LB's Rambles

Droid vs. iPhone - Again

Competing reviews continue to duke it out over the value of the Droid vs. that of the iPhone. The latest comparison comes in ratings from the venerable Consumer Reports, which gives the edge to the iPhone - barely - with an overall 74 to 73 rating on a scale of 100. Mark Walsh has full details at MediaPost's MoBlog.

I'm not surprised. For all the talk about "iPhone killers," I've never really seen the Droid that way. What I find, as a Droid/Verizon user, is that it's a remarkably good device for those of us who must use Verizon and can't use AT&T. I may have fewer apps available for the Droid than iPhone users have, but I do have the ones I feel I need and want - and I don't miss the silly ones.

It is worth noting, as Walsh points out, that CR rates other smartphones highly for their respective services - the HTC Hero for Sprint and the Motorola Cliq for T-Mobile. Their overall satisfaction ratings were just behind the Droid and the iPhone. That makes sense. If you are limited in your choice of carrier, it's good to know that there are acceptable choices for your phone. As smartphones grow in popularity and more of us come to rely on them for much of our day-to-day communications needs, that's going to be tremendously important.

Happy eHolidays

Are Christmas cards on their way out? I mean "out" as in "out of favor, out of time and out of order." Time Magazine apparently thinks so, but they say that because they think cards are wasteful and bad for the environment.

I think Catharine P. Taylor makes a better argument on MediaPost's Social Media Insider blog. She says that social media - with its scores of friends and easy communication with people we haven't seen for a very long time, has rendered the traditional card obsolete.

As for me, I'm not so sure. Granted, I'm old enough to be set in my ways, but I still enjoy sending out traditional cards for Chanukah and Christmas, and enclosing the annual family newsletter, complete with photos of the participants. But I see her point: those are things that most of us do now every day on Facebook. With the ability to reach out to friends and family every day electronically, maybe the paper and the cost of the postage really is unnecessary. What do you think?

Keeping it Transparent

If you had to sum up the FTC's new regulations for bloggers and social media, you could do so in one word: transparency. While I personally think the rules are a bit excessive, the Federal Trade Commission's new rules are in effect, and that means we all have to live with them.

Mashable has a good summary of what's involved, with some tips on the best way to keep yourself transparent and compliant.

Moving Up With the Droid

I'm quite happy with my Droid phone, as I've said before. There are more than enough apps already for my taste; granted, there are a lot more available for the iPhone, but I am not convinced that I need an app to make farting noises at various times. Certainly there seem to be enough to allow me to use my Droid as a news reader, follow favorite comic strips, update Twitter and Facebook and even play some games.

So it's interesting to see that I'm obviously not alone - even Time has let the Droid dethrone the iPhone as "Gadget of the Year. Amazon's EndUser blog has details and links - and some commentary which pretty well echoes my own thoughts on it. I've always sort of envied the iPhone, but the AT&T tie was (and remains) a dealbreaker. My own envy factor has decreased tremendously. I'll continue to take the Droid - probably even when Verizon, as rumored, gets the iPhone. We'll see. 

Hat tip: Instapundit

Facebook Privacy

By now, you've probably read about Facebook's revised privacy policies. If you are active on Facebook, you've probably been greeted by large pop-ups suggesting you walk through the new guidelines and the new settings.

That's good advice. You may find - much to your surprise - that your settings and your privacy are not what you think they are.

Writing at MediaBizBloggers, Shelly Palmer has some excellent suggestions - and some thoughts about why the concept of "Facebook privacy" is an oxymoron. He also has some pointed things to say about Facebook's mostly third-party apps, which underscores my own refusal to get involved with them.

Improving Social Media Karma

You'll find bloggers and other social media wise people talking about their karma - or the karma of admired and respected bloggers. Writing for American Express's OPEN Forum, author Rohit Bhargava offers 10 suggestions for improving your own social media karma. A lot of the ideas are familiar and fairly obvious - be positive, be helpful, don't snark, comment and participate in others' blogs, etc. - but they're useful reminders of what we should be doing to build good rapport with our readers.

Hat tip: Ragan's PR Daily newsletter.

Google and Your Privacy

We've all seen sorry examples of what can happen when somebody tries to use Google to look up your name. How do you maintain your privacy when you can so easily be Googled? Orin Kerr, at the Volokh Conspiracy, has a modest proposal which sounds like it might work for some people, anyway...

Hat tip: Instapundit

Facebook Revamps Privacy Again

Facebook is taking another whack at the way it lets its users handle their privacy. This time, they're eliminating one of what I've always felt was the least useful features - regional networks - in favor of giving users much more control over who gets to see what.

Facebook's growth this year has been beyond phenomenal. SoftPedia notes that Facebook started the year with 150 million subscribers worldwide. They just passed 350 million, which was the occasion for Facebook honcho Mark Zuckerberg to post a memo to users about the new privacy features.

MediaPost has a good summary of the changes and more information about what's going on at Facebook.

Navigating with the Droid

I must admit I'm really enjoying my new Droid phone from Motorola and Verizon - not least because it keeps me on the Verizon Wireless network. But it is also a pretty amazing navigation device, using Google Maps' turn-by-turn directions.

The system got a terrific writeup from AutoBlog, which compares it not only to Garmin and Tom Tom but to built-in dash systems from some automakers. The Droid comes off very well in the comparisons - better, I fear, than the iPhone. It may not be the only reason for you to consider the Droid - but it's a pretty powerful argument.

Hat tip: Instapundit

Hate to Say "I Told You So"...

...but I told you so. There's absolutely no surprise in Consumer Reports' latest survey of wireless customer satisfaction: according to this report on MediaPost's MoBlog, Verizon comes in on top among the four major US carriers...and AT&T comes in last in 19 of the 26 cities covered by the survey.

According to this report, AT&T's problem may be caused by the overwhelming popularity of the iPhone. Perhaps so. But unless and until the AT&T network can handle the traffic - and is far more accessible, for example, in New York City than it is today, I don't see these ratings changing much.