NewlyNested: Girling Out On The New Droid

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a blogumn by Debra Goykhman

Photo Credit: Nicole Lee

While all of my friends have been toting around iPhones I have been stuck with a normal LG phone. Just last week my husband, who is on Sprint’s plan, bought the most recent Sprint version of the Google phone.   Even though he was happy to be out of the Palm world he was still complaining that his new Samsung Moment is nothing compared to the Verizon Droid.  Therefore his new phone goal became to convince me (I’m on Verizon) to buy the Droid, which was just released this past Friday.

I love my Mac.  Therefore, an iPhone has been a dream purchase of mine for years.  But I didn’t want to switch to AT&T for a variety of reasons.  With the Droid’s release came my hope to change my life.  How?  Looking up addresses, information, prices, email, all while on the road and with a handy smart phone.  Having the Droid was going to be a huge time saver.  Yet I was still hesitant.  When I looked at my husband’s new phone I scrunched up my nose, put it in my hand and said, “it’s too heavy.”  Even though I went to a nerd school, I don’t think like a nerd or a boy.  I think like a typical girl.  I’m not excited about the 3G network, the widgets, or the new Google navigation.  I get excited about how pretty the application boxes look on the iPhone, how slender the iPhone is and how little weight it’s going to add to my already heavy purse.  This all drives my husband crazy.  The only enthusiasm we share for smart phones is how much practicality it can bring in our lives.

My husband eventually convinced me to go get the phone and give it a try.  The following Friday I was in the Verizon store at 9am buying the Droid.  I don’t know much about why technically some folks like the Droid and others like the iPhone, but I have heard things.  I’ve heard that the iPhone will arbitrarily reject applications from the app store and the Droid phones won’t.  I also heard that iPhone can’t run 2 applications at the same time.  My husband complains about the language you need to use to create apps on the iPhone, and also about you only being able to create apps on a Mac. Finally, the Droid is hooked up to all things Google, which is a huge part of most people’s life (whether it be gmail, calanders, or maps).

The truth is I like my new phone.  I like it too much.  I find myself distracted by each notification (annoyingly in “DROID” noise) and I even had to have most of my notifications shut off so I wouldn’t be tempted to look through my email while driving.  It’s like Facebook all over again.  I try to talk myself out of using my phone.  It’s a time suck.

The thing that I like most is having everything I need in my pocketbook.  Saturday I was out by myself and stopped for lunch.  I had no books, no magazines, but I had full access to the internet to read while I dined alone.  My biggest complaint, however, is the advertising for this product.   This Verizon Meteor ad is so male driven that it actually turns me off from buying the product (they’re lucky I bought it before I saw the commercial).

Now that I finally have updated my phone I need some great apps.  Anyone know of any must haves out there?  And how do you feel about owning a smart phone?

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