Friday, November 12, 2010

From Blackberry to Palm, Android or iPhone: Care to Make the Leap?

Verizon BlackBerry Tour 9630Image via Wikipedia

I see sooooo many people out there with Blackberry devices and I find myself constantly asking "why do people my age (24) love Blackberries so much?"  I know people with them but before I start, I'll confess that I've never owned a Blackberry device.  The following is my reasoning for wondering why there is such a great attraction to Blackberry devices:
  1.  They All Look the Same
    • There's the Bold, Curve, Tour, Pearl and they all look the same.  Why would anyone want 4 different model phones that, aside from the keyboards, are incredibly similar in appearance.  Don't you want some individuality?  I'll give the Storm series some love.  At least it attempted to be different.  Unfortunately, it wasn't shown much love from many Blackberry's.  For RIMs sake, I hope the Torch and Style sell a lot better.
  2. Small Screen Size
    • In a world of Facebook photo viewing, YouTube video watching, Twitpic uploading and web browsing, why limit your experience to such a small screen?  Yes, their screens have great resolutions but on screens that small that had better be the case.  Maybe their smaller to make up for their low 3.2 megapixel cameras, in the world where the average is 5.  Even 8 megapixels is starting to be become more apparent.  Don't confuse screen resolution with actual screen size.  As of November 2010, The newest models have the following diagonal dimensions:   
      • Bold 9780: 2.4"
      • Curve 9330: 2.4"
      • Tour: 2.4"
      • Tourch 3.2" (AT&T only)
  3. Operating System 
    • Two months ago Blackberry just got threaded text messaging (strictly referring to the OS and not apps).  Really?  That's a shame.  I feel bad for those that have to scroll through their entire message library rather than having conversations grouped together based on each individual person.  The latter way is much more convenient.  RIM recently released it's newest operating system OS 6 but if you don't have a Bold 9700, Bold 9650, Pearl 3G, or anything newly released, I'm sorry to say that you won't be experiencing it.  OS 6 does look pretty nifty, but it's definitely still behind Apple's, Palm's, and Google's operating systems. 
    • Blackberry devices are also majorly lacking in the app department.  More than 10,000 apps are available but they're severely lacking in quality. That is the feeling expressed by many Blackberry users themselves in the Crackberry forums, the number one site for Blackberry users.  So while your friends are off playing Angry Birds and watching Netflix on their devices, most Blackberry users are...umm...on BBM I guess. 
      • Speaking of Blackberry Messenger, will someone please tell me what in the world is so great about BBM!  In order to use BBM, you need someone's PIN.  Which already eliminates everyone who doesn't have a Blackbery or KiK Messenger.  RIMs site states that BBM enables the user to have their own display picture, know when your message has been delivered and read, and share multimedia with your contacts at once.  These days I'm pretty sure that no matter what phone you have, it'll let you know if your text message was never sent and that you can send an MMS to multiple recipients.     
 
Droid Pro (left) and Bold 9780 (right), via BGR

    With all of that said, my only main point is that Blackberry does not seem well suited or targeted towards a younger audience.  Somehow this has happened despite the fact that, feature-wise, Blackberry devices seem much more suited for corporate and business people.  It allows them to get their e-mail all in one place, delivered quickly, is reliable and has little to no fun factor.  The only device that combats this is the Torch.  I doubt that many people have adopted it yet so if anyone my age can explain why they'd rather own an under featured Blackberry device as opposed to an iPhone, Droid, or Palm Pre, I'm open to listen.  Otherwise, if you currently have a Blackberry device, you may want to think about switching it up. 
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