the pursuit of techyness

Blackberry Curve for me. It has Ubertwitter, and Google Voice (not available on Iphone). The biggest plus is push email and I always found it hard to type on small touchscreens

Maurice had the best comment about the Edge/2G network. Sure, Verizon has a large network throughout the country - but where will you be?

Houston - Covered
Ohio - Covered
New York - Covered

Seriously - any place you travel, you'll be able to enjoy the same quality of cell service and 3g speed as you would with Verizon. ATT might drop calls from time to time, but honestly - when I was a Verizon customer, I dropped calls from time to time. It happens on every carrier. I love my iPhone. Sure, the battery isn't good on it but you want to know why: I'm CONSTANTLY on it. I'm playing on apps. I'm booking reservations on it on opentable. I'm hailing a cab with Taxi Magic. I'm finding out what song is playing with Shazam. I'm at a mall scanning the UPC codes with Red Laser to see if I can find it cheaper online. I'm tweeting, foursquaring, flickring - all the time. That's why the battery stinks. I use my phone. When I had a blackberry, outside of checking mail or texting, I wouldn't use it. No wonder the battery lasted so long....

Everyone-

Thanks so much for your comments. With the droid launch today, I'm feeling the pressure of making a decision and your feedback has been very helpful!

I'm going to close the polls tonight at MIDNIGHT- and I'd love to get at least 100 votes on the pool - so please re-tweet on twitter (if you have it)

thanks again, and you know i'll follow up with pictures!

Go a new route...go with the Maemo based Nokia N900...that is the phone to beat now!

Couple of other random thoughts:

- Telco companies' definitions of "3G" are not created equal, so it might be good to look into what they consider 3G.

- Since the 3G coverage is pretty spotty with ATT, your iPhone will likely flip between EDGE and the 3G network. In the same vein, keeping both radios on the iPhone enabled for this significantly hurts its battery life.

- I like the prospect of anything Android right now simply because of the open development platform. So long as the AppStore remains restricted by Apple, I can see the number of Android apps actually surpassing AppStore apps in a relatively short period of time.

- The iPhone can't multitask - no background apps - save a few of the built in features. Which leads me to...

- The iPhone 3GS can be considered sorta mid-life right now, so if one was to decide to go the Apple route, it's probably best to wait for whatever the next version is. You can spring for the 3GS at a slashed price, or the new hotness for the current price of the 3GS.

Brad -

I think it's adorable. To those people who say it's lame... I say shhh!!!

thanks for your comment!

Just switched from Bberry to iPhone 3GS last week...

..holy crap I've been missing out.

The ONLY con so far (which is either adorable or lame, depending on your perspective) is that I miss BBM-ing my GF.

Just read all the comments, so here is my new input:

- the iPhone WILL NOT be going to VZW. They use a CDMA network (along with Spring) while the rest of the world (literally) uses a GSM-based network. I can elaborate on this if anyone wants more info.

- AT&T's 3G network is not as big as VZW (fact), but the 2G/EDGE network totally is. You won't notice a difference in call quality just in speed. Also... AT&T has 3G in ALL major cities + towns around them. So unless you live in the middle of nowhere......

- I'm a long-term (5 years) AT&T customer and I love my iPhone, but neither of them are perfect (yet?). no zoom or camera flash, lack of custom sounds (ringtone and notification), no removable storage or battery are just some of the short-comings of the iPhone. As for AT&T... I think all US-cellphone companies are dumb...I HATE locked device >=(

- I've got you guys covered in the tents and sleeping back area if you camp out. All stuff from when I camped out for my Wii 2 years ago ;-)

I haven't any of the comments above (yet) but I'm going to assume based on the voting results that most people are pushing the iPhone - so let me play a bit of The Devils Advocate here.

Recently I met somebody who works for Motorola while at a party and being the nerd that I am... we started talking about phones. I mentioned how they must hate Apple for taking their long-lasting market place as 'communication kings' along with their market share.

He said that he's been with Motorola for a little over 3 years... and never - until now - could he actually tell people "go get a Motorola phone". He admitted to be a BB user just because the Motorola phones "were not there yet". He said the company is standing really proud behind both the 'Click' and the 'Droid'. He said he's used them both and they are better than a BB and at least as good an iPhone depending on the persons preference.


PS: I've had an iPhone 3GS since launch (upgraded from a Samsung BlackJack) and it has changed my life. I honestly don't know how I lived my life w/o it.

I saw your link to this post - just wanted to add my input/experience. I was a Verizon customer, until my phone got fried by a massive rainstorm :(

It cost me less money to pay the cancellation fee halfway through my contract(based on how long you've been a customer, and negotiable with some charm) and switch carriers to AT&T AND upgrade to the iPhone, than to pay full price for a decent replacement phone from Verizon. So that's what I did! I've actually gotten BETTER reception from AT&T, and roll-over minutes (yay!). I straight up love my iPhone - user interface is key. Also something to consider, it has a removable SIM card. Verizon phones, as far as I know, don't (I lost everything when my Verizon phone died). So, if your happy with Verizon, give the Droid a shot. On the other hand, everything being equal the iPhone is the sure bet. Hope this helps some.

This is the situation... Alltel was originally my carrier, and then they were bought by Verizon.

So, now I am a Verizon customer, but I will be "free" from contracts in January!

I think most are in agreement that if the iPhone was on ANY other network, it would be the clear winner.

Thank you for all of your comments - it's incredibly helpful!

If you're already on ATT, the iPhone will probably win this vote. If you're on another network, I wouldn't be able to justify switching to ATT just for a device.

I have the Tour, like it a lot. Doesn't have the App Store, which is so killer on the iPhone, but why not wait a couple of years until either the iPhone goes to other carriers, or something else surpasses it? Got a sense that Android will be huge.

i just got the tour, and its awesome. stay with the bberry so we can BBM...please?!

AT&T network is what kills the iPhone in my opinion. At least in NYC there are bandwidth issues. Everyone I know experiences issue with dropped calls. Also AT&T voice quality is different than VZW due to different voice codecs used. I have both the HTC Touch Pro 2 on VZW and the new Curve on AT&T and I don't like making calls on my Bberry. If my work used Exchange and Activesync I'd hands down be using one phone (my HTC Touch Pro 2).

Hi Alana,

The real question is the carrier. As Matt and Hodde say. If you are with AT&T and don't hate it, go for the iPhone. I just did this same question, and I don't regret my iPhone. (The ONLY downside of the iPhone is that it eats battery life, so you must adjust settings to keep the usage down.)

If you are already a Verizon customer, then go with one of the other 2. :)

Alicia

I second Hodde. I have been using Verizon for as long as I can remember, and I somehow can't justify leaving this amazing network where I always have service that my friends on AT&T don't for lesser service. Although if you are already on AT&T, you might as well just go for it, but I am sitting here waiting for the day when Verizon adopts the iPhone.

haha this is super fun! ok, so I love my iphone. love love my iphone. expecially since I have a mac and it all syncs up. However, I hate the dropped calls and the bad reception. I was reading some rumors that the iphone might not be exclusive to AT&T. Who knows if/when this will happen. But, something to consider before entering the 2 year agreement with AT&T. Because if you could do Verizon with the iphone, that would be perfect!!

I vote iPhone all the way. It really is the best phone out there, (Seems like the crowd agrees). I really want to get one, I just haven't been able to make the move yet, but soon! :-)

I just hope it's @starbucks coffee.

And maybe a blanket? tent? extension cords? mobile generator for laptop and other necessary devices?

I'm making it sound like so much fun you know you'll want to join in.

I vote for the Apple Store in the Big Apple. I'll come throughout the night and give you guys coffee. I'll just call someone and get my iPhone without waiting in line #iknowpeople lol

This is exactly why I blog - so all of you can help me make these important life decisions (because who can make a decision by themselves nowadays?)

Sounds like the iPhone is winning the discussion. I'm not going to give my opinion until after I close the poll! This is my time to LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK!

Will - and which apple store location to you have picked out for this unforgettable moment in history/my life? the apple in the big apple?

I second GGSJr's comment. Also, did you watch the demo video... the motorola rep was really fumbling with it... it looks like a lot of things on it are a bit clunky still. And as Matt B said on our smartphone post, things with slideout keyboards are destined to be broken... key of the iphone is less much moving parts...

Disclosure: My bias is that I want to have you waiting in line with me to get the new iPhone come summer time.

Couldn't agree more with George.... I have been using a Blackberry for the last three months while in the UK, but cant wait to use my iPhone when I go home in December. The Blackberry is a great device, hands down, but it (nor the droid) compare to the iPhone.

The iPhone is just so amazing!

OK..I JUST faced the same dilemma and went over to the "dark" side. I've been a Blackberry person through 4 phones (I'm even @bberrymom on Twitter) But, I noticed recently at conferences many of my fellow bloggers were effectively tweeting and live-blogging on the Iphones in a way I could NOT on my Blackberry. I don't think it would have been worth it before the 3G..but now, it's been great. The battery sucks down quickly but there are things you can do like lower the brightness and turn off wifi (when you don't need it) that help tremendously. I also like having my Ipod included (especially when traveling). I say go for it.

I think the key quote is this: “I think the DROID is the best phone on the market that isn’t the iPhone” -engadget"

That basically says the Droid is great. But it's no iPhone....

HTC Touch Pro 2 if you are daring enough to enter into the Windows Mobile territory