“He wondered what the man’s name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had lead him in the long march from his home; and if he would not really have rather stayed there in peace,” was said by J.R.R Tolkien in one of his books and I believe Steve Jobs, iPhone, and Android feel the same way about one another.
To no surprise, at least to those in the tech world loop, the big red, the savior of Android, and the one who created the phrase, “in a world of iCan’t, Droid does” have announced that they will now be offering their own CDMA/EVDO version of the iPhone.
Le gasp and other possible onomatopoeia that one could have expressed but the truth is that this has caused a bit of stir. Not a lot of commotion, but enough for certain sites to conduct a poll of how many people are ready to jump ship and leave Android for iPhone.
This chain of events is very ironic with the word spreading around about a class action lawsuit against Samsung and T-MobileUSA for lack of updating their phone and how this new variable will influence people to lean one way or the other.
Like many, a lot of phone users are set in their ways. Some have not left their Blackberries, others have not their iPhones, and some have not left their Android phones. The fact of the mater is that these personal items are of high value to us as consumers and busy people who like one device to do everything for us in one go.
To say that the iPhone on Verizon is nothing to totally be worried about would be foolish and naive, but because of this a few good things will come out of it. If people are frustrated with Android updates and have not found the amazingly awesome folks at XDA, now they will look at those people who strive at keeping the Android community better than cellular providers, and those who do nothing but complain and beat on Android can now enjoy a device that may be better for their needs. This also reflects back on what Andy Rubin said about the consumers making the “right” decisions as to what devices they want and what carries to go with, this of course is in regards to Android (and I paraphrased).
Verizon must not be considered as a traitor, for they have invested a lot in the Android name, and though I have never been a patron, I always looked like a kid about to see the first Pokemon movie every time I saw a Droid commercial. For that I am thankful, but there is another outcome that can make this move better for the Android community; for everyone involved as carriers. This will make manufacturers, Google, and cellular providers seriously BEEF up their Android line-up. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.
Ladies, gentlemen, and Android fan boys and girls fret not over this move for we must stay strong in our hopes for our beloved Android phones. It is still relatively young in the field that it has now entered and with Microsoft making fun of our Doughnut update, soon it will be our turn to have the one up on them all. If all the other carriers invested as much time and effort as Verizon did with their Droid campaign, it will go down beautifully.
I for one see four Android phones for every one iPhone I see at my university and I don’t think people are no longer stuck in the mentality that Android is “iPhone-esque” but rather a whole different and powerful beast. Perhaps there is a reason that the Nexus One was a GSM model, as well as the Nexus S but only time will tell.