I was walking around a mall yesterday and I was looking at the 8900 (got to say I love it) and the rep was telling me that I can locate people and their locations using GPS and such, and that I can take pictures and pin them on a map location and therefore I can know the location of where I took the picture. Supposedly I can do all this without needing a data plan. So is this true or is the guy saying anything to make a sale?

Wirelessly posted (Its All About the U!)

Hmm. I dont see how you can do it without a data plan unless there is something special about wifi. I do not know the phone well enough to say more

Your tmo rep is (politely) less than trained.

You can do all that (locate your friends via Google Maps > Latitude).

But not without a Data Plan.

Your GPS will work without a data plan (if you want your lat-long) but for mapping and such, you will need data.

No BlackBerry device functions properly without a BlackBerry data plan.

This is one of the most ridiculously short-sighted statements I've read in these forums as of late.
Not everyone needs to have a data plan in order for the BlackBerry to "function properly".
We all have different needs.

The key word is PROPERLY.

Please re-read my post. Yes, the device will operate with a minimum set of services, but in order for the device to operate as intended by the manufacturer, a BlackBerry plan is absolutely required.

The flaw in your logic is that you're equating "proper function" with the manufacturer's intentions.
There's nothing wrong, or improper, about using a device in a way that is not consistent with the way the manufacturer intends it to be used.

Some users simply don't need email, or BlackBerry messenger or any data at all.
Some users are perfectly satisfied with a stable, good looking device that operates as a phone and can send/receive text messages.

exactly!

Now you're just arguing for the sake of arguing. I think you're totally wrong with this statement, but I'm not going to argue with you anymore because I won't fight an unarmed man.

Have a wonderful night.

Oh, please. 5th grade called... they want their insult back.

And the last thing I'm doing is arguing with you in the first place. Any mature individual would know that.
In this forum, there seems to be this absurd bias against users who opt-out of data plans. You people even start entire threads about it in your "Rants and Raves" forum.
Could you be any more childish?

I've been involved with RIM and mobile telecommunications for a very long time, and I'm far from "unarmed".
Take your own data plan and your own BlackBerry... and use them any way you want.
You're in no position to judge how anyone else uses theirs.

YES, you can.

It's called geotagging and DOES NOT require data. Not even a plan, really. Only GPS reception.

Those people don't want a BlackBerry. LOL... If my objective was supremely stable at the cost of advanced features, a BlackBerry is the last thing to get (but for a Windows Mobile device, perhaps, as it is less stable in my experience).

BlackBerries are obviously great at many things but if you just want calls, texts, and cosmetics, get an LG Vu. How many automatic "battery pull" apps are there for those? None. Why?

I work in wireless sales, and selling a BlackBerry without a data plan is guaranteeing an unhappy customer. They will either get lost in the OS (as, by default, sending a text message is beneath menus), be aghast at what has to be added to their plan to make feature B work, or have a heart attack when they receive a bill with sky-high "per use" charges.

Some of them do. In fact, a lot of them do.
Spend some time in this forum, and you'll see for yourself.
There's many many users who want a BlackBerry, and don't want a data plan.
There's also many users who want and use a BlackBerry when their carrier doesn't even offer a BlackBerry data plan. Think globally.

That's you. I'm speaking about all of those other people who aren't you.


Why? If someone likes the BlackBerry... get the BlackBerry. If it does what THEY NEED it do to, then what does it matter to you what they choose to use?

Not sure how this is relevant to the discussion.


This is your experience and may not be accurately reflective of the entire BlackBerry user-base.

Penguin, have I mentioned how glad I am that you're posting again? :-D

I think you just did.

When I said "they don't want a BlackBerry", I meant they wouldn't be best served by a BlackBerry, not that they didn't want to purchase one. People love the looks of the black on chrome ones, especially.

I'm not the only person who finds Windows Mobile to be unstable.

What I was getting at is that BlackBerries provide a sub-par experience for basic users. Not because they are sub-par but because unused and unavailable features interfere with more basic ones.

For instance, defaulting contacts to the handset instead of the SIM card... What happens when they break the phone?

Creating a text message requires scrolling the trackball to the message inbox, using the BlackBerry key to bring up a context menu, identifying "Create SMS" as meaning "New Text Message", and sending the message (under another context menu, where traditional phones have a soft key that is labeled).

Traditional phones do not crash, do not lag, do not have complicated OSes, etc., etc...

Duane, you need to re-read the OP again. You can't send data (email or MMS on a BB) without a Data Plan, therefore the OP won't have his mapping application for the GPS to locate or even send/receive a picture (picture = data) with the geotag.

Right? Or did I misread where the OP stated "view maps" with and sending pictures, etc.?

I should have quoted the OP when I made my initial post. Locating other people will require data. Tagging photos taken on the phone with GPS info does not.

And uploading those photos to be on a tagged map... will require... data.

So we're back to posts #2 and #3. Data required, and the CSR was speaking without knowledge.

The pics could be uploaded at a later time, though, either by connecting a WiFi-enabled BlackBerry to WiFi or by using a PC in-between.