[kwarner]

Had a showdown with an iPhone Fanboi over dinner tonight and came out ahead.

A large group of us were having dinner at a restaurant we had never been to before. While we are looking over the menu, Fanboi pulls out his iPhone and announces "I wonder what other people would recommend for this restaurant. I think I'll look at Yelp." He proceeds to make a little show of his iPhone and its browser. I pull my Pre out of my pocket and show it to him, "I've got this new phone that's pretty good at browsing too. It's a Palm Pre. Have you heard of it?" He glances at it, tries out the slider. "Yeah, I heard about it but it doesn't have any apps." he says and returns my Pre to me, showing little interest. Some of the other people at the table are curious about what I'm holding. I tell them "It's a Palm Pre and it's better than an iPhone." "Yeah, right" responds Fanboi next to me and everyone laughs. The match is on. I return my Pre to my pocket, not really wanting to make a show of it.

So dinner goes on. Fanboi pulls out his iPhone occasionally to check something, showing it off. Then the check comes and we have to figure out what the split is. "Anyone got a calculator?" goes up the call from one of the women. "I've got an app for that" announces Fanboi as he whips out his iPhone and loads up his tip calculating app. He shows me how the app works with its fancy spinner and all. Others start peering over curious to see what this iPhone app thing is.

Then the decision is made to go to a couple's house for after dinner coffee and dessert. But no one knows where the couple's house is. "I've got Google maps" announces Fanboi has he pulls out his iPhone again and proceeds to punch in the address so he can show everyone where the house is. This is getting intolerable. I've gotta do something about this.

"I've got Google Maps too" I say as I whip out my Pre to meet the challenge. "But I have something even better!" I startup Sprint Navigation and enter the address. After a few seconds, "I've got turn-by-turn navigation with voice prompts! Can your iPhone do that?!" as I smile at Fanboi. "Oooh, can we see?" asks one of the couples. I proceed to show everyone the Pre's screen with the 3D route plotted on it. "It looks just like our GPS" says one of the women. Fanboi realizes the shine on his iPhone is dulling and mumbles something about "We're getting that from TomTom soon". I then posed the question to the table, "What do you think is better? A phone with a tip calculator or one with a turn-by-turn GPS with voice announcements? What would you choose?" Everyone laughs as they watch the duel of the smartphones. "And look, I can check the score of the ballgame (I had ESPN open in a browser) and check my email too while navigating." I showed everyone how I could slide cards around and switch what I was doing with just a flick of my finger. "Can your iPhone switch to another app right now?" I asked Fanboi. I could see him grit his teeth because he was stuck. If he dumped out of Google Maps to do something else, he would have to type in the couple's address all over again.

Pre 1 iPhone 0

I never expected I would ever get in a showdown with an iPhone owner but the situation I was in was too much too resist. And I think everyone had fun watching Fanboi and I duel it out with our phones. Maybe all except Fanboi.

[gbp]

I did this with another fanboy,
I even alternated between google maps and navigation.
He agreed that the multitasking and card view are better than the home button approach.

[thegill321]

Everyone i've showed it to so far has been pretty impressed by it. even an iphone user. but then again, almost all of my friends dont have a smartphone.

[allthewayhome]

Have shown 5 iPhone users, all super impressed. 1 said "i want to switch and save some money" and tonight my friends, 2 guys (boyfriend and boyfriend), 1 said "SOOOOO much faster than the iPhone" was totally into it then said to the other one "let's switch" twice. lol. he was super impressed. But i must disclose, he was drunk. .

[jade408]

I was chatting with a friend. she plans to get an iphone this summer. She sent an IM but logged out of IM inbetween me typing and replying to the message. So I just set her a text instead. From the same window. Then eventually I found her agin and was telling her i got a new phone, and the threaded view was pretty cool. I was on the bus on my way home, so eventually she was back in on the IM so i sent a few messages, listened to Pandora and so on. She signed out of IM and I replied to her IM via a text. She said "You are just trying to show off now, will we still be friends when I get an iphone." I replied but the pre is still better, I'll be listening to Pandora and texting at the same time. (She has been hearing it from me and another mutual friend that the Pre is way better than an iPhone.)

When I showed my sister, she said. I didn't like your Centro. And she lovd the facebook integration, and the view of her shared google calendar on my phone. She was pretty impressed, but when we do the GPS later, I think it will push her over the edge.

[GMoney749]

Showed it to a friend last night who owns an Instinct.

After the demo, he said his wife is getting a new phone - his Instinct.

Tonight I was showing it to an IT guy that works with my wife who owns an iPhone. He only owns the iPhone because his wife and her sisters work for AT&T and, as the new greatest thing, he wanted to give it a shot.

He loved the Pre.

[tarhead]

My favorite thing is when somebody asks to see my phone and I hand it to them - pitch black. The look on their faces when they realize that they have absolutely no idea what to do next is trumped only by the look on their faces when I tell them they not smart enough to own one if they can't get past the black screen. Gotta be smarter than the equipment you are trying to operate. Then I ask if I can see their phone...

[erasef301]

My friend with an iphone was SOOOO excited to show off his Iphone last year when he got it. I told him how cool it was and played around with it for about 20 minutes. I said what a nice phone. Now a year later, I told my friend I was going to get the new palm pre... launch day came and I posted it on my facebook... 3 days straight on facebook (I LOVE MY NEW PALM PRE).... I've had my phone out in front of him 3 times. Once for a call and twice to send picture mail. NOT ONCE HAS HE ASKED TO SEE MY PHONE!!! He is very intimidated by it I'm sure... I'll just wait till he asks to blow him away.

[paumpre]

showed mine to a few of my co-workers and a few friends. one owned an iphone and of course has to defend it even though i tell him i like the iphone better i just was already in a contract with sprint so i might as well see if i liked this phone (which i do!!) he still feels the need to defend though.... IDK? one of my friends freakin loves it! others just dont seem to care or are pretending they dont so i do the same.