Heavy Duty

The big idea behind the Droid (1) was to combine the features of a touch-screen product with the benefits of a physical keyboard-based product to offer consumers the best of both worlds. The basic look is minimalist, with few visible buttons or switches, which shows that people are now accustomed to the idea that most interaction takes place on the screen, as opposed to through physical controls. The exterior design is angular, with more definitive edges than the iPhone (2) or the new Nexus One. There are practical advantages to this: Square products allow you to get more stuff inside, such as bigger batteries and more electronics.

The feel of the Droid is anti-elitist. If the the iPhone is designer hip, the Sidekick inner-city hip, and the Blackberry corporate hip, the Droid is everyman hip. That's where many of the strongest American brands, from Ford to Google, have positioned themselves.

The Droid strikes me as a hefty American product designed by Midwesterners for American users. Its weight means it's fine if you're wearing jeans, but it's too heavy to tuck in a fat-cat's suit jacket. It has an industrial-grade feel, with the aesthetics of a consumer product. In Europe or Asia, the Droid would probably be regarded as the Hummer of touch-screen phones. The Droid plays to Motorola's roots as a manufacturer of heavy-duty radios for police and the military.

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Text: Gregor Berkowitz/MOTO Development