Will the Droid be VZW's flagship model for years to come?

[jaysonstaurt]

From what I understand, Verizon is still having talks about bringing the iphone over. So you will have both adroid base phones and iphones on Verizon's network.

I've heard this as well. But I've also heard that Steve Jobs said he has no intention of having the IPhone on any different networks when the contract is up at the end of the year.

So I guess it's a wait and see deal.

[bacalao]

There is a lot of attention on the Droid from verizon, and as Cereal was saying, there will be a whole lot of smartphones with/without android coming out on verizon. Just as at&t has a good smartphone line up even with the iphone, the Droid will stand out among the selection at verizon. At least until Droid II. I hope when I upgrade to next Droid it will have Global phone capability.
Right now it is selling like fresh bread! (I don't know if that has the same effect in english)

[Getaphixx]

Right now it is selling like Hotcakes

Fixt









(Silly 10char limit. ...........)

[hazydave]

@Hazydave
What I see happening is the Desktop OS war coming to a phone near you..

Sure... it's not the Desktop OS war, it's the Next Big Thing. I mean, the Desktop OS War ended some time ago... we've had Browser wars, MP3 player wars, etc. But the real fun is any Applications Platform war... and that's absolutely what's shaping up here.

I'm waiting for M$ to release a phone in much the same fashion as Apple and Google.

I'm not too sure... Apple and Google are clearly the leaders of the new technology (eg, they are grabbing share from RIM, Palm, and Microsoft), though they have entirely different skin in the game. Apple is following the same plan they have since the 70s.. sell hardware, use clever marketing and software in order to do that. Google is entirely different, and smart. Give away the OS to get users on your services, and you're actually doing the phone markers a favor. Rather than pay for Symbian or Windows, neither of which they got much control over, they have a free OS they can customize like crazy. This is why Motorola has 350 people working on Android related stuff.

Microsoft has had phones out for years... but they're just like the PC... someone else pays Microsoft for Windows on their phone, and hey, MS got the cash, what else do they care? Maybe a few apps you can buy at the local phone store? The never got the idea that a full-time networked phone/computer would get its apps online, from a centralized portal. RIM, Nokia, Apple, and Google have understood this, each in their own way, but fundamentally, they're doing it correctly.

Let us not forget they did jump right into the console war with Xbox bucking a 3rd party out trend..(Sega, 3DO)

Not so much... 3DO was over with before the X-Box made any noise. That was 3DO's fault, sad... I had a bunch of friends there. But the problem was the way they marketed it. They were trying to build a standardized gaming platform... any CE company could build that into their DVD player, make their own player, etc. Sounds like a cool idea: a standard for games, no more proprietary system. The problem is, all game console makers initially lost money on their consoles, sometimes huge dollars, in order to eventually get money back on the games. In the 3DO model, they got the gaming royalties. So where could the hardware companies make money? They couldn't... big problem. Same reason Toshiba made every HD-DVD player.. they were adopting the game console model, so they could sell HD-DVD players below cost, versus the Blu-Ray market having to make a profit (well, other than the PS3).

Sega was already in a death spiral... their designs were kind of horrible. Open up a Nintendo 64 (1996)... you had four major chips in the system. The Sega Saturn (1995) had more CPUs than that (three Hitachis, a 68000, a Yamaha DSP, etc).. the thing was the slower of the three (Nintendo, Sega, Sony), and yet the most expensive. So basically, Sega helped Microsoft find a niche there for the X-Box (2001) by eliminating themselves as serious competition for the next generation (Sony PS2, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube).

I mean they are mini computers (Cell Phones).

Nope... they're microcomputers. So are the ones on your desk. A mini-computer is something larger still.. the CPU is more than one chip. I like "pocket computer", and of course, there are a few other descriptive names. We still say "Phone", but that's like saying the PS3 is an internet terminal... one among it's many, many potential functions.

I give Dr0id an 80% chance of remaining its flagship device for one year...

I think "DROID" is the Verizon brand name for Android phones, and will be for the foreseeable future. I suspect there will eventually be many different phones dubbed "DROID", just as we have the "Eris" now from HTC (I wonder if they'll launch the Samsung "Discordia" next year.. that would be so cool... if you don't get that, you had a boring time in college, I'll wager).

If something really, really better gets to Verizon, maybe it's "DROID 2" or maybe some other "Droid Luxury-Yacht" or whatever. But they're spending a ton of cashish on the Droid name, they're going to be using that, unless it's an embarrassing failure. Which I can't imagine... this phone/computer/PDA/PMP/whatever rocks!

[dezymond]

Google will take over the cellular industry with Android. The OS is amazing and 100x more expandable than iPhone's OS.

[hazydave]

From what I understand, Verizon is still having talks about bringing the iphone over. So you will have both adroid base phones and iphones on Verizon's network.

I've heard this as well. But I've also heard that Steve Jobs said he has no intention of having the IPhone on any different networks when the contract is up at the end of the year.

I think Verizon HAD been in talks with Apple, twice now, but did not see a point in given into their demands for control and cash kick-backs, as AT&T has. Not that the iPhone wasn't great for AT&T. But with Verizon putting so many resources behind the DROID, and behind mocking the iPhone, I really don't see them eating crow any time soon and offering the iPhone.

If Verizon doesn't, that's one big incentive for Apple to not make a CDMA phone, which means, Sprint is out of the picture, too, unless they and Apple come to some kind of deal. Sprint is already aligned with Palm, so that could be an issue there, too.

That leaves T-Mobile.... do they want the iPhone? Does Apple care that they get it? They are #4, it's not the kind of market they'd see with Verizon. So it might be true that Apple's not making any plans to move beyond AT&T in the USA. It may also simply be that he's speaking in "clever"... Apple's not doing the pursuit, but might talk to the other guys if they come to Apple with enough incentive. It was a big question when AT&T got in the game with Apple, but today, the iPhone is a huge hit. Apple doesn't have to chase down carriers anymore.

[SwordOfWar]

I think the important thing here is that the DROID is obviously a huge phone for Verizon. They want to make sure its supported (updates/patches) and to me thats the most important thing. There are always going to be new and better phones, so nomatter what you buy there will always be something better coming out later.

So with that said, I think you all should buy and enjoy your DROID phones. Like the OP said, they spent a lot of marketing and they appear to be giving good support with the recent news of future fix updates. That makes this phone an excellent device, and I consider it to be one of the best phones for a while. anyone who gets the phone now will get plenty of enjoyment out of it... after the 2 years is up you can jump on the next hot Android phone if you want.

[cereal killer]

I give Dr0id an 80% chance of remaining its flagship device for one year...

The marketing campaign would have been a huge waste of money then.

It does not make sense financially to spend that kind of money without future plans.

They are trying to brand the phone is my contention thus all the cash behind it.

[Big D]

I just want it to be relevant for 2 more years. Then I'll get the next one.

Technology, if it does anything, it changes constantly. It's human nature to want your new toy to be the top of the heap forever but that's not how it works - thankfully. Within our New Every 2, there will definitely be something better than what we have right now. Guaranteed.

But that's been going on forever. Enjoy the phone/pocket computer/awesome thing.