Comments for Blackberry is Not Microsoft (Sorry Apple)

Blackberry is Not Microsoft (Sorry Apple)

2008-07-18T21:05:55Z

I did it! I resisted the cravings all week. I did NOT buy an iPhone. It took a lot of deep Buddhist meditation to deal with my cravings. The iPhone is just gorgeous - this is user interface design at the highest level of art. Plus, the developer platform makes developers who dream in design patterns go all weak at the knees. The last time a UI and API induced equal cravings was in NeXt. No that is not a snide comment, Jobs learned from NeXt and this one is a big, big winner. But, oh yes there is a but, iPhone is still a piece of utility electronics.

]]> When the sizzle ends, the steak still has to taste good. The iPhone has to be better than what people are currently using based on simple metrics of productivity. If the competition is Mac OSX vs Windows, it is no contest at all. Not only is OSX great eye candy, it also wins on productivity and the competition suffers from really annoying stuff like crashes, brownouts and other time-sinks.

But the competition here is not Microsoft. For the business user, the competition is Blackberry; and Blackberry is not Microsoft. I am a long time Blackberry user and it is seldom annoying. It just gets the job done. So unlike when I switched back from Windows to Mac, which I did with a big sigh of relief, I am in no hurry to switch based on anything wrong with what I have.

And a few reviews are making me think that iPhone could be a high maintenance date. Sure, high maintenance dates can be fun, but I am judging this on boring utility criteria. For example:

1. Keyboard. I am ready to be convinced by touch-screen keyboards. But I am not sure I want to spend the time adjusting. Outside the USA, where SMS is the major use of a mobile phone, I think this is a big deal. Flipping to horizontal is neat, but does this work for email?

2. Battery. Any mobile device that cannot do a full day's work and play without re-charge is a pain. You don't want to be in "don't leave home without it" mode regarding your charger unless you are going for more than a day. On a normal day, it's plug it in before you go to sleep and pick it up in the morning.

3. It's a bit big as a phone. OK, so is the Blackberry. But, as they say, size matters when you are holding it to your ear. Some people express almost comical amusement at the idea of using the iPhone as a phone - "you still call people, how quaint". Then don't call it a Phone, because it does set that expectation.

I know that resistance is futile. I will get an iPhone eventually. Or Blackberry will give me a better browser, which is really what I love about iPhone.

The killer app for me? Skype to Skype calls over WiFi. I believe that requires an unlocked iPhone. It would dramatically change the economics of mobile phones. Which AT&T certainly knows and will be resisting for as long as possible.

Plus a really slim but full function collapsible keyboard, so I can write full length stuff as easily as on my laptop. And then a simple way to plug into any screen that's around, so I can edit docs stored in the cloud. So that I can stop lugging around my laptop; that's a big win for people who spend a lot of time away from their desk.

My guess is that the iPhone ecosystem will bring all these things to market fairly soon. The iPhone is the first real new platform since Windows (sorry, Facebook).

Image: After the iPhone Keynote, Jan 2007; pic by mac steve

Comment from Pdaking on 2008-08-05

2008-08-05T15:14:41Z

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Comment from promosyon şapka on 2008-08-02

2008-08-02T09:37:14Z

For years I've been dreaming of that keyboard. That, and the ubiquitous screens, and you won't need an iphone. It will be back to V3 sized phones that just bridge the devices with the cloud. Loved the post.

Comment from David Dugan on 2008-07-19

2008-07-20T03:04:39Z

So, this post basically boils down to: "Here's my expert opinion on why the Blackberry is better than the iPhone, even though I've never used an iPhone for more than 5 minutes."

Great... good stuff.

1. The software keyboard on the iPhone is, quite frankly, remarkable. It takes most people no more than a week before they're faster on it than they ever were on their plastic chicklet keyboards.

2. Battery-wise, the iPhone 3G is best in class for 3G smartphones (PC World), but all 3G phones are power hogs. That's why Apple tried to forego 3G for as long as they could. The original iPhone has a spectacular battery life, as does the new iPhone with 3G turned off. Is your Blackberry 3G? No, so turning it off for most of the day wouldn't upset you.

3. I can only assume that you've never actually held an iPhone in your hand. Regardless of how it might look to you in photos, it is not big. I don't even know where that idea comes from.

If you want to make an argument about the iPhone being inferior to the Blackberry, you should focus on the only thing that Blackberry is (sort of) good at: email (even though it can't present HTML email or inline attachments, which is pretty ridiculous in 2008). The three reasons you chose to crow about your superhuman ability to resist the iPhone are fallacious and ludicrous.

Comment from techjunkie on 2008-07-19

2008-07-19T19:48:23Z

I am afraid that RIM is not MS in this field. OS/X is a joke in corp./business environment. Even linux has better potential than OS/X in workplace.

Comment from Jayson Elliot on 2008-07-19

2008-07-19T19:31:49Z

I always feel bad when I hear people cite the iPhone's keyboard as a negative. The first day that I got mine (about a year ago) I disliked it because I was used to the keyboard on my Treo.

I thought the touchscreen was too inaccurate for anything other than very short and slow entry, and that it would be useless in one-handed mode.

What I hadn't counted on was the iPhone's incredible software behind the keyboard. It's not just spellcheck. The phone's predictive capabilities mean that as long as you are in the general region of the letter you're trying to press, it can correct for your mistakes. It's so good it's eerie.

I type about 80wpm on a standard keyboard, and on a Treo or Blackberry I can manage about 25-30. The physical keys are helpful, but the pressure required and the small target area slow me down immensely.

On the iPhone, I type about 45 wpm. The error correction effectively increases the target area of each key by 200-300%.

I won't argue the battery life - but the only time I find myself draining it before the end of the day is when I've been listening to music, watching videos, and using wi-fi extensively. It's a bit like a car - your mileage will depend on how you choose to drive. You can get 30mpg in a Porsche Boxster if you drive 55, but it's nice to know that if you want to go flat out and drain it faster, you can do that too.

I haven't heard anyone complain about the size, ever. Again, the only way to know is to try it.

Nonetheless, as an owner of both a Blackberry Pearl and an iPhone, I can tell you that the Blackberry is a vastly inferior device for everyday use, and the only reason I still carry it is for Exchange at work, because I like to keep my personal and work data separate.

I wonder why it is that so many people who don't own an iPhone feel the need to write negatively about it? I never seem to read the same kind of articles from people who have actually owned one for any length of time.

Comment from Dmitry Paranyushkin on 2008-07-19

2008-07-19T13:20:29Z

You're totally right about iPhone. There's too much hype about it but it doesn't live up to business users' needs. And I don't get all this fuss about their API. Symbian has had it for years now, and you already have VoIP clients on Nokia such as Truphone or Skype. iPhone is too closed a platform to be attractive.

Comment from GRiNSER on 2008-07-19

2008-07-19T13:08:17Z

"Not only is OSX great eye candy, it also wins on productivity and the competition suffers from really annoying stuff like crashes, brownouts and other time-sinks."
What the heck are you talking?
So OS X just froze yesterday on my Macbook Pro whereas my Vista PC didn't crash once I can remember.
I still don't make such populist claims about my superiority using a Windows based PC, nor do I bash Apple for my bad experience publicly.
Your claims are just so Win 95... (doh, and what did Apple have then? OS prior X was unstable too)
About the productivity thing: There are things in OS X and Mac apps too that suck until you get used to it (which doesn't make those things less sucking)...

Comment from Alexander Straub on 2008-07-19

2008-07-19T07:51:53Z

VoIP WiFi based calling for free truphone to truphone or very economical rates abroad is available on the iPhone, a good link to know more about it is http://www.truphone.com/iphone . The application has been available on Nokia E and N Series for about 2 years. I have used it and the voice quality beats easily any service out there, including Skype. I believe the guys use particular software to make it work even with the lowest available bandwidt. On the Nokia you got more services including truphone Anywhere http://www.truphone.com/anywhere , SMS over WiFi, Sim forwarding from truphone numbers, ring in tones, truphone ringtones indicating free from pay for calls. truphone looks to be the most professional product in the market offering WiFi calling on Mobiles as a Mobile Internet Network Operator.

Comment from Iron Flatline on 2008-07-18

2008-07-19T06:39:55Z

Do yourself a big favor, and take a look at the HTC Diamond Touch Pro.

http://www.htc.com/europe/product.aspx?id=49918

I know it is anathema (even blasphemous) on this site to speak well of Windows Mobile, though it works well enough - esp. on the HTC phones.

I have no affiliation with the company. I just buy their phones (they're big in EU, not sure about the US) and I am always surprised they're left out of comparos.

Comment from James Douglas on 2008-07-18

2008-07-19T05:23:58Z

Truphone is already available on the App Store for VoIP calls at cheap rates. It looks like Skype for the iPhone.

Comment from Conrado on 2008-07-18

2008-07-19T04:39:33Z

For years I've been dreaming of that keyboard. That, and the ubiquitous screens, and you won't need an iphone. It will be back to V3 sized phones that just bridge the devices with the cloud. Loved the post.

Comment from Wun Dum Gai on 2008-07-18

2008-07-19T02:25:39Z

Apple will never give these additions to the iPhone as they will cannibalize their notebooks! I only wish I were wrong.

Comment from Anon1 on 2008-07-18

2008-07-19T00:53:05Z

You know what I dream of? Global filters for Google Reader. I want one for "iphone" one for "apple" one for "steve jobs" so I can stop having to read constant apple masturbation. I don't even care if I lose all sorts of interesting content that just mentions those topics.

"The iPhone is just gorgeous - this is user interface design at the highest level of art. Plus, the developer platform makes developers who dream in design patterns go all weak at the knees"

God. Get over yourself.

Comment from Asi on 2008-07-18

2008-07-19T00:21:10Z

Had a blackberry for years, bought an i-phone last week. With blackberry I could hardly browse the internet, it was a nightmare. While I understand the criticism around battery life or the partial 3G coverage by AT&T, it is like moving from Dos to Windows. It reminds me when I bought the first Mac 512k introducing mouse and windows. The future is here guys, wait a few weeks or months, but there is no way back :)

Comment from Emily Williams on 2008-07-18

2008-07-18T23:55:29Z

Thanks for this perspective. I'm still waiting for an iPhone (the provider who's bringing them in Chile is widely viewed as the worst of the 3 major cell phone companies), so it's nice to learn what people are liking and not liking in the meantime. The battery issue to me is huge - I understand if 3G kills battery and like that you can optionally turn it off, but to me it seems ridiculous to have a phone that can't easily go at least a full day! I think if I needed the best smartphone out there, I would still go with a Blackberry, but since I don't really *need* one and more just *want* one, the iPhone wins on UI.

Comment from Ryan Gonzalez on 2008-07-18

2008-07-18T23:48:43Z

Actually, you don't need an unlocked iPhone for phone to phone Skype on Wi-Fi. Steve Jobs said so himself back at the SDK launch. The only thing now is for developers to get working on bringing such an app to the App Store.

Comment from Tony on 2008-07-18

2008-07-18T23:48:32Z

can you do things like "Skype to Skype calls over WiFi" on an iTouch?

Comment from KimH on 2008-07-18

2008-07-18T22:51:41Z

And btw- the iPhone on EDGE works fine for email, and fine for text-based RSS readers. Those two things represent about 85% of my mobile net use.

Comment from KimH on 2008-07-18

2008-07-18T22:48:08Z

Quote: "2. Battery. Any mobile device that cannot do a full day's work and play without re-charge is a pain."

Answer: Turn off 3G, and stick with wifi/EDGE. At least for someone like me who's around wifi almost all the time, that's problem solved. I do use 3G temporarily if I really need to.

All 3G phones are battery hogs. Many of them don't let you turn off 3G, but the iPhone does.

Comment from LiviuX on 2008-07-18

2008-07-18T21:48:31Z

Hey don't forgot about Linux.