This is not the Droid I’m looking for.

I have tremendous admiration for parts of the ethos, and many of the devices that are Steve Job’s legacy. But every time I manage to convince myself that he was just a demanding eccentric genius, and not a total d-bag, I end up learning something new. Like today, when I learned that he used his wealth to (much like the tech royalty in the William Gibson novel Neuromancer) score himself a liver when he wanted one, putting himself ahead of other people that may have been more deserving. But enough personal-level billionaire genius bashing; what really irks me are the last two devices that Jobs introduced before beginning his journey into the After iLife (bless his soul). I already shared the agony of my unsatiated desires over a year ago, when I explained what Kate Moss and an iPad have in common, and bellyached about the Verizon whyPhone, and why I wasn’t all that excited about it. But now I have a new little quandary. I use Verizon, because as much as they suck in many ways, in my area they have the most reliable service of the Evil Triopoly of Mobile Providers available. As you may know, Verizon has a “new every two” plan, so I was finally thinking about breaking down and getting the iPhone, since I would probably be getting a sizable discount. But no-OO-oo. Apple has to go and release this “4s” thing the month I qualify. Great! A new, improved iPhone! Let’s see, unlike the OLD iPhone, this one offers….oh. Not much. But wait! You can TALK TO IT ! Finally a phone you can, er, TALK TO? I don’t want to talk TO my phone, I want to talk to PEOPLE, and talk to them ON my phone. Ah well. I may still break down and get one, but before I do, I’ll be checking out the Droid options. Although I was initially intrigued with both the HTC Thunderbolt and the Droid2, I’m not looking for something to tone my biceps, so the HTC was out, and as cool as the Droid2 is, compared to an iPhone, the interface feels like there’s an extra layer of glass between you and the “touch” part of the “touchscreen”. A likely choice? The latest version of the Motorola Droid X . In spite of its decidedly unsexy and mysterious hump on one end, it is REALLY FAST, and has a nice length for someone like me, who shoulders their phone a lot. See a video review of the Droid X below. And two last thoughts. 1.) Am I just paranoid, or does Verizon download malware to your phone in the last months before your new every two? I could swear that on this and my last two contracts my phone started acting wonky exactly 60 days before the contract was up….and 2.) How does a phone that hasn’t been released yet get a five star rating? See the screen grab from the Verizon site below.

Honestly, Verizon. How can we trust your ratings when the iPhone 4s gets five stars before it’s even on the market?