When doing a scan of the headlines about the Droid launch, you’ll find fairly consistent reviews across the board.  When it is reviewed with regard only for the features, functionality and usability of the device itself, it seems to do very, very well.  When compared to the iPhone - it takes the back seat 9 times out of 10.

A lot of what I’m reading is that it’s just not quite as good as the iPhone experience, that it was over-hyped to begin with - that it will do well, but can’t really “kill” the iPhone because some people will only be happy if their kick-butt device is called “iPhone.”

Some would see that as a failure.  But I suspect that they’re looking at it solely from the perspective of the marketing and branding - and the emotional attachment that people have to the iPhone and Apple.  They’re not looking at it from the perspective of the quality of the device and the feature-by-feature comparison.

I’m not saying that branding and marketing isn’t important - because it’s a huge contributor to the success of any company and product.  But in order for someone to start challenging the iPhone and making Steve Jobs nervous, a device first had to come out that was at least a feature-by-feature challenger to the iPhone.

The Droid clearly and definitively accomplishes that.  Just take a look at WIRED’s comparison of the features.  The only question that remains is if Motorola and Google can somehow get the marketing and community building just right.  Yes - there are Google loyalists that are as passionate as Apple fanatics.  But throw Motorola into the mix while they have been struggling for so long, and the emotional attachment just isn’t there.

And it gets even tougher - the noise the Droid makes on startup is a love-it-or-hate-it touch.   It’s tough to build the same meaningful relationship that people have with Apple when the product has such a cold, harsh and robotic conceit.  Look what it’s competing with in the Apple commercials - I feel like Robert DeNiro in “Analyze This” when I see those commercials… I just want to cry (but out of happiness in this case).

So… it comes down to the brand and the community - and that’s where the iPhone is competing.  Apple got most of the features right on the first try, and they’ve been focusing almost entirely on the branding and user experience while developers grow the AppStore to nearly 100,000 apps in just a couple of years.

Can Droid compete on that level?  I suppose so - but going head-to-head with the iPhone in the marketing right away is skipping a few very important steps.  Why not focus on finding and building your army of users first?  Let them fight the fight with Apple - and Motorola, Google and Verizon don’t have to do anything other than foster and cultivate the community from there.

Oh yeah, they also need to keep delivering products with a feature set and user experience that makes them competitive - and that means no more crappy phones.  Because those other devices they put out there are inevitably going to impact the overall sentiment around the Droid.

Think about it like cars - you can’t possibly argue that the Cube doesn’t (for some people) affect the perception of other Nissan products, can you?  What about Blackberry and the first generation Storm?  Did it not diminish some confidence in RIM and ultimately harm the overall perception of other products such as the Curve?

And so it goes - another quality smartphone that has game, but needs to get the marketing just right in order to truly compete with the iPhone.  I’m pulling for this one - not because I have anything against the iPhone - but because it has been a few years and it’s about time that someone at least delivers a competitive product on a feature-by-feature level.  Some stiff competition in the smartphone market is only going to benefit consumers.

The bottom line is that this “war” is not being talked about enough on a product and feature level.  The Droid launch strategy tried to push the conversation towards features - but it made a mistake to do that in such a way that it was immediately juxtaposed with the iPhone.  That’s part of the reason why almost every review I have read has started and finished with some comparison to the iPhone.

I, for one, want to get my hands on the Droid.  I’m stuck with Verizon for a while anyway - so why not give it a shot?  And there’s an iPhone user in my home, too!  So we can do our own comparison, and provide more feedback here when (and if) I’m able to purchase the Droid.