When I was a kid, my grandmother gave me an old clock that no longer worked. I was just sure I could get it to work. I took the case off and looked at all the parts and got my first clue that mechanical repairs of any kind were not going to be in my career path.

I've had better luck with computers. For whatever reason, the ways to upgrade them, from a new processor to a new hard drive or software, have always seemed clear to me. I'm not shy about looking under the hood.

Now, the Android OS is particularly intriguing to me. I've had good luck so far with changing the ungainly version of Android that came on a tablet and I've been playing with a reader that has a mediocre version of Android on it.

But I've left my phone, the original Motorola Droid, alone. Its version of Android was always fine, and it seems like ages ago when the Froyo update was delivered.

This piece on Lifehacker has me thinking, though, that maybe I should give the phone a shot.

There's nothing wrong with the phone as it is. There's part of me that says I ought to leave well enough alone.

So I'm looking for advice, tips, suggestions. Have you rooted and upgraded a Droid, or any other Android-based phone? Was it as straightforward as it seems? Did it work? Are there pitfalls?