MORE iPHONE/DROID STUFF. WHY NOT?

I figure since no one is reading this blog right now (my fault after taking a year off) that I might as well write what I want. And right now what is fascinating me is the "battle" raging between those who hate Apple and their iPhone, and general Apple (and iPhone) lovers. In case you haven't looked at the entries below, I'm one of the latter. In fact, I've been an iPhone owner since December 2007. Which means I've owned all three incarnations (2G, 3G, and 3GS) of the iPhone.

Currently, I have the 3GS model. While my wife took over my 3G iPhone in July... and recently, I gave my original iPhone to my two-year old in order to watch his "shows" while on the road. That's right, all three iPhones have worked flawlessly for thousands of hours on end... and yet some people continue to wonder why Apple consumers are so passionate about their products?

Which makes the current "debate" between Motorola's new Droid smartphone and the iPhone seem even more silly. I've blogged before about the potential problems for the Droid, which include:

1. Droid's use of Google's Android 2.0 software - The entire concept of Android software is still in it's infancy, plus it's being written for hundreds of different kinds of Android phones made by dozens of different companies. If someone doesn't see the potential for hardware/software problems, you will once you dive into this mess of code.

2. Droid's internal 256k "hard" memory vs. it's micro SD 16GB card - Unlike Apple's 16GB (and 32GB) "hard" memory, the Droid settles for swappable micro SD cards. Has anyone ever used an external firewire drive on their desktop computer? It's pretty good for mass storage, but not nearly as speedy or responsive as the hard drive connected within the computer. It's the same thing here. The Droid simply didn't have the room (without significantly increasing it's size) to hold a 16GB flash drive, and their customers pay the price for it.

3. No iTunes-like desktop client for Droid - This is what many phone manufacturers conviently miss in the development of their products. The iTunes software was launched in January 2001 for MacOSX, and two years later for Windows. This revolutionary media storage (and organization) program has changed the way people store/listen/and now buy music, tv shows, movies, and now apps for the iPhone. Without it, you're left to "drag and drop" media onto your Droid and organize it yourself.

4. No complete backup for the Droid? - I just read that the Droid has no capability to do a complete backup for restore on a replacement phone, or simply for those times you want to reboot the phone for "house cleaning" purposes. If this is true, this is huge... especially for a phone that's seeing a high rate of returns at the moment. Plus, no remote wipe for those who would put sensitive information on their device.

Now mind you, I haven't held a Droid myself... but in searching the Motorola Forum on their website, the most popular threads for the Droid are titled:
- Droid. WiFi Issues!
- Droid Phone Sound Quality Not Great
- Anyone else finding the battery cover falls off?
(and here's a classic "fix" from the thread, "this is my only problem with the hardware side of the phone so far. I used scotch tape to fix it for now.")
- DROID: Can't get to "mount" to my PC

The last thread's initial post reads like this:

I am trying to transfer media (pictures, music, videos) to my Droid from my PC. I plug the USB cord into the Droid and my laptop, which is operating on 64-bit Vista Home Premium (Service Pack 2). I then pull down the Notification screen on the Droid and select 'USB connected' and select 'Mount' from the pop-up window. After hearing the 'Droid,' I turn my focus to the computer. When I try to access the Droid through Removable Drive (F:),I get "Please insert a disk into Removable Disk (F:)." When I try to access the Droid through Motorola Media Link, I don't get any better of a result. I open Media Link and choose 'Handset Connection Wizard' under Utilities. I click "OK" to find a connected handset. On the next window, I select the Motorola A855 that is available and click "CONNECT." I then get a window that says "Detection Failed." The computer is obviously detecting the removable storage device because the F: drive appears and the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon appears in the clock tray. But it won't acknowledge the card. I am at a total loss. Any and all help would be appreciated.

It's EXACTLY this type of frustration that made me leave my PC behind some eight years ago. How many steps do you need to take to get some simple files on/off your phone?! By the way, the author finally found out that the phone DID mount on his wife's version of Windows (XP) but not on his (Vista)... and guess which version is NEWER! That's right, Vista was Microsoft's "new and improved" OS from two years ago!

Here's how life works with the iPhone. 1. You plug it into your USB port on your Mac, and AUTOMATICALLY the iTunes and iPhone applications launch. 2. All your media appears in iTunes for additions and subtractions, and all your photos/videos appear in iPhoto for additions/subtractions.

That's it. Now ask me what I like better?