I really have not played with the new Droid X much. A friend at work had one and let me hold it for a few minutes. The thing that struck me the most was how honking big it was compared to my Droid. My first thought of course, was how great it must be to read an e-book on the new Droid. I mean that new screen is damn near Kindle size! That got me wondering if I would want a Kindle so badly if I had the larger phone model.
I’m not so sure. I’d still be unable to read in sunlight. In the long run, it doesn’t matter for me. I won’t be in the market for a new phone until next year or later. I’m happy with the size of my Droid and I continue to read fiction on it almost daily.
I think the acceptance of hand held computers with phone apps is gaining in the public mindset. For that we have Apple to thank. When the original iPhone came out, many people, including myself could not see a need for it. Of course my view was mostly economic. I just could not afford a fancy toy phone like that. But over time, two things happened that swayed me to the hand computer scene. The first was the introduction of Android and the rapid acceptance of it by phone makers and programmers. I’m a sucker for Open Source projects. The second was the steady and strong sales of my novel on Kindle. The added income on a monthly basis went a long way in convincing me to purchase a more expensive cell phone plan.
The future of computing seems to be mobile, from phones to pads. Desktop computers and operating systems are becoming passe and are quite frankly mature to the point of not allowing much innovation. But the mobile computers are hot beds of innovation and design right now. Just look at how many Android phones are evolving before our eyes. Next year will be the year of the Android pads and that market could take off. Although once again, I just don’t see the need for a pad device. I guess I’m just slow to adapt new things. I hope that’s not because of my age.