Commentary by Katie Barry

The Droid - No Compromises?

How good is the new Droid phone? I can't tell you that - but I CAN tell you that the premise of an ad I found displaying on CNN.com tonight has me intrigued.

The ad (shown in the static screen grab here) states plainly "Compromise Deactivated." Being on the search for a new cell phone (no decision yet), I've had trouble making a decision based on the compromise factor.

I've dropped my current phone a few times. So much so that I've to using masking tape to keep the battery attached to the phone. Clearly, battery use is important! But it seems like if a battery is reliable, I'm giving up something else - perhaps the smaller size I prefer. Or the price skyrockets. Or it has more functionality than I need/want.

But if I look for a phone that has the functionality I want (easier texting than my Razr provides), good network coverage, bells & whistles not needed (email, videos, etc. are more than I desire to carry with me at all times), then the low battery time is a major complaint within reader reviews.

I don't know if the Droid will be the phone for me, but the idea of no compromises (a fundamental principle of TRIZ - eliminate the contradictions/compromises - in order to develop the innovative solution) has me intrigued enough to continue my research. Maybe even if some of those unneeded features are there, the lack of compromises on the rest of what's important to me will be right up my alley.

The next time you're confronted with a compromise, think about what you can do to eliminate the contradiction entirely - you might be surprised by the ideas that present themselves.

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