Is it time for a new DROID?

[JeffDenver]

Android for me is a bit of a disappointment. My old (built circa 2006) WM5 based phone had a 520 MHz CPU and only 64MB of RAM (plus 128MB internal memory). Yet there were things it did better than Android with ooodles of RAM (comparatively) can do. Voice control for 100% handsfree dialing worked fine without a data connection for one thing.

The fact that you had to use the qualifier "comparatively" says all that needs to be said. Modern Android phones allow you to do a great deal more, even if they are not as optimized as they could be. There is a really good reason people are flocking to Android over WM5 phones.

I see these "features" or lack of them as obstacles to be overcome.

The problem is, in order to get the few features you say are better on WM5, you'd have to sacrifice many MORE features that Android has but WM5 doesn't. One step forward, ten steps back. WM5 is a lot farther away from smartphone bliss than Android is (or has been).

 

[vey]

The fact that you had to use the qualifier "comparatively" says all that needs to be said.

All it says is that RAM cost a lot more back when Smart Phones were in their infancy and so did screens and CPUs. I "flocked" to Android because six year old phones tend to be near death.

For me, going from a BREW based phone to a WM5 phone was a wonderful step up and even though there was plenty of life left in my old phone, I was glad I moved up. I'm still trying to figure out how much better off I am. Maybe it's because I'm not a gamer I just don't appreciate it enough.

 

[JeffDenver]

All it says is that RAM cost a lot more back when Smart Phones were in their infancy and so did screens and CPUs.

So what, you could say that about anything. The fact that it might have been a good phone for it's time does not mean it is better than modern phones.

I "flocked" to Android because six year old phones tend to be near death.

The reason you are not flocking to newer versions of those dead phones is because no one wanted them. Thats why they stayed dead. Android offered something better.

For me, going from a BREW based phone to a WM5 phone was a wonderful step up and even though there was plenty of life left in my old phone, I was glad I moved up. I'm still trying to figure out how much better off I am. Maybe it's because I'm not a gamer I just don't appreciate it enough.

I dont game at all either. But the browsing experience alone is light years ahead of anything from that time...including WM5. It is faster (4G), prettier, and more intuitive. Turn by turn navigation on google maps is something none of those phones did as well, if they could do it at all. Dont even get me started on GPS or eBooks. There are many many things modern phones do now that those phones did worse (or usually not at all). It is not even a contest.

By those old standards, smartphone bliss is already here.

 

[vey]

"But the browsing experience alone is light years ahead of anything from that time...including WM5."
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Light years? Nah. Not if you ran Opera Mini on WM5, which I find myself doing more and more often on my 2.2 based phone. The built in browser is good, but pages load far too slowly for my taste even when I am on Wi-Fi. It does have Flash and it does handle java scripting, but there are only a few sites I use where I actually must have a sophisticated browser to find out what I need. Pretty doesn't impress me.

Having a You Tube app is not a major plus for me.

All the rest of your advantages are due to price drops on hardware, improvements in carrier networks or both.

I prefer to use an app that holds my GPS mapping software on the SD card. Google Maps is nice, but it doesn't beat Tom Tom Navigator for features or functionality and you can't get much snappier map recall than what comes off the SD card.

Sadly, Tom Tom doesn't make an Android version for the US, and I tried others, but they either had odd methods of direction (taking me miles out of my way) or lacked features I wanted. I also used to use a separate GPS puck, that I bought for $20. I thought that was a real disadvantage until I started running built-in GPS and saw how fast the battery ran down when I used it. When I ride my bike, I like to log my path (to be uploaded on my PC later) but I sure don't want to be logging away only to find my phone dead and unable to make or receive calls. If the puck went dead, so what?

Oh, and when massive amounts of 4G comes down to $12 a month, let me know.