Time Picks Droid Over iPhone As 2009 Gadget of the Year
10:43 am, December 9th, 2009, Ed Sutherland
Motorola’s Droid, Verizon’s answer to the iPhone, was ranked the No. 1 gadget of 2009 by Time Magazine Wednesday. Apple’s iconic cell phone finished in fourth place, behind Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader and Dyson’s $300 Air Multiplier fan. Is the Droid winning the buzz war for the hippest handset?
“The Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don’t miss it,” according to the magazine. The entry is praised for its “phenomenally sharp and vivid” touchscreen and its connection to AT&T rival Verizon Wireless. “Best of all, the Droid is on Verizon’s best-of-breed 3G network. It’s Android’s first credible challenge to the iPhone,” said the writers.
The magazine said the Droid’s physical keyboard was “not great, but good enough.”
The iPhone 3GS didn’t go unnoticed, however. The magazine noted the improvements made since the original iPhone was launched.
“Yes, the 3GS has a better camera – with video. And it has a compass and voice control. Those are all improvements over the original. But the main point of, and the best thing about, the new iPhone is speed. It has more of it. Period,” according to Time.
The magazine becomes the latest signal the Droid may be finding traction against the iPhone’s image. A recent ad campaign by Motorola attempted to define the iPhone as a “digitally clueless beauty pageant queen” with the Droid a rough-and-tumble rival. The Droid also appears to be gaining greater favor with men over 18-years old, according to a recent brand survey.
[Via AppleInsider and Time Magazine]
Posted by Ed Sutherland in News | Comment on this article
If you enjoyed this article:
Subscribe via RSS or email, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
If I had any respect for TIME left, this would have ended it for me.
Lloyd Aldrin, on December 9th, 2009 at 10:46 am
“Time” to go for Time. And I guess their man of the year is Tiger Woods??
Steven, on December 9th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Aw, come on. Time made a great pick. You guys didn’t think the iPhone was going to go on forever without someone matching or exceeding its capabilities, did you? Wait until the HTC Passion is released with almost double the processor of the 3GS, great styling and Android 2.1. The gap has closed with the only thing the iPhone has that is better is the app store (but seriously, how many fart apps does one need?) and iTunes. Even these features are being closed in on. I owned an iTouch for nearly 2 years now and every app I’ve accumulated for it that I consider a daily use app, I have on the Droid. All look and function every bit as good as the touch, with AP news app actually kicking the iTouch in speed by at least a 3x factor. The high res screen of the Droid actually makes Apple’s screen look Fisher Price-ish… and that’s not to start a flame, you really need to use both devices for a bit and then compare.
MicroNix, on December 9th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Too bad the Verizon Droid has no multi-touch in its browser. Even Android sites think usability of the droid browser is awful.
Maybe Time meant that Droid is the best iPhone wannabe of the year.
And note to Verizon, girls are not clueless:
http://obamapacman.com/2009/12/female-mit-professor-heads-development-of-killer-iphone-app-for-flying-military-uav-drones/
Obama Pacman, on December 9th, 2009 at 11:52 am
The Droid seems like it might be a good product, but it isn’t an iconic one. There is a lot to be said for design, usability, simplicity and wow factor of the iPhone that the Droid simply doesn’t have.
With that said, of course there’s no way the iPhone will be #1 on the gadgets of the year lists… it’s old hat as far as technology writers are concerned. That would be like naming a re-release of Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall” Album of the Year. But that certainly doesn’t mean that it’s a lesser album.
FlyCasual, on December 9th, 2009 at 11:59 am
The Droid might be the gadget of this year, but the iPhone is/was the gadget of the decade.
MachoPhone, on December 9th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Time has run its course. I gave up on it years ago.
Joe, on December 9th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
A friend bought the Droid and now has buyers remorse. I handled the Droid and put it through it’s paces during our dinner the other night. I wasn’t all that impressed. Neither were our wives. My friends wife has an iPhone and my wife loves her Pre.
I guess they can’t give the award to Apple every year.
Paul, on December 9th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
“Wait until the HTC Passion is released with almost double the processor of the 3GS, great styling and Android 2.1.”
*Yawn* That sounds about as exciting as the Droid. I’ve fooled around with the Droid EXTENSIVELY and I find it to be one of the most underwhelming phones…ever. Heck, I’d choose my original iPhone with EDGE over either the Droid or Passion.
Stevo, on December 9th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Comon now guys… this is really unfair to compare something superior(droid) to something inferior(iphone 3gps). It’s like comparing a Gallardo to a Scion TC!
Jeff, on December 10th, 2009 at 12:08 am
I can’t believe that some of you folks are legitimately upset by this. Like seriously…
fort90, on December 10th, 2009 at 12:10 am
How can such a disgusting joke of a phone be the Time gadget of the year ?????
Pig, on December 10th, 2009 at 1:58 am
geez the droid is unproven
for it to be the device of the year it should be a proven product.
time lost respect from me if they cant report stuff like this im suposed
to beleive what they say about obama?
bubbakush, on December 10th, 2009 at 6:39 am
Let’s get something straight — for the record: The Droid IS multi-touch capable. True, the “built-in” browser doesn’t, as yet, make use of this but the Dolphin browser (available now, for free, in the Android market) DOES include multi-touch features. (And there are additional apps available now, which include multi-touch).
Nick, on December 10th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Let’s all relax here. We are talking about phones…phones people. Use the one that works for you or makes you feel good and important. As for one magazine claiming some “object” is the gadget of the year, well, I have much more important things to be concerned about.
skids544, on December 10th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Researchers have discovered that iPhone users suffer from the “Stockholm Syndrome” which explains the reaction of many to the Droid.
They say:
“When we examine the iPhone users’ arguments defending the iPhone, it reminds us of the famous Stockholm Syndrome – a term that was invented by psychologists after a hostage drama in Stockholm. Here hostages reacted to the psychological pressure they were experiencing, by defending the people that had held them hostage for 6 days,”
http://www.9to5mac.com/weird_science_30189
Ann Droidinsky, on December 11th, 2009 at 1:10 pm