Yesterday I detailed my quest to find the throngs of Droid fans who had woken up at the crack of dawn to grab a place in line before Verizon unleashed the phone to the masses. Yet despite reports of lines elsewhere, I failed — the Verizon store in Palo Alto was a ghost town, as was the Best Buy down the street. Some commenters took my story and similar reports as an indication that the Droid’s launch had bombed, doomed to play out the same fate of the numerous supposed ‘iPhone killers’ before it. It looks like they may be wrong — that store sold over 70 Droids yesterday, according to one of its employees.
Today I returned to the Verizon store where yesterday’s quest began, looking to get my hands on one of the nifty docking stations that turns your Droid into a desktop clock/multimedia station. And while I expected a handful of other customers to be in the store, I was taken aback by just how crowded it was — each of the registers was busy ringing up a customer while others waited their turn, three people were standing in line just to touch the demo Droid unit, and I had to put my name on the list to talk to someone. When I asked one of the employees if they were selling a lot of Droids, his somewhat breathless response was “Yeah, a lot. Over 70 yesterday, we got a shipment of another 100 in today.” Oh, and they were out of both the dock I had come for and spare batteries. Maybe the lack of an early morning line wasn’t so damning after all.
Obviously this store represents a single data point, but so did my story yesterday. Here’s some more evidence that Droid might be doing pretty well, after all: last night Pandora CTO Tom Conrad tweeted,
“Just saw Pandora’s Android install numbers for the day. Wow! There may not be lines, but Droids are very much among us – and running Pandora”.
We followed up for more details, and while Conrad declined to give any exact stats for now, he did say that Pandora’s download rate tripled, going on to say “We were doing well on Android before though, so the increase is pretty amazing.”
If you’re an Android dev, let us know in the comments if you’ve seen a boost too. And if you’ve passed your local Verizon store, let us know how busy it was.
Reason? Verizon was pretty concealing about the actual phone with their ads and really is banking on viral marketing for the word to spread.
New commercials will definitely feature the phone and the “Droid” chime (which as shallow as this may sound) is pretty addictive to hear.
Agreed. i was hesitant to ditch my iphone until i held a droid in my hand, had touch/see everything myself. Verizon made it tough to get a good read on the device, and the tech vids only serve to tease the a discriminating user like myself.
So i was pretty amped when i rolled into my local store and saw that altho business was brisk, it wasn’t apple-store-maniacal, so i was able to get my hands on one immediately. The droid totally passed muster and i was happy to switch back to verizon (girl i missed you!) Total trip time: under 1 hour.
PS. Hey Tom – Pandora is running sweetly on my droid. I was listening all last night… thanks for making Pandora 2.0 compatible on day 1!
And oh yeah, Pandora is sweet on droid.
So after the “not so phenomenal” unveiling of Motorola Droid to USA yesterday http://bit.ly/d...uered-USA-today
Like us, other buyers are asking too, if did it really conquered america or not (like verizon promises to their “mocking” advertisement)
Now it seems, iPhone realize that they should try AT&T for a change? Dang.. shouldn’t they see what will happen to droid first? before making hasty testosterone induced decisions…
pardon it should be “iphone realize they should try VERIZON for a change”.
—sticky fingers
Good news for Verizon/Google, I guess. I’m not getting rid of my iPhone (or any Apple products) any time soon, but I praise the arrival of a worthy iPhone competitor (finally).
Too bad more iPhone owners aren’t like you. Competition benefits everyone. Every time a phone like the Droid is released and does well it raises the bar for everyone resulting in even better hardware in the near future. I would love to pick up a Droid but since I’m on my employer’s corporate VZW plan I have no upgrade options (boo!).
I for one am VERY happy Apple entered the cell phone market in 2007 and created all this new competition.
Agreed. While I am no longer an iPhone fan, Apple had a huge influence on the market. At least in the US. And every smartphone is better because of it. So I applaud Apple for their effort.
And Android 2.0+ is about to do the same. I’m glad this is all happening now, when I can appreciate the choice, innovation, and general shinyness!
I tried this phone yesterday and was disappointed. The app store has friction that apple doesn’t have. The lack of multitouch makes many apps not nearly a fun or easy to navigate. The touch screen still felt a little clunky to me. I’m surprised how reviewers didn’t bring up how much the lack of multitouch is a serious drawback. The interface while much better, still has a ways to go before it compares to the iPhone. The only thing I liked was the navigation software. Everything else I think the iPhone wins completely and totally. I expect one day a Android phone really will match or exceed the iPhone but imo the Droid isn’t that phone.
Eh, the droid does have multitouch. Virtual keyboards without it would suck
Few things that killed it for me:
- no tethering
- no BT voice dialing
Hopefully they fix it soon.
I think no multitouch is really the only negative for this phone. I definitely miss that from the iPhone but in every other regard I think this phone is 10x better than the iPhone. “Way more apps” doesn’t mean anything. Quantity != Quality. Android has plenty of great apps.
It has multitouch
Nope – it does not have multitouch on Verizon, here in the US. Reportedly the GSM version available in Europe does, but that’s not the crux of this post.
Yes, it does have multi-touch. The hardware and the OS have multi-touch capability. However, none of that matters when none of the apps are supporting it yet. Still not a deal breaker for me. I love this phone so far, and I am a former iPhone user.
what the hell is multitouch????
never mind i found it via google
Yup it does have multitouch… try the PicSay app for instance.
no, it doesn’t have multi touch. The European version does, but the US version does not.
(http://www.geek...h-zoom-2009119/)
One of my friend’s bought the droid on Friday. I tried it. I actually thought I was going to love it.
I couldn’t stand it. It was heavy as hell. It was a brick. It is faster then the G1 – actually a LOT faster. The keyboard is useless and is a waste. They should have just stuck with the on screen keyboard, IMO. I couldn’t keep this phone in my pocket all day while I ran all over the city.
it does have multitouch. hardware supports it. its just that the stock android 2.0 that came with it didnt have it. Im sure there will be an update somewhere.
EVEN android 1.6 HAS MULTITOUCH NOW ON a magic no less.
Because lack of multi-touch is NOT a serious drawback. It mostly useful in games and developers can easily add it now, since Android 2.0 API supports it.
I appreciate the fact I don’t have to put my frickin’ password in every time an app is downloaded/installed.
Jason,
Not to discount your data point but VZ is usually packed on weekends. I experienced the same name on list wait last Saturday when I went in to replace a battery. Another data point, look how many Droids are being sold on eBay at a much cheaper price than the $800+ that they were selling just two days ago as pre orders. Droid is a great device as a first iteration from MOT, but weight is an issue as is the UI for many folks who are not as tech savy as Crunch readers.
Too heavy? What kind of a complaint is that? Look at the screen. Seems like a fair trade off for me.
“I was taken aback by just how crowded it was — each of the registers was busy ringing up a customer while others waited their turn, three people were standing in line just to touch the demo Droid unit, and I had to put my name on the list to talk to someone”
Agreed on the crowded point. In LA, you can’t go to a cell phone store without putting your name on a list. At some, you have to have an appointment in general if you want to get helped in under an hour on a weekend.
I have a harder time picturing a line in front of a Verizon store than a line in front of an Apple/ATT store, mainly because Verizon/ATT doesn’t have a dedicated fan base like Apple does.
I think that a lot of people who bought iPhones were tech enthusiasts and people who appreciated the technology. I think more Droid users than iPhone will be normal people (not into tech) just looking for a good phone.
Droid will do well if it reviews continue to be positive. Verizon has lacked decent phones in the past couple years.
Verizon Touch Pro 2 had some success. They are selling like hot cakes. It has been almost impossible to catch one in stock lately.
I agree, I tried for a week and then gave up. Actually, I am now torn apart between getting a Droid or TP2
I called the nearest Best Buy to me (in Seattle) and they had units, but they were all spoken for. Not sure if there was a line, though.
I found a Walmart that had them in stock and at 11:30am I got the first of three units that store had in stock. Clearly there were not people lining up early to get one at that Walmart.
I did not go anywhere near any Verizon stores so I cannot say if there were lines at any Seattle Verizon stores.
No self respecting geek shops at Walmart. Of course there were no lines there.
My Wal-Mart didnt even have the Droid
On the latest launch date, the IPhone had no lines either, certainly nothing like launchdates of years past; the stores were purposefully sent a small quantity of stock so they would be sold out quickly. This is so word of mouth would be that all stores in the area were sold out; giving the impression that throngs of people were clamoring for the device.
With Apple’s Iphone, if the store you went to was sold out, you could order one but you had to pay for it up front. So, yes the store “sells” you a phone in that you had to pay for it; but you didn’t get to leave that day with a phone in your hand.
I don’t say this to give ammunition to the Apple haters, nor am I implying this is what Verizon is doing. What am I saying is this: the amount of people in line for a device more accurately describes the mood and want for a device than the spin from the PR department.
It’s not correct to say the latest iphone launch “had no lines”, they had smaller lines than previous launches for the perhaps obvious reason that unlike the first launch millions of people already had one. I don’t think any future phone can ever bring the anticipation and the lines that the first iphone did.
IIRC the lines for the iPhone consisted mostly of hired actors…
I can see how you’d recall that…If your memory is from another dimension.
I was at the 5th Avenue store, and there was a huge line, though it moved “fairly” quickly…Definitely not like the 1st gen or 2nd gen, but a line nonetheless – although that really doesn’t mean anything when it comes to the success of the phone in the longterm.
I knew nothing about the launch, but walked to the Seattle store on 6th looking to get some help with my faltering Motorola Q. After learning my phone was a gonner, I was talked into a Droid from HTC. So far, I really like it. Has the bells and whistles I cared about in the iPhone without having to switch to the dismal AT&T service. That’s what has held me back from the iPhone. Oh, and I hate iTunes. Alas, I don’t think there’ll be Zune software for the droid anytime soon…
Was at my local Verizon store in SE Houston @ 6am. Was more staff then customers. Took about an hour. Got the desk base and the car mount and the car charger. I switched from AT&T Samsung Epix WinMo. So far so good. Searched Best Buy; Verizon; Fry’s; Staples; Radio Shack; and Office Depot for a 32gb Micro SD card but no one had one. Will shop online with my Droid.
32gb Micro SD card? Probably couldn’t find one because they don’t sell them yet.
Honestly, the fact that people are lining up for a phone — regardless of whether said line is 5 people long or 500 — is simply incredible.
There are very few phones (at least stateside) that have really managed to do that. While it’s not necessarily an absolute sign of success (after all, the original Storm pulled in some lines), it’s certainly something to be excited about if only because it’s a sign that folks outside of the tech-obsessed are starting to care.
How is a line 5 deep incredible? That could be just bad service. Now you have a line of 500 then that is a phone people want to buy.
Went to a Verizon store. Plenty of Droids in stock and no line. Was able to walk up and play with both Android phones with no waiting. Not a fan of the keyboard. Liked holding the Eris a little more.
Lines mean absolutely nothing. They’re very easy to manipulate to make the image the store wants. Verizon could easily make the phone purchase process one-two minutes long, so with say 10 reps, they should be able to process hundreds of phones an hour. They want the store to seem busy though so they make the process take 20-30 minutes, which can create a line of a few hundred people that could have been processed very quickly. I used to work for Disney World and they’re complete experts on line management. They get every line to be 30-40 minutes regardless of the number of people in the park. There could be 5,000 or 50,000 in the park, and they always get you waiting on line for a similar amount of time, thinking there is a similar amount of people on line all the time, also with tricks to control the speed of the line so you always feel like you’re moving a similiar speed. Most rides are operated under 20% capacity all the time to create the tons of people on the line.
“Most rides are operated under 20% capacity all the time to create the tons of people on the line.”
How does it benefit Disney to artificially waste people’s time? If that’s true I’d really like to know why.
The most obvious answer is that by slowing the rate people can ride the rides, more people are likely to return to the park for to”finish” it.
If everyone got to ride each ride multiple times in one day, vacationers might do something different rather than spend additional time there.
It is pretty simple. They charge one entrance fee and every ride inside is paid for. So there is no incentive for Disney to move quickly. It works almost like a DMV.
Went to the store on 34th St in NYC. All the registers had lines (7 or so). There were 3 people waiting to touch the droid and see the other offerings. This was at 3pm. I’ve never seen the store so busy. Played with it for 10 min. Bought it. Took about 30 min for them to transfer my #’s from my touch pro2. Now listed on ebay.
After 2 days with droid, its a keeper! PS Loaded pandora on day one.
Also RDP and 15 other apps over the last 2 days.
The phone is a worthy competitor to the iphone (Although I won’t be ditching my iphone anytime soon).
For anyone looking for a new phone, the GPS mapping is a pretty good reason to get the Droid
A worthless and uninspiring piece.
Is Techcrunch going to follow the launch of every future new Smartphone when it hits the high streets.
Or is this special privilege only being given to every new Google Android Smartphone.
This “privilege” is given because the Droid represents the first phone that can truly compete with the iPhone. If you recall, this was what the Palm Pre was supposed to do.
The best part about this is that Apple has probably been brewing the next generation of iPhone to blow away the upcoming Android phones. They’re not the complacent type = everyone wins.
Agreed. I think we are going to start seeing a steady stream of really good phones from all the big players including Microsoft (eventually). The smartphone push in the consumer space that started with the iPhone isn’t slowing down anytime soon. I think this will be a lot different than the near monopoly of windows and intel in the personal computer space.
It’s great to see Android on a strong piece of hardware. As a happy iPhone 3GS owner I’m looking forward to the next generation of SoC’s from the ARM chip vendors and how they are used by Apple, Google and RIM in their upcoming devices. End users will benefit the most, not the carriers. Hopefully the FCC can follow through.
wrong technical guy, youre kind of forgetting the Palm Pre which usurps this pos from verizon in every way shape and form. yes palm pre has had free gps coordinates too for a year now
Having tried the Pre (returned it), I feel the Droid represents an improvement in many way. I do wish that the droid had the card system, as its a gool way to flip through open apps (there may be something like that available for Android I am not aware of yet), but generally I am finding droid superior in every other way.
I like it much more than the 3G. Never had the 3GS
You know just because the Droid is missing the feature you most need doesn’t mean it’s a POS device. Have some objectivity.
Think what you want, but try to be accurate. The pre has been out for 5 months (+ a couple of days), not a year. Pre has GPS coordinates, but what people are raving about is the navigation and voice search.
That being said, I’m kinda sad that Palm’s WebOS has just been dealt a death blow. It would have been good to have that additional phone OS in the mix, pushing everyone along.
FTRecord – I bought a DROID (replaced a Treo 700W), because it was the first Verizon phone that came close to meeting my ‘must have’ list. (Missing BT voice dialing is a big negative).
The store I went to (NJ, not far from NYC) had ~50 people lined up at 7 AM (not 50 buyers ’cause some were families buying one phone, but still a good sized line). I stayed around for over two hours (being late to arrive I was late to be served, and I spent a good amount of time talking to the Motorola tech rep and the Verizon marketing lady that were was at the store for the launch). By the time I left they had sold every dock they had in stock, but had yet to have a single inquiry about the HTC Eris.
TC is paid to promote Android.
By the way what happened to the Crunchpad? Wasn’t it suppose to be in stores by now? MA was supposed to have a big announcement. All are MIA.
Because of course there aren’t enough slurping Apple fanboi blogs out there to worship everything coming out of Infinite Loop, Inc.
Hit the Soho Verizon store yesterday to pick up my piece. Definitely no line out the door, but was pretty crowded inside.
Absolutely in love with it. Blackberry loyalist here, and iTouch user. Very glad I went with the Droid and not the iPhone/any rumored BB device coming out over the next year.
No crowds at the Berkeley Shattuck store yesterday or today (when I got my Droid). They sold about 80 yesterday and were busy today.
Note: i have zero local Apple stores but three handy Verizon stores. Google says about 200 Apple stores in US vs 1300 – 2000 Verizon (counting in-store kiosks).So crowding ought to be a lot less at the Verizon shop, even without the ability to order online from Verizon directly.
Why do so many people forget that iPhones also get sold at AT&T stores on launch day? Lines form in front of them too, but not as impressively as in front of Apple stores.
No self respecting Apple geek would be caught dead inside ATT store. They hate ATT and worship Apple.
There are well over 2000 AT+T stores that sell the iPhone.
As an owner of all the previous iPhones (x,3g,3gs) and a convert to Droid / Verizon as of yesterday (due to my iPhone being stolen), I can say that the Droid is no iPhone.
The difference b/w Droid and the iPhone is similar to the difference between Linux and OSX. The iPhone is certainly more polished, but considerably more restrictive.
That said, I like it. And I’m looking forward to the “interesting” things that I’ll be able to do with the Droid, that Apple would not allow. And if nothing else, I no longer have to suffer through AT&T service!
I agree with you, I love the droid way more than the iPhone, but I’m a nerd. The iPhone definitely has more polish but for me that doesn’t matter. However, for a lot of people it does, and you can tell how much work Apple put into the iPhone being super easy to use. My mom has an iPhone and can use it for calls/email/web, but if I handed her the Droid she’d probably take a shit because it’s just not as easy to use. But once you get past the learning curve it is an absolutely amazing phone.
Apple is able to pull the wool over people’s eyes with their underpowered, under-featured devices because of fancy chrome and polish. Real tech nerds prefer Android and Linux.
Um yeah, their underpowered device called the 3GS that only had a much, much better core processor and GPU than any other phone (stateside, at least) except the Pre until the Droid came out several months later with the same processor.
Agreed. Got my Droid on opening morning, and while an incredibly impressive device in many ways, it’s no iPhone.
As a game developer/publisher, the current restrictions of Apps to the 256MB memory limit is a killer; until that gets lifted, we’ll not see the plethora of really great games on the Android platform that we see on the iPhone/iPod Touch platform (which I might add, is the #1 revenue driver).
Anecdotally, I was surprised with myself, at how much I used/missed multi-touch from the iPhone until I started using the Droid. Hoping that this silly restriction on the CDMA version gets fixed soon.
Oh, and all the reviews are right… 5MP camera is no big deal; images kinda suck compared to auto-focus on the iPhone 3GS
As a game developer you should know that you can store game data on SD card. Also you should know that Android 2.0 API supports multi-touch.
If you meaning multi-touch in browser, personally I don’t need it at all. Used zoom buttons on G1 once or twice in last 10 month, on the pages where font was too small.
I honestly don’t see why anyone would want to play a serious game on such a small screen anyways. That can’t be more then a few 1000 users who would really care about such a thing. Probably a good decision by Motorola to ignore that for now. The big money is in the other features like GPS and Google Maps integration.
And, I have no idea why people play Mafia Wars on Facebook for all hours of the day. The biggest lesson is that you are not your audience!
Have you never even heard of the App Store? Games are so huge on there that Apple did a 180 and can’t stop talking about games at this point.
Android needs to do whatever they can to promote games if they want to get some real momentum going.
It’s sort of ironic. Apple limits content on the iPhone but I am able to deal with just about any technical issue from the media perspective. Google does not present such limits on choice, but does so technically.
I’m curious, are you worried about fragmentation because of the memory issues down the road? That is certainly something Apple has going for it. I am torn but happy that competition is heating up.
The Verizon Store I went to on 5th and 20th was sparse, but that’s because people like me can order the DROID online for $150 in places like Wirefly.
Plus, Apple Stores and AT&T dealers that sell the iPhone are outnumbered by Verizon, Best Buy, Walmart, 6th Ave, PC Richard, and dozens of other dealers and websites that sell the DROID.
Since iPhone distribution channels are so sparse, of course there will be media-grabbing lines everywhere.
I like the iPhone, but I ordered a DROID because it suited my needs. And hopefully the next gen iPhone will once again blow away the competition.
But for a tech site I’m surprise people are judging a phone’s success by non-tech metrics like lines and crowded stores.
This post, however, seems to properly measure the DROID’s initial success.
So thank you.
This is sounding really desperate, I guess people need to validate their purchases.
Apple, AT&T, Walmart, and Best Buy all sell iPhones.
not to mention RadioShack will start selling it too
General Question: What happens to all of the old phones? I know some are donated, handed down and other stuff.
Is there a company recycling all of the old stuff?
umm, do you read the news? yeah… tons.
Yes, I read the news. However, I still asked the question. May I have the name of some of them?
Smartphones sell for a good amount on ebay because people want to buy them out of contact. While you can get a new 3G iphone (not the 3GS, but the original 3G) for just $99, the original iPhone, *without* 3G, still sells for around $300 on ebay. It’s insane, really. That’s where I’m planning to sell my old iPhone though, now that I have the Droid and am in nerd heaven.
Its not completely insane. The plan for the original iphone is 15-20$ cheaper than the 3G and 3GS.
Over two years, you save 360-480$. Slower internet, but it may not matter if most of the day you are near wifi.
In other news, I saw a line at McDonalds, which tells me their new offering is an iPhone killer. I also saw a line at the Subway shop, so I know their new sub is an iPhone killer.
I didn’t even know about it.
I need to get up to speed with these mobile devices so I can travel with my online cleaning business consulting site.
I too wonder about all this iWaste. We have to start up-cycling these product designs, it is crime to be polluting so much!
I went to the Verizon store in Irvine right after work to pick up my Droid, there was alot of people there. Not sure how many were there for the Droid but it was busy and there was a crowd around the demo unit.
Is this a Global techsite, or a local tech news blog?
These kinds of comments are my favorite.
And these are mine.
Looks like its turning into a Google PR Site
Because there aren’t enough pro-Apple sites out there? We need balance!
Why is everybody expecting lines? It’s just absurd. No phone that will be released from a non-Apple brand will get queues. That does not mean people don’t accept it.
The reason iPhone launch gets long lines is because of the cult-like following Apple has. Because of the fanbois who will line up to buy even a piece of snot of Steve Jobs. Those people (people who line up at 2 in the morning) hardly care about what the iPhone is doing or its capabilities or anything.. They are just naive followers..
Droid is doing fine.. give it time.. all these talk about no lines outside Verizon shops are doing the Droid sales damage…
+1
You arrive at the right conclusion, but your reasoning has no merit. Yes, only the iPhone launches will get queues, but it is not because of cult-like behavior. According to your reasoning, naive fanboys would also form queues when new Macs and iPods are released, right? But queues for these products don’t form; not even for the iPod Touch. So that obliterates your attempt at apologizing for the Droid not having the same “queue forming power” as the iPhone.
The fanboyism definitely has a lot to do with it. A new Mac costs minimum $1000 – excluding the joke Mac mini that no one actually buys. An iPhone only costs $99 – $199 up front. Big difference. Apple has a serious cult following, if you don’t think that has anything to do with lines for every iPhone launch, you need to step outside that reality distortion field, my friend.
iPods cost from 59.00 to 200.00, so why are there no lines when they debut new products?
Apples and Oranges (number of retail outlets)
There are no lines when new iPods debut because they are available at many outlets. I’m betting Verizon has many, many more stores than Apple does. Thus, less chance of lines (for the Droid) at any given store.
Has anyone checked out the numbers of Verizon vs. Apple stores (and other Verizon affilaites that carry the Droid, which probably number in the thousands?) In addition, my hometown AT&T Wireless affiliate was not authorized to sell the iPhone, so I reluctantly ended a nearly ten-year relationship with that store and owner.
No RDF here. I’ve been a PC guy since Windows 95 and don’t give a flying crap about Mac or iPods. I never bought any Apple product in my life until I got in line that first iPhone launch day in 2007. Apple fans AND the general public were clamoring for this revolutionary (but by no means perfect) portable internet device.
Back to your cost argument: the iPod Nano got a pretty nice upgrade this year and costs $149-179, so the stores should have had lines forming outside the door, right? Nope; lines have never formed for ANY Nano release.
Any one who stand in the que for a phone is a FOOL. No matter what make it is.
First you cant compare the iPhone launch to a iMac launch. The iPhone was a 100% new product from Apple. It was also the first U.S cell phone that really showed off what you could do with a cell. Apple upped the whole cell game in the U.S with that phone.
That being said each year after they launch a new phone and the line get smaller and smaller. This dose not mean that the newer phones are not as good, because they are in fact are better. All it means is that the novelty, of shinny new phones, is waring off, and that less people feel the need to wait in line at 2 am.
Looking back at the first iPhone line, if you remember the first person to get the phone was some media whore. The dude did not care about the phone he just wanted to get on the news, and then sell the phone online.
This whole argument argument is stupid. It reminds me of when all the Madden fanboys cheered when EA got the exclusive license to the NFL, and killed the 2K series. Now look at Madden hasten gotten significantly better in the last 3 years.
Bottom line competition is, no mater what side you are on, in theTech field ALWAYS good for the consumer!
Apparently Jason has never been to a Verizon store, especially on the weekend. I have always had to put my name on a list when going into a verizon store, whether it was for a part, getting a new phone, a contract renewal. This is standard procedure and has nothing to do with people wanting to buy the Droid. On weekend I always had to wait and there are long lines, as they are understaffed and only interested in you when they can upsell you.
hrmm, i went to my verizon store and my local Best Buy both today and yesterday to ask about the droid. They all had plenty instock and I plan on picking one up for purchase tomorrow, I am very excited.
I bought droid in Miami downtown today, store was empty.
It’s an iphone competitor but not as polished. I will carry both for now and see how it goes. I like some of the quaint little things the Droid does that my iPhone wont. My iPhone is so much more useful right now because of the app selection. That will come in time with android. Hopefully.
Yeah well hard to find good apps when every other one is another fart app.
Did you not just read what he said? He has BOTH and the app selection is better on the App Store than Android Market.
Comprende?
Went to a Best Buy and Verizon store to try out the keyboard before buying. The Best Buy guy said they have been selling strongly, and their were only 5 or 6 left. Didn’t talk to anyone at the Verizon store, but while I was playing with the Droid they had on display, a teenager came in to ogle at it.
The keyboard was pretty good, better than I expected coming from my Treo 700p. My only complaint would probably be the keys were a little too easy to press, which made it easier to accidentally hit two keys at a time. I’ll be buying a Droid, although it will be a shame to get rid of my SERO plan.
Went to one of the Verizon stores in Tampa. They said that they sold about 50 yesterday and that they have 90 left. Of the 50 sold about 20% were AT&T customers.
Loving the Verizon service and the potential of the android platform.
Awesome! I heard a lot of people were able to grab them at Walmart the night before the launch. So maybe some of the hardcore fans got them early. I’m excited to play with the Droid for sure.
Went last night to check out the phones and back again this morning. The sales guy who helped me said they had sold 20 droids (and I am in a pretty small city – 100k population). I did not really like the moto droid that much, it seemed a bit clunky and the user interface turned me off a bit. But the HTC Eris I absolutely loved – so my brother and I both got one.
I love the Sense UI and how smooth it is to use and operate. The contact list looks nice and syncs with gmail and allows you to pull some info from facebook (although I am disappointed it will not pull email or phone numbers from fb)…
Wifi++
Just thought about this. Could the reason for there be much smaller lines for the Droid than the iPhone be explained by the fact that Apple has significantly fewer storefronts? In my state, CO, there are 6 Apple stores and God only know how many Best Buys, 25? 30? 50? I stated to check and got bored counting before I left the Denver metro area. That doesn’t even count Verizon stores.
Yeah, I got curious and checked it. Best Buy has 3,900 stores worldwide and Apple has over 200. So it would make sense that the lines would be 5% of the size, right?
Walmart sells the iPhone. Care to do the math for how many stores they have and report back your results?
It doesn’t matter how many Walmarts there are, since they also sell Droids. Each Walmart will have the same affect on iPhone and Droid lines.
You need to come up with stores that sell the iPhone but not the Droid, after which you can re-do the math.
You forget that AT&T stores sell iPhone on launch day too. The reason why lines were much shorter is quite simple: significantly fewer people want the Droid as compared to the iPhone.
Thanks for the input, fanboy.
haha. at&t always had like 6 units per store on iPhone launch day, too..
People also like the shiny, glossy Apple stores. They are cool to look at. Especially it’s cool to look at all those expensive devices and peripherals that you can’t afford. It’s an aspirational thing.
No fanboyism here, just logic. Verizon revealed the Droid on Oct 17 and released a commercial that doesn’t show the product or user interface. Then 3 days before the launch day, the “Stealth” commercial is released. Again no product is shown. Even tech geeks comment that only tech geeks understand these commercials.
Verizon starts selling the Droid just 3 short weeks after the Oct 17 reveal. No lines formed because of their ineffective marketing campaign to develop awareness and demand among the general public.
All first generation technology has issues, including the beloved iPhone. The Droid too will have shortcomings in the first version, but those will be worked out when the second generation is released. I’m just glad to see some real competition for Apple since innovation in the Windows Mobile market is seriously lacking. Competition is good.
Really, though, I don’t know how accurate Pandora’s numbers could be. They just pushed an update on the same day as the droid launch. I have a myTouch and updated my Pandora app on that day.
Not to say droid’s launch wasn’t big, but basing it on Pandora downloads is probably not very accurate, especially considering the update.
Our update for Android 2.0 went out a couple of days before the Droid launch. What’s more, we can tell where the installs are happening — the huge increase is almost entirely Droid users.
Tom
CTO @ Pandora
pwned.
nice, though. I’m psyched to see Android picking up steam.
How was he ‘pwned’? You think pandora has no reason to open their pieholes? Tom is a classic dot.com blowhard trying to create a buzz with his product.
And all these comments about “cult-like” behavior to explain long iPhone lines. Gee, I can’t imagine it has anything to do with Apple creating a superior product, would it? Droid is just another attempt in a long line of me-too phones. No innovation, just another copy. Which happens to run Linux so all the open-source lunatics can get their panties wet.
Next.
We develop the “Bible” app on the Android which is a top 25 app. We saw our installs more than double what is normal for Friday and appear to be on their way to exceeding that for Saturday. The Droid made up the strong majority of the increase followed by the CLIQ and the Eris.
Picked one up yesterday at BB. No lines just a steady trickle of people. Tried to pick up a dock at Palo Alto today too with no luck. Whole area seems to be out.
Steady trickle is better than “line then nothing” in my book.
I am dissapointed in my Droid. My jailbroken iPhone is much better, as much as I wanted the Droid to be better, it’s not, not in any single way except the beautiful screen, IMO. And for business? Forget it, check this out: You know it’s bad when someone wants to go back to a Treo instead!: https://support...m/message/61675
The Droid is better in every respect than the iPhone except for the “ease of use” factor for people who are bad with computers. And the camera. Other than that, if you think the iphone is better, you’re just a fanboy.
Eh… You know you are in trouble when you start using the “well… but… the only thing that is better is the competitor is easier to use”. A significant number of people will buy “easier to use” devices – all other things being equal.
The Droid may turn out to be an amazing product. But “more things to tinker with” isn’t always a plus. Its the sweet spot of functionality and simplicity that makes a great product.
Yeah, us tech-savvy people should hate an interface that’s fun and enjoyable to use or we’re not “real geeks.”
That’s why everyone uses Linux. Oh wait…
I bought mine the day it came out and already have it running tons of apps and widgets. As far as I’m concerned there is no better phone. The widgets alone are awesome.
I went back today and there were people coming in and out of the store and while I was waiting I went over to the droid and IPhone users were comparing them.
One said he was switching ASAP since AT&T’s reception was terrible.
I think we will see lots of AT&T IPhone users change over because of the network. If Apple wants to continue to dominate they need to open it up to other carriers before it’s too late.
I work at bestbuy mobile. We sold more droids on launch day then we sold iphone 3gs on launch day.
I got mine from BestBuy…. I asked them how many people came in for the Droid… She said “counting you 94″…… !!!!!!!! That’s a lot…
I can’t believe Verizon only has one Droid demo unit out in the Verizon store I visited today in Columbia, MD. There were a couple people gathered around the display waiting for their turn to touch the elusive Droid. The keyboard really disappointed me. Felt like typing on a touchscreen with no feedback. Kind of pointless there.
The keyboard could be better but I don’t think it’s as bad as the reviews make it out to be. Besides, the virtual keyboard is about 95% as good as the iPhone’s. I’m fine with the virtual keyboard in most instances anyways so even if the hardware keyboard was the worst phone keyboard ever made – it doesn’t really matter that much. It’s nice to have it as an option though.
Just so happens that early-adopter folks anticipating the Droid have their fanboi priorities in line enough to not need to take off work or wake up at 4:30 to stand in line to be the first to get a goddamn phone.
Droid over iPhone simply because you can take a Droid and hack the pleasurable shit out of it. I’d expect in the next few weeks to see the Droid turn from a basic Android 2.0 device into something extremely slick. The phone fanbase is definitely there, we’ just need to get some anxious developers on board!
The fact some people would line up to pay $2839 to $3799 for a phone (depending on contracts), and that some analysts think it would be a normal, is just pure proof that there are many morons in the world.
When is the last time TechCrunch simply stated the total cost of ownership for some of those smartphones they talk about all the time?
*crickets*
Ding, ding, ding. That’s the reason I will not buy ANY smart phone. It’s for suckers, UNLESS your company is paying for it.
So those of us that use our smart phones more than a desktop or laptop are “suckers” to pay for this ability. Interesting concept.
Thank you. The only carrier that seems to have decent pricing options is T-Mobile, which is up front about offering phones at full retail and then getting discounted monthly fees, so a smartphone with data plan can be had for $60/mo range (and month-to-month, no contract), not the $100+/mo robbery some other carriers try to lock you on on (Verizon’s plans are stupidly high.)
Droid will ultimately be a strong competitor to the iPhone. It has Google’s support. It has killer apps like Google Voice and Navigation. Developers are starting to offer their support. For example I hear that NeuroMobile will be available on the Droid soon. I’m not ready to give up my iPhone even with the ATT service issues but I can see how some might. It also seems like a good solution for those locked-in to a Verizon contract. In any case the competition will only make the iPhone better.
The store in Encinitas down here in San Diego was nearly empty tonight and the few in the store didn’t seem especially interested in Droid (the few that did glance seemed to find the HTC version more interesting). The Motorola Droid screen is beautiful and the phone is well built. The physical keyboard didn’t impress me much (very cramped for my fingers – and I have small hands — I may just be too indoctrinated in Apple’s on-screen keyboard at this point…). I’m a developer (mobile applications for all the usual suspects — have compiler, will travel) and I think that Android has a ways to go. For me, intuitiveness and consistency are still lacking in the UI. I also wasn’t impressed with UI performance on Droid, which surprised me (550Mhz Arm processor beats my 400Mhz iPone3G… Droid is close though, a little more perf tuning on Android and I’d be happy) . I’ve seen reviewers mention ‘everything runs fast and smooth’… wasn’t my impression?
One of my favorite Verizon DROID quotes:
http://www.yout...h?v=gAkCbMB_f90
Apple fan boys are just looking for excuses to keep their reality distortion field in full effect. They love the iphone and god forbid there’s another phone out there that’s any good.
Just because there weren’t huge lines like there are for every iPhone launch doesn’t mean anything. This phone sold very well, I guarantee it was one of the best phone launches ever.
If you like your iPhone – fine, keep it, what the hell do I care. But let me enjoy my new Droid, damnit – I think it kicks the living shit out of the iPhone. But that’s just my opinion, don’t let it sway you. You like the iPhone, keep using it and buy the next one – I don’t care. But you have no idea what you’re missing out on. And no, “100,000 apps” is not a valid argument.
It’s a great device and nobody is preventing you from enjoying your device. 100,000 apps is most definitely a valid argument, but Android will do well too.
The sooner we purge the world of the word “fanboy” and those who wield it, the sooner I’ll be able to enjoy these discussions!
Technology fanboys have been around since the times when we were choosing between direct & alternating current. Edison vs Tesla was the MSFT vs Apple of the time, but the Apple lost thanks to government interference.
LOL! Pot meet kettle.
This is beginning to sound just a bit desperate….
I do not own an iPhone or a Droid. But I am in favor of any company that pushes Apple out of their comfort zone. I hope Droid is the one. The iPhone needs some competition.
Comfort zone? Oh, you must mean that “safe” move of a computer company deciding to make a cell phone. Damn that Apple. When are they gonna innovate!
Move along
You’re just trolling. If you hate non-Apple devices so much stop commenting on them.
test drive google android on your pc and then comment about the droid.
http://www.zjte...n-your-windows/
http://www.zjte...rosoft-windows/