Let me get this out of the way first…I REALLY like my Droid. I’ve had it since December of ’09, and it has served me well. GREAT video camera quality (5MP), wonderful voice-to-text speech input (I can take text notes via voice input while driving down the road and clean them up before posting one I get back home), FREE Google turn-by-turn navigation. There’s LOTS to love…but a few things (things which are critically important to me) which have turned out to be an ongoing disappoinment. This as been my SmartPhone Reality Show Dilemma for the past several months.
So today, I am out running errands this morning…and notice that the little “lightning bolt” symbol is not appearing over my battery icon…despite the fact that it’s plugged into the car charger. It’s plugged in at both ends…there’s no “play” in the connection to the charging/port…so, what gives? No problem…when I get home, I will plug it into the charging dock on my desk…and all will be well with the world.
Except…nothing changes when it takes its place in the dock. STILL no little lighting bolt. Two more micro-USB charger tests later…still nothing (and they are working fine to charge other devices.
OK…this is starting to get serious. Time to get drastic. Could it be a software issue?
So I reset the Droid to factory specs…and…NADA.
“Hello, Verizon?”
I checked out all my options…and discovered that I could pay $90 for a replacement Droid…or I could pay $200, wait an extra day and and have a new iPhone.
“But,” I say. “The iPhone has documented Bluetooth issues with the current release of the OS. IF it doesn’t work with my brand-new state-of-the-art Plantronics Voyager to Pro+ bluetooth headset..that’s gonna be a problem. Do I have a return window?”
“Yessir…14 days.”
“Good enough. And in terms of availability…can this ship tomorrow? I have less than 15% power remaining on the Droid…and I have a business to run here.”
“Wellllllll…most phones would ship today…but the iPhone requires 2-day delivery.”
“So…Saturday, then, right? Assuming I pay extra…you guys have done that before for me.”
“Yessir…but the the iPhone requires 2-day shipment and does not allow for Saturday delivery.”
“I see. And one last thing…I was waiting to upgrade the Droid or switch to the iPhone once HD video camera capability was added. And I haven’t had a chance to check the specs on the version of the iPhone model you are selling. Is it HD?”
“Let me see here…(pause)…yessir, it is.”
“Great…we have a deal.”
So $215 later, my iPhone will be arriving on Monday. And I’ll be selling off the unchargeable Droid on craigslist to someone who has Verizon, has existing smartphone insurance (or upgrades to it), and wants to pay the $90 replacement charge for a new original Motorola Droid.
Of course, I now have to pay for turn-by-turn navigation. Fortunately, there is a five dollar special when ordering it with the new iPhone.
And my commitment to Verizon has extended by another two years…which is fine…they are serving us well.
And…I’ve lost the ability to take verbal notes while driving (unless I want to record the voice…play it back and transcribe it later) until Apple gets it act together and builds that feature into their OS.
But I love the Mac…regret my move to PC 10 years ago…and consider this a possible first step back toward the Mac for my computing needs. Until now…in addition to the cost of the computer…the cost of crossgrading my software was completely prohibitive. But despite the fact that I have 50+ websites to manage…because of WordPress…most of my site design and maintenance is now done online anyway. I don’t need Dreamweaver…and that’s becoming true of more and more applications as the world moves “into the cloud”.
And, most of all…this move to the iPhone addresses my biggest frustration with the Droid: music and podcast management. I have spent countless hours (and many dollars) trying to equal the intuitiveness and functionality of iTunes on the Droid (ESPECIALY the podcast subscribing-and-handling functionality). Some people like to claim that it’s bloated software (and I don’t use it to buy audio books or music anymore…Amazon and Audible are much better quality and often cheaper options, thank you). But I am eager to drop all the pretender apps for such purposes on the Droid and get back to the real deal.
Until Monday, if you need to reach me for business or pleasure…please contact me via e-mail…as I have no functioning wireless phone.