I want to open this post by saying that I have a Motorola Droid and I love (hate) it. I wrote a previous review about my initial thoughts and many of them still stand. Android OS 2.0 really feels like Google met the market at 80% and walked away, trusting in the open market to fill the void. In some sense, this is understandable as it’s an open system and developers will fill in with paid products. What doesn’t make sense is that this 80% also affected the very basic functions of the phone. There’s still been no response from Google about improving the phone’s corporate email functionality.
As my base of Android OS users expand, I continuously warn them of the dreaded “Email vanish!” (See Ninja Vanish) Each user that I support has lost their email once already, I myself have lost it upwards of 4 times. This probably is easily fixed if you know the information to put in to reactivate with the Microsoft Exchange server. For my users, they learn quickly after the first time they lose connectivity, and have to call me. Let’s not forget the vanishing desktop too. Multiple times coming back from sleep or lock, the desktop with either take 5-10 seconds to refresh or not refresh at all; causing me to either pull the battery or do a Left CAPS + Left ALT + DEL to reboot the phone. I feel that it’s either because the phone can’t handle being pushed too hard and it immediately assumes that the application should be force closed. Or, if you give it too many steps it just freaks. It’s a small computer, I get it, so either improve its ability to multi-task or limit this ability. I don’t need to have 5+ applications running. Just close down the oldest and let me roll through them as I see fit. Maybe limiting the amount of applications that the phone multi-tasks could also improve the battery life.
I have to charge my Droid every night because it’s usually down to 20%-30% and I don’t even use Bluetooth. I do use wireless but that’s because I get better wireless signal at work then cell service and it’s faster. This, with reading articles from Feedr, checking Gmail and Corporate email, is about the best I can do without having to recharge my battery multiple times a day. I’d love to play a lot of the shitty games on the market (which I’ll discuss later) but that would involve draining my battery and charging constantly.
The only response from the poor Microsoft Exchange Connectivity Global Address Listing is Motorola’s Corporate Directory. This application suffices as a band-aid, the purpose of a band-aid is to be a short-term solution; yet we’ve passed into the long and festeringly, annoying state. Why Google hasn’t updated the email function to provide inline lookups while creating an email, like it does with your contacts, baffles me. Even if they can’t create an inline lookup during the creation process, at least make the transition from Corporate Lookup to new email better, instead of me having to add contacts to my personal list or memorize the email address. It’s double or triple work to create an email and it’s stupid.
Verizon… Could I please get a response as to why the hell it’s taking so long to release the 2.1 update for the Droid?! Did you hire monkeys to do the transition coding? I’ve seen hackers who’ve done faster and better jobs with software updates than you. I like the idea of an open system and I believe Verizon is making steps (all-be-it small) towards accepting this, these updates show otherwise though. Worst of all they call for the release and then pull it back. It’s a cock tease and it’s bad customer service, very bad. They don’t call Verizon “Big Red” for nothing, very similar to how China treats its citizens, shit on them until they revolt and then bury the evidence.
Finally, I keep seeing articles about how much the Android market has grown and how its expansion is amazing. When you add shit to an already existing pile of shit, it’s still a pile of shit. There have been a few games that are worth noting, some being ports from the iPhone market and others being original. The top paid games on the market are the same ones (for the most part) since release. There are some new ones but it’s still for the most part the same ones. If you look at the top free games, it’s Solitaire and yet ANOTHER variant of Bejeweled (can we please let this game die?!) Otherwise they’re shitty 10 minute applications that provide no depth and barely any concept. Also let’s not forget the other 70% of the games on the market which consist of horrible webpage ports that are loaded with ads, stupid attempts at women standing in inappropriate positions (which can be downloaded by anyone of any age that can work the Android Market), and puzzles. (Yes, the puzzles we used to put together as children.) Another annoying factor of the Android Market is that most people don’t know how to leave appropriate reviews and often times the reason they have problems which cause the shitty reviews is because they’re too stupid to operate the application and/or phone anyway.
Google, please, I want to love your product but it needs help, LOTS of help.
