[BBRaffey]

I have not posted on this forum for a few years now, but as a 5 ½ year member and a true Blackberry fanboy, I sadly have to say goodbye to my trusty BB Bold. I have had only BB for over 9 years now and truly loved each and every one of them, but – sniff – will get the IPhone 5 or 4S whenever it is released sometime this fall. I have a family plan with AT&T on which I have the only BB, the other three all have various IPhones. At first, I hated the virtual keyboard, no multitasking and no cut & paste. To me the IPhone was simply an ITouch with a phone and not good at either. The security with the BB was superb, the actual keyboard was a joy and the BB blew the IPhone away when it came to email. Alas, here are my reasons:
• Over the years, I kept grabbing my wife’s IPhone whenever I wanted to check out something on the internet or find something with the GPS and maps. It was easier to use, see with the larger screen and expand its font by the two finger spread. I came to learn that it blew the BB away for everything that did not involve a lot of typing.
• Took practice, but I did get used to the virtual keyboard but still prefer the BB here, albeit not by much.
• IPhone has come a long way with its email handling and while still behind the BB, I find that people are now texting me more than emailing and the IPhone has a better text interface.
• Cut & paste, multitasking, sound, calendar and contacts are no longer an issue with the IPhone
• I bought an IPad and am in love with it for just about everything. Cannot carry it around with me, but it goes on vacation and to the office. Just too many apps have much better synergy with the IPhone than with the BB and syncing between them is a no brainer.
• My Bold is only a little over 2 years old and it is leaking memory so bad that I have to reboot it every 2 days, it has the dreaded low volume problem (I should not have to stuff the back with cardboard to make it work) and the battery life sucks.
• RIM is bleeding customers and it senior executives are jumping ship – the Wall Street Journal had a story on the latest defection only today.
• I am afraid that the “M” in RIM no longer stands for “Motion” but is now “Molasses”. They just have not kept up with the innovative minds making the IPhones and Droids. I fear that if I purchase the latest BB and lock in for 2 years that it will soon be as current as the Razr. BTW, I still use my old Razr when I go to Europe, just slip in my Vodafone SIM and it still makes better quality calls than either the BB or the IPhone. I take the IPad as well and am golden.

[aiharkness]

We're not breaking up.....you can still visit.

[Dubdub]

Sorry to see you go, but we'll leave the light on for you so you can find your way back.

I left the BB for an iPhone 3GS but after a year came back to the BB.

[BBRaffey]

I hope to come back as well, RIM is just going to have to show me something more promising than I see in the pipeline now. I do look at RIM's announcements and monitor Boy Genius every now and then. I just cannot see anything that encouraging.

[aiharkness]

You have to use what best meets your needs. That's the bottom line.

[fourstringfuror]

Originally Posted by BBRaffey

I do look at RIM's announcements and monitor Boy Genius every now and then. I just cannot see anything that encouraging.

What is written is often less important than who is writing, and why. Flogging RIM is easy and popular these days.

[Dubdub]

If you want a business and email tool, you get a BB. If you want a consumer device, then the iPhone is what you get. And if you want a toy, buy a "droid.

[penguin3107]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

If you want a business and email tool, you get a BB. If you want a consumer device, then the iPhone is what you get. And if you want a toy, buy a "droid.

Please tell me you're joking.

[Dubdub]

Lol

[dirtynorth]

i dont know , i'm very happy with the playbook, and looking forward to the new bold. i had the opportunity to "play" around with an iphone for about a week and its really not for me - i dont just read / retrieve info, i have to send as well, esp abroad.

rim is obviously going through a transition, and lets face it, the exodus of its marketing execs is probably a good thing... rim needs to focus on attracting some good talent in that area and clearly what it had was not working.

i'm being patient, and im excited for whats around the corner.. but it comes down to need and want.

[BigA]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

If you want a business and email tool, you get a BB. If you want a consumer device, then the iPhone is what you get. And if you want a toy, buy a "droid.

Yes that's right keep drinking the koolaid.

In case you haven't noticed those lines have now blurred and become one. Do your self a favor and start to look at other platforms and learn what they offer. If not you could wake up one day and find RIM in chapter 7 or closed. This is now too serious not to ignore. You don't want to get left with out a seat. It could ruin your carrier.

[Dubdub]

Actually, I have used an iPhone and a "Droid". iPhone on AT&T and the "Droid 2 on Verizon. Still have a HTC 8920 (I think - Ty Tyn II?) using Windows Mobile 6.5.

Neither does what I want it to, hence I came back to the BB. The BB just works for me. Not on BES. Push email work great as does Google Calendar sync.

If another device works better for you, then go for it, but don't bash others because they don't have your same viewpoint.

[rambo47]

I seem to take regular sabbaticals from BlackBerry. I'm a sucker for "The Next Great Thing" and I tend to try them as they come. Palm Pre, Samsung Epic/HTC Evo, etc. I always come back to BlackBerry though. The trick is finding what works best for you. Sometimes that includes using what everyone in your communications circle uses.

Oddly, I seem immune to the Siren call of the iPhone. I'm a complete Mac guy at home but have no desire to use an iPhone. My wife has one and loves it, and if it comes to Sprint my son will get one. But not me. There must be a coverage gap in the RDF.

[BBRaffey]

Anyone else here notice a common theme? Most of us are dedicated BB users but our spouses and kids use the IPhone or something else. I'm an old fart and RIM does not need me. They need people like my daughter, a successful surgeon in NYC who loves the medical apps on the IPhone or my nephew who works in professional baseball or my niece who is a professional baker both whom have industry specific apps in the IPhone that do not exist in the world of BB. i know RIM is reluctant to give out it's source code for security reasons but today's users do not care. As in any industry BlackBerry is going to have to attract new and young customers or the company will die off along with us old fartso

[jsconyers]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

If you want a business and email tool, you get a BB. If you want a consumer device, then the iPhone is what you get. And if you want a toy, buy a "droid.

It wasn't that long ago that the iPhone was considered a toy. Now a lot of corporations and even government agencies are implementing them over BlackBerrys.

There are a lot of different flavors of Android. There is the stock Android interface, the HTC Sense UI, MotoBlur, etc. Each of these changes the interface pretty significantly. Personally, I like the Sense UI as I am more familiar with it.

Having said that, I do not find Android devices to be toys. The platform is changing rapidly and adding features pretty quickly too. At the rate RIM is moving, Android is running laps around them.

[BBRaffey]

A last thought and then I am off. To paraphrase the real estate industry, what are the three most important aspects of a smart phone? Apps, Apps Apps. The masses have spoken and just as most will put up with a little less house for the right location most users will put up with a little less convenience of use for the right app selection. In this RIM is woefully behind. I love the BB and am not bashing it, but you can call me a rat for jumping what I see as a sinking ship.

[rambo47]

RIM has been late on the consumer market. They figured their business user base was safe and didn't count on the iPhone and Android making such inroads in the corporate space. When iOS started pushing into the enterprise/business realm RIM responded with consumer devices and apps. Unfortunately for them they don't have the expertise nor the consumer-oriented developer community.

Like Motorola staying too long with the RAZR and failing to innovate for so long, RIM is being punished for sticking with their bread and butter while ignoring innovation. And it's costing them.

[alphasports]

Originally Posted by rambo47

RIM has been late on the consumer market. They figured their business user base was safe and didn't count on the iPhone and Android making such inroads in the corporate space. When iOS started pushing into the enterprise/business realm RIM responded with consumer devices and apps. Unfortunately for them they don't have the expertise nor the consumer-oriented developer community.

Like Motorola staying too long with the RAZR and failing to innovate for so long, RIM is being punished for sticking with their bread and butter while ignoring innovation. And it's costing them.

Exactly. Done or not, they're in big trouble for the foreseeable future and are completely unaccustomed to the sensation of a spiral dive. They have a massive upslope ahead of them and the only question is whether they have the management in place to pull up before they slam into the mountainside. Most people think "no". I tend to agree unless they engineer some kind of front-page blockbuster alliance with some other big player, buying them the 2 years they need to completely reorganize.

[BigA]

Originally Posted by Dubdub

Actually, I have used an iPhone and a "Droid". iPhone on AT&T and the "Droid 2 on Verizon. Still have a HTC 8920 (I think - Ty Tyn II?) using Windows Mobile 6.5.

Neither does what I want it to, hence I came back to the BB. The BB just works for me. Not on BES. Push email work great as does Google Calendar sync.

If another device works better for you, then go for it, but don't bash others because they don't have your same viewpoint.

Well. This is not just me being a "fanboi" or "just my viewpoint". I am trying to wake up those who want to go down with the ship. You know, remember St. Helens, there were some people who just wanted to die with the mountain. Well guess what, you are that same person. I am simply trying to wake up the ones who don't have common sense simply because they are a fanboi too of RIMM.

At this point in time in RIMM's history. Have an exit strategy in place at the very least. Because being a hero at this point in the sinking of RIMM is crazy at best.

[aiharkness]

That may be the biggest bunch of nonsense posted on the forum, ever.