It appears that last night's midnight opening in Manhattan
went off like gangbusters, but the situation across the country is a little more subdued this morning with seemingly short lines and easy access to
DROIDs at every location we've visited. We won't put out a number, but we can confirm that several Engadget editors have taken the plunge today -- and if riffraff like us can waltz into the store and get them, you should certainly be able to. Good luck being assimilated out there today, and be sure to post pictures of your experience in comments (up above we've got San Francisco's first buyer courtesy of Ross Miller, and after the break, you can live it up with the good folks of Albany as they were paid a visit by Tim Stevens).
posted Nov 6th 2009 9:19AM
I don't know why people can't just order online through VZW.com and get their rebate instantly or go to Best Buy... I guess if that NE2 thing has to be used in a store then that's what you do. Otherwise, no reason to get it today if you can wait till Monday and have the $100 in your pocket.
paid extras to create hype.
@tititeko: Some people prefer to interact with a human being and get their DROID in a matter of minutes...
If ordering online works like an "under 30 minutes pizza delivery," then yes, I will have to agree that going downtown and waiting in line is just near idiotic...
Hey Engadget, does "Droid mania" have anything to do with Verizon purchasing the top 1/3 of your website for the day?
Yeah, if Verizon was paying me today, I would have "Droid mania" as well.
I agree, I ordered online through VZW, got it for $99.99 (new 2yr contract and NE2 discount), don't have to fill out a rebate, plus I got free overnight shipping with coupon code FREEOVERNT
xcrunk - you still see ads on webpages? ...adblock plus & firefox ftw.
no one tells us what to do.
I am being facetious. Can you see my Droid love????
@xcrunk:
Yeah, considering how most of Engadget's checks are signed by Steve Jobs, it's nice to know they do get a little income from other places as well now and then.
This is an example of Droid mania. This is for you my Electronic Love:
Droido mio, here I go again
My my, how can I resist you?
Droido mio, does it show again
My My, just how much I've missed you?
Moto, I've been broken-hearted
HTC since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go?
Droido mio, now I really know
My my, I should not have let you go
I guess we now get to see what one of the people who types "first" in threads does when they go shopping. I don't know what makes people feel it's important to do something first...when its such a mundane thing. Buying a phone =/= climbing a mountain.
It is mot much about getting it first... it is about getting RIGHT NOW.
Hello? We're the Microwave Generation. Results in 30 seconds or our money back.
@tikiteko
That's what she.... Wait, no she didn't.
At first glance, I totally thought she was saying "I'm the only 'one' in line".
The Election didn't even get this much coverage. This is just absurd. For all I know it's a great phone but I have never even used the phone and I hate it. Thanks Engadget... F'ing Hype men.
I... can't stand those "tech songs"
Please, for the love of god. Spare us. It's not you. It's the songs
NE2 works online too. Just ordered mine online for $99 with instant rebate and NE2 and they billed it to my verizon bill, f'ing sweet.
Waiting for HD2 mania.
Do these people even know why they're standing out in the cold to buy a smartphone with no demand? I'll bet these handful of loners thought that there would be a mob they could interact with. They are going to be even more disappointed when they find out that it'll take a master's degree to load music and videos on the Droid. This Droid happening is about as exciting as the Pre announcement. The Droid will probably fizzle out faster. Palm and Motorola are two companies that are gasping for air just to avoid Chapter 11. Why? Because they both screwed their loyal user base and blew investors cash on useless projects.
If anybody wants to see what a real line looks like just pop over to Manhattan on the Upper West Side on Saturday, November 14th. When Apple opens up their new retail store, that will be a huge crowd stretching a couple of blocks. Probably the mayor and dozens of almost-celebrities will be there. None of the useless hype that this Droid is supposed to excite people with.
So its judgment day today for Droid, was it? According to Cnet it was a little bit slow nonetheless a good start of droid, other "critiques" says otherwise. But I say, "Hell yeah! droid conquered US for a couple of hours today". We just hope that their ROI is profitable compare to the hunderds of thousand worth of ads they spend during the promotion period and err.. did I say, their impending "lawsuit" with AT&T too?
Collation of info about droid release today: bit.ly/did-droid-conquered-USA-today
Hope Droid will serve as a hand of midas to Verizon Corp. Soweet
So its judgment day today for Droid, was it? According to Cnet it was a little bit slow nonetheless a good start of droid, other "critiques" says otherwise. But I say, "Hell yeah! droid conquered US for a couple of hours today". We just hope that their ROI is profitable compare to the hunderds of thousand worth of ads they spend during the promotion period and err.. did I say, their impending "lawsuit" with AT&T too?
Collation of info about droid release today: http://bit.ly/did-droid-conquered-USA-today
Hope Droid will serve as a hand of midas to Verizon Corp. Soweet
Cool gotta get myself one
I will go to the Verizon store and check it out.
I'll walk in, iPhone 3GS in hand, Fart app loaded....making fart sounds as I walk to the Droid display. I'll "fart" around with the Droid. And I'll walk away thinking, OK, maybe in 20 months when my contract is up, I'll get a Droid, but only if they have a cool Fart app. Otherwise, no dice!
@xcrunk:
Apparently your flower child phone is not giving you enough granola to eat.
Good luck being assimilated out there today?
Hmmm.
Locutus of Droid does have a nice ring to it.
Hehehehe ***give Star Trek salute ***
@tikiteko:
Star Wars
Interesting but not surprising. I haven't heard any non-geeks talking about this yet. They're still yearning for iphones and blackberries. These are early days in the land of andriod.
Right, I think Motorola didn't really spend much for advertising. My female friend was like "what's DROID? I heard someone mention it, but I didn't care. This is second time I hear about this."
She was looking to buy iPhone because "EVERYBODY ELSE HAS IPHONE"
I told her to buy DROID because EVERYBODY ELSE HAS IPHONE.
@Brandon
So, using the same rationale, when she is thinking of getting a new computer, will you tell her to get a Mac?
@Brandon, I think they spent plenty on advertisements, they just lacked impact. They ran ads during NFL football for two weeks. They weren't very catchy, although they tried mimicing iPhone adds right down to the indie music track. I had heard the ad in the background a couple times before I actually realized it was for Verizon and the Droid rather than a typical Apple ad spot. They also had a back cover ad on People Magazine, and they may of had others, but again, it was simple and I don't think it really made non-geeks curious.
That being said, you can spend all the money in the world on advertisements, but if they are not effective, then what's the point? I think the Droid will succeed, it probably won't see its highest sales in the first week though, but rather a few weeks from now when the non-geeks see it first hand around town and in the Verizon stores.
@Skeezle No Linux!
@Skeezle,
I would build PC for her :)
But usually, these people don't buy computer until their Pentium 3 doesn't let them check hotmail anymore.
Oh, I'm not an Apple hater. I bought iPhone and iPhone 3G before, as well as 1st gen Macbook Air (this purchase would make me an ultimate Apple fanboy, wouldn't it?) and endless versions of iPods. It's just... after 3 years of same (or similar) design, and when 10s of millions of people start using it, iPhone became iPod.
blehman419,
I haven't watched TV for awhile :-)
I guess Engadget and Gizmodo not hyping the DROID launch like iPhone made me feel like they put less money on advertising.
Gizmodo did not even mention DROID today.
I don't think it's so much a matter of them being ineffective as subversive (?). Most of the ads don't really say what DROID is, at most make allusions to the fruit device, which may very well be on purpose. Even if you don't know what DROID is, you know it's at VZW, and there you can go to check it out. I think VZW is banking that people genuinely interested in purchasing a device will be attracted enough by the tease. I get the impression that your friend doesn't fall under that category.
It's not the greatest campaign ever, but I think it's been the most clever by a wireless provider* since SBC Houdini'd itself into Cingular.
Note I said PROVIDER, not device maker.
Dollar Tree is selling Droid phones now? Sweet!
Kidding.
This Android stuff on Verizon is really quite surprising to me overall. They have always seemed extremely controlling of their devices (where is the Wifi on my Storm?). It seems like they're just throwing their previous caution and control to the wind... which is good. Just... surprising.
Android could turn out to be one of the best operating systems on a phone and a big competitor to Apple's iPhone. I'm sure that google told them if they used it they had to let control go.
They'll make a lot of money off these phones and I'm sure will find a way to limit what you can do with them in the end.
I wish ! I will get like 100 $1.00 Droids. That would be Droidlicious
They have already started with their tethering fee update of doubling your data plan fee to $60, and apparently unlimited data is actually 10 GB.
Still excited about the phone though, I am about to leave for BB.
i thought android was an overarching system that allowed individual manufacturers to sort of pick and choose how they implemented the functionality. Not so?
$60 for data and tethering should be no surprise to anyone. This has been Verizon's standard pricing for a while now.
any chance there'll be a tethering hack somehow?
lol my friend woke 3 am then went to the city just to buy the droid and he said he was in the first line because there is no line wow but i like this phone
Droid looks good. Might wait for the i or XX variant though.
...
...
...
...
I kid. Good luck Moto!!!
What do DROID and bad ROID's have in common?
"They come down and never want to go back up" ;^/...
Only Apple can create long long lines, from people lining up days before launch lol.
and there is a line waiting to downrank you also.
Yea eminisp, you're jealous you dont have a iphone! ha!
And having to line up for a phone is goody why?
I rather be able to walk in and get my phone, thanks.
No, I'm jealous that he got to downrank you before I did.
@ m3nphis
"Yea eminisp, you're jealous you dont have a iphone! ha!"
How much are the iphones again? $100-$300 depending on which one you buy. Are you saying its to expensive to buy? Im to poor to buy one? Im not cool enough? Im not part of the in crowd if i dont have one? Which one is it? If you have an answer for one of those everyone on this thread will know how shallow you are.
There wasnt any lines for halo 3 when it came out?
EminiSP, don't fall for another trolling fanboy who thinks the phone he uses makes him special. Obviously it's all he's got in this world.
Your comment was FOF = Full On Fail
it seems as time goes on, i start to dislike iphone users more and more and my best friend uses an iphone. heck, even my dad has one. (a first gen too)
the mcdonalds in new york has long long lines too but not to dine in but to use their restroom. very hard to find a vacant toilet in new york.
You guys are so easily duped I doubt even 10% of the trolls here even own an iPhone.
They just love to see the shitstorm that ends up getting highly ranked when you feed the troll.
and if you honestly like all iphone owners are like this then its no wonder you fall for the bait every time.
The revolution is here!!!!...........oh wait, I guess not.
Solid new phone for sure, but not exactly the second coming of Christ like some people are acting.
Because there isn't a line??
Mind you, nobody ever lines up or new Blackberrys...yet they're still top dog.
Just putting that point out there.
Good Luck on having to pay extra for things that should be free..like MS exchange. Still not convinced that Verizon's open is truly "open." We will see how Cupertino responds.
This will light a fire under their asses. Lets hope they are up to the challenge.
Did you miss that article? Additional charges for MS Exchange is only applicable to business enterprise accounts. Exchange support is still provided for the standard $30 data plan.
When the ever-changing news is being reported on blogs, you can't read something from a week ago and still assume it's true. Check your facts please.
BAH, downrank me if you like, i will express my opinion ! Paid extras to make a line :D I am sure Apple did the same. I am sure Microsoft did the same for their store opening.
I'm sure none of them did it and you're just another jaded commenter.
Hey
Ja ja jaded
You got yo mama's style
But you're yesterday's child to me
So jaded
My my baby blue
Yeah I been thinkin' bout you
My my baby blue
Yeah your so jaded
And I'm the one that jaded you
@tititeko: Wish granted... twice!
The girl at the back of the dollar tree line? She looks cute enough... why not?
you mean the one with the grey hair and the green coat? not to mention the "full figure". :)
Actually she is at the front of the Dollar Tree line and at the back of the Verizon line.
No matter the lines being short... As time passes and people haves the chance to play with the droid, the interest will sure raise. And if not, well, it seems i'm getting my own without too much hassle!!!
I mean, Android phones have never kept people awake making files outside of a retail store... It's more like the pleasure, the pride and the joy of the people who knows... and knows better!! I will still be wishing the best to this phone and to the platform. And keep routing for Android improvement over time
Wow, even the Pre had lines...
Yeah, and the Pre launched when? Late Spring to early Summer? It's about a month away from Winter. Have Apple launch a phone at that time and see how many people are willing to freeze their iButts off in the cold.
I was 10th (and last) in line when my Verizon store opened. Most of us (but not all, I think) were there for the Droid. I think everyone got a Droid, but the desktop dock was sold out.
The rep helping me said she thought Verizon as a whole had sold 200,000 of these. If that's true, that's a decent launch number.
I'm trying to rank her down because she's clearly saying "First" but I can't. Please put a "minus" sign thinggy next to her picture... I must fulfill my ranking duties.
test drive google android on your pc.
http://www.zjtechlive.com/try-android-2-0-on-your-windows/
http://www.zjtechlive.com/test-drive-google-android-os-on-microsoft-windows/
lol and you know what the best part is? You probably don't even miss out on multitouch browsing on this emulator.
sorry US android users. life sucks for yewwww
Oh, and did anyone else hear the Droid radio commercials this morning? I heard two entirely different ones on my way to-and-from the Verizon store, and it's only a 12-minute drive. Verizon's definitely doing some serious marketing.
As others have mentioned I am really surprised at how open Big Red seems to be with this phone, let's hope this is a sign of the future. And to you folks who are buying your Droid today, if you like it as much as I love my Samsung Moment, even with it's "old" Android, you are going to be very happy!
dear lord...people are saying "FIRST!!!" in real life now?? SMH..
While Android 2.0 is a HUGE step forward it is still missing some business functionality I need found in WM 6.5 however by Adroid 2.2 I'm expecting to be preferring android over WM 6.5.
That being said - hardware is very important too and frankly after seeing the HD2 everything else looks pretty darn antiquated to me other than the toshiba TG01.
well that figures considering the HD2 is the only thing keeping Windows 6.5 relevant
It should read "Droid Line DOES Start Here"
iDont start over there?
Is the lady with the green jacket at the back of the line also waiting for the droid? Droid really does...
I really don't think Verizon or Motorola expected iPhone-like lines for this. Also keep in mind Apple's releases have been in the middle of summer, so waiting outside wasn't an issue. It's November and anywhere North of Texas is pretty cold this morning (NYC is 38 degrees) so I have a feeling the overwhelming majority of buyers (like myself) purchased online. I'm picking mine up at a more convenient time and when it's a little warmer outside. We'll have to wait for sales numbers over the next few days and weeks to actually judge the success of Verizon's marketing campaign.
Agreed. Over here in DC it's cold as hell this morning, which is why I ordered mine online instead of waiting in line. Well, that and the part about having to go to work....
Still not sure why lines matter so much seeing as you're comparing Apple fanboys (basically the equivalent of religious zealots/fundamentalists) to normal people. Lines for most products will never really form like that and especially when ordering online or at Best Buy gives you the rebate instantly.
Let me guess, because every person who enjoys Apple products is a religious fundamentalist who follows Steve Jobs' every word? ....Right.
While we can't compare these lines to Apple lines since apple already has a built in fanbase, and no one has used the DROID yet, you have to admit that this is pretty underwhelming. I'm all for advancing technology, but the fact is that Android and open source in general are NOT the revolution that everyone is hoping for. They will be popular, but only to those who read tech blogs.
P.S. I do not own/use any Apple products. I buy technology based on what works for me. Electronics are pieces of metal and plastic. That's it. Don't down rank me because I didn't say something bad about Apple.
So Chase...how do you explain BB popularity, but the lack of lines.
I never see lines at all for BB releases...
well, maybe he's on to something with that apple fanboy/religious fundamentalist observation.
We do, after all, all meet on saturday mornings and go door-to-door proselytizing. Haven't you gotten the knock on the door, and the iPhone pamphlets?
are people under the impression that EVERY person who bought an iPhone at launch waited in line for it? Apple/ ATT do online sales/ preorders as well. Deliver mine to the office, thanks.
I do think the Droid looks pretty cool though, so hopefully it lives up to user expectations. But honestly I don't see this launch being real huge despite Verizon's marketing, because my girlfriend (non-geek) saw the TV spots about 5 times before she finally asked me if I had any idea what they were talking about.
I just hope the have some left for me this weekend.
Had to order online to get our corp discount on the new account.. Picked up a Cliq last week on tmobile as my tmo phone crapped out... Will have to wait till Tuesday when it comes to do a comparison to see if droid is worth the Verizon service..
I just went to a friends house with my DROID who bought a Cliq a few days ago. He wasn't too happy with the Cliq after seing the droid, and knowing it's price tag. I left his house with him packing up his Cliq. Another DROID converter on the way.
I'm only worried about the 5GBs.. WTF.... I can do more than that in a week on Edge....
@boris... Seriously? wow
I highly doubt you'd get 5gb on EDGE speed in 30 days lol
@htowngator... I'm pretty sure I could... I'm on pretty much 90% of the day.. My ex wife hated my phone, my girlfriend confiscates it when we hang out..
I waited in line this morning, and I'm playin with my droid as I type this. There were 20 ppl in line when I got there @ 6:30, in Oklahoma City. This phone is great. comin from the iPhone 3G to Sprint Hero, it's refreshing to be typing on a real keyboard again.
$3,799 over a two year contract. $158 per month. This is the line for people who like to piss money away.
(http://www.billshrink.com/blog/total-cost-of-ownership-motorola-droid-versus-iphone-3gs-versus-palm-pre/)
Spare us. According to that chart:
$2839 for iphone 3g
$2309 for palm
$2309 for pre
$2839 for droid
(for average price plans)
It's the same as it would be for the damn iPhone, which is the target phone it's after.
Oh, to be fair with you trying to make numbers look high:
3799 for iphone 3g
2549 for palm
2549 for pre
3799 for droid
(for unlimited)
There, again, same as iPhone and again - they all look like a lot of damn money if you look at it that way. Show me a top quality phone with unlimited for $50 a month that can compete otherwise you are wasting energy.