 

[Jim W]

Giving anything that comes out that late in the year this type of award is ludicrous. All this proves is Time does nothing more than watch media hype and check sales figures when granting these awards.

If the Droid was truly groundbreaking, then yes, it deserves the award. Unfortunately, it is not; it is merely the first with Android 2.0. And, while being a well built phone, this is not a deciding factor; ALL phones should be built to this level of quality. The American public is, for the most part, nothing more than a herd of sheep that has become willing to accept whatever is handed them.

Lastly, my niece, who is an educated person, asked me if she should get a Droid, to which I told her yes. She was, however, totally surprised when I explained to her that it is not the only Android phone on the market. She, like so many others, are led to believe by the marketing hype and lack of mention of Android on other commercials (wake up HTC), that the Droid is the FIRST and ONLY Android phone out there.

Exactly the point I was trying to make in my posts. People now see "normal" cell phones, iPhones and the Droid. Though I can't really place blame on Verison or Motorola for doing it how they did, it more falls on the other companies, both carriers and phone manufacturers. They needed to be out there yelling "hey we Android too!!".

 

[ari-free]

"yeah! we have Android too...though with yesterday's CPU and OS version that will take another 5 months to be updated! (if ever)"
Droid is significant because it treats Android as a first class citizen and not hidden with a custom UI that fragments the market.

 

[vincentp]

"yeah! we have Android too...though with yesterday's CPU and OS version that will take another 5 months to be updated! (if ever)"
Droid is significant because it treats Android as a first class citizen and not hidden with a custom UI that fragments the market.

What he said. I think that's the big difference. There's no MotoBlur, no Sense UI, just Droid. It's nowhere near the integration or closely knit control that the iPhone has, but marketing wise, it exposes the public to Android more directly without all of the Manufacturer/Provider brandings.

Regardless of why they picked it, I still love this phone and don't plan on giving it up for anything that's rumored to be coming out within the next few months. Congratulations, Droid

 

[ari-free]

Droid challenges the premise of the iPhone. HTC accepts the premise and falls for the trap. So yeah, all the Sense apps look pretty but it all falls apart once you download more apps from the market. They may be very useful but don't fit in with the rest of Sense. What will you do? Not download anything because you don't want to mess up the look?

 

[AndroidConservative]

I am not a fan of this at all, but that is mostly because I hate the way this thing looks. It is a great handset, but I would have looked in a different direction, personally.

 

[ari-free]

I think it looks great but wish the keyboard wasn't so flat and I wish it had a trackball for 360 degree control