So, the time is coming soon for me to buy a new cell phone. What I know I want is a phone running the Android operating system. Also, I am on the Verizon wireless network so you would think that would help me determine which one I am going to get since there aren't a whole lot of options yet in the Verizon network. Pretty much I've got the HTC Droid Eris or the Motorola Droid.
But here's the thing. The rumor out there right now is that the Nexus One will soon be available for Verizon. More specifically the rumor is March 23rd 2010. Then there is the rumor that the HTC Incredible will also be sold by Verizon soon and will also be running the Andriod OS.
Since late last year I wanted to buy a new smart phone. About this time last year I bought a Palm Treo Pro that is running Windows Mobile. To say the least I've not been real impressed. Though it has a lot of functionality the phone itself has locked up more times then I can count and has always been slow to respond to commands.
But I'm not writing this blog about the likes or dislikes of the different phones. More to the point I'm trying to express a problem that I find myself in quite a bit when it comes to buying technology. I see something I want so I do a lot of research on it. No big deal there, researching a product is something I'd recommend when buying any product for the first time. But what happens to me is that I read the pros and cons then I find that there is another product that will be coming out soon that will be even better then the product I first started researching.
This was true for me when I was considering the HTC Droid Eris. I heard about the Motorola Droid coming out soon so I thought "hey...I should wait and see what this new phone is going to be like". So I waited and it came out and I started doing even more research on the Motorolla Droid. After a while I ended up finding out that there was a possibility of the Nexus One coming to the Verizon network and I thought "hey wouldn't be even better to go all the way and get an actual Google phone?". So I started doing research on the Nexus One when I found that the HTC Incredible would eventually be coming to Verizon as well and there were some benefits to this phone over the Nexus One.
My point to this drawn out blog is that I constantly find myself not buying but just waiting. So I still have my old Windows Mobile phone that I am not happy with. And what will happen when the Nexus One or the Incredible come out? Will I actually own one of those or the Motorola Droid? Or will I suddenly find a phone that may come out later in the year that will be even better then any of those options?
When do you finally just say "this is good enough for what I need it to do right now". I mean come on! There is always going to be something better coming out soon. Especially in regards to technology anything you buy on the market is already out of date because they are already building another product to replace the one they just sent out.
I just have a really hard time spending money on something knowing that 6 months from now something better will be out. And unfortunately I don't have the capital to just go out and replace what I've got with something newer constantly. Also as many of my friends know when it comes to spending money I have a really bad habit of procrastinating.
How do you handle these kinds of situations? I'd be interested in hearing any of your thoughts on how you reason when to buy a new product.
Some links to the products I've been talking about:
(Un)fortunately, I do about the same thing you've done...which is wait. And wait. In the hopes that someone, someday, will get their ducks in a row and make a phone that I want.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I'd have half a dozen e-book readers.
Apple is so, so close with the iphone. The droid is so, so close, too. Actually, the jailbroken iphone is pretty close, but Apple fights so hard against it that it's almost not worth it.
blargh.
Maybe you should switch to AT&T, buy an iPhone, and be done with it... j/k. I think if you didn't have a lemon of a phone right now, you'd be happy using it for a lot longer. For me, two years of using a smartphone seems like a good value.
ReplyDeleteI'd compare the features of the phone of 'today' against those of 'tomorrow'. If those are features you really want, then wait. Otherwise, just pull the trigger on the one you like the best that's out now.
@Matt & Jay: If the iphone was available on Verizon I prob. would never even have been in this boat because I would have gone straight for it. Problem is back when I bought my smartphone it was still under Alltel which has great coverage but had a horrible choice of phones.
ReplyDeleteLuckily Verizon is getting much better but it doesn't appear the iphone will be coming to them any time soon.
That being said I am very much a Google person so I think any of the Android phones will likely fit me fine.
I've spent quite a bit of time researching the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One. Mostly watching video's of the performance between the two. It appears the Nexus One will likely be a little faster plus it is very likely that any Android updates are going to hit the Nexus One long before it hits the other phones on the market just running the Android software (like the Motorola Droid which is still running 2.0). Though the upgrades will likely eventually come to the other phones will I want to wait :)
I did the same thing when I purchased my Droid. I was so excited for it to come out, I read every bit of leaked information there was, and then came the news that Verizon was supposed to be releasing several more Android devices in 2010. The leaks at the time though were only pointing to phones with software-only keyboards, so I ended up going with my Droid, and I haven't regretted it since. The Nexus One is nice, and I really only use my hardware keyboard when I'm ssh-ing to a server, but there's no way I'd trade my last few months with my Droid to wait for a Nexus One!
ReplyDeleteI have come to accept the fact that I am a gadget addict and there will always be something newer and better that I want as soon as I purchase a device.
@Michelle
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting :)
I really regret not just going to the Droid like I originally wanted a few months ago. Instead I just sat and suffered my way through my old Windows Mobile phone that has given me nothing but grief.
I've pretty much decided I am going to purchase within the next week. I'm still thinking about the Nexus One but one thing I am seeing right now about the Droid is that I can buy one get one free. That's a fairly appealing deal as my wife is stating that she would now like a smartphone as well. And I'm hearing plenty of rumors that Android 2.1 is coming to the Droid soon.
It may not have quite the power of the Nexus One but it will be supported at a local Verizon store instead of only by Google so that is a plus as well. I just wish I could hold both in my hands to compare them instead of watching all of the Youtube videos that have consumed my time lately.