21 Feb Blackberry – From Love To Hate, With Just An iPhone
Oh Blackberry, how do I hate the…let me count the ways.
About a month ago you were the only phone I used. I put up with your freezing, your stalling, your resetting and your dropped calls, your horrible web browser and countless other issues. When I came home with the iPhone 4S, I knew you were angry. You worked flawlessly that night trying to keep up and earn my attention, but the iPhone had captured it and hasn’t let go.
You have the best keyboard, hands down; no one is taking that away from you. You have a dynamic communication piece in Blackberry Messenger. Plus, you feel good in the hand, sturdy, solid, no plastic feel- but you suck. I can’t get to my email without your “waiting” clock showing. I can’t answer the phone sometimes because you are too slow to tell me I have a phone call; you’ve even froze on me in the middle of a call so I couldn’t hang up. Ended up leaving a message (which I never do) because it was already at the end of the other persons recording and I had to. Talk about embarrassing. I consistently showed you love by never dropping you, screen-protecting you, cleaning you…what else could I do? As soon as I got you I knew you were special, but then at the end of a 12 hour day you needed your 3rd (yes 3rd) battery replacement; you’re lucky I carried them with me. Anyway…I have put up with you throughout the years, from the 9000, to the 9900 and now- it’s time for me to say goodbye.
Do not be sad. I will still carry you with me, for BBM and for Emails that need to be sent in long form with your perfect keyboard. But I will not use you for the majority of my daily tasks and will never give your replacement an honest chance either.
What did it for me was your updates. How can you not alert me when there is an update? Why do you I need to go through so much just to update you? You should be plug and play. These last 3 days have been horrible for us (you and I). I spent all day today trying to get you updated. First you froze when I was backing you up, then I found a fix. You were backed up. I wiped you. Went to the security Wipe, typed in “blackberry” and you hung there for 45 minutes while I read your warning not to do any battery pulling during this process, so I waited. You finally finished, and powered down. But wait…you aren’t suppose to power down, you are supposed to restart after this. So I pull your battery and you come up with a white screen.
Everything I could have done on my Blackberry, I can do better on the iPhone with the exception of a few things like typing. I have picked up the Keyboard attachment for the iPhone, and will give that a try when it arrives. Maybe this will allow me to leave you completely; once I repair you that is.
The Blackberry is a communication device and nothing more. People argue “how could you use that?”, but as I just explained, it’s pretty easy to use (when it doesn’t freeze). The iPhone is a toy. It also doubles as a work device to an extent. I often find myself picking up the iPhone to do something, and then being distracted by everything else there is to do on it. I must say, it is the best ‘bathroom device’ in the world. But as the iPhone is the “bathroom device” the Blackberry is a piece of shit.
I will miss you Blackberry, I will not use you as much, but you will be with me for a few more weeks.
UPDATE: 2/21/2012
My blackberry has never ran better. No freezes, no stalls, no restarts and very smooth operating. I did wipe the device completely and restore only email and BBM info, but it’s still all I will use it for. I may keep this around as my ‘communication device’ and the iPhone my ‘toy’. Damn thing; every time I pick up the iPhone I forget what I was going to do in the first place.
UPDATE: 5/15/2013
Many people have asked for an update about the iPhone Keyboard that we offer, and that I used for a short (very short) period of time. To put things in perspective, picture a thin plastic case that installs on your iPhone., add a slide out keyboard with flat keys (not raised) and a space bar on the bottom row to the right of all the other keys. (Yes, to the right, ridiculously difficult to get used to). The keyboard does work, and if you are not worried about how your phone feels or looks with this plastic housing/keyboard installed – go for it. If you are looking for something to speed up your typing – don’t use this. This will not make you quicker, it will make you more frustrated in that the keys are not where they should be. (not just the space bar). It’s a very cheaply manufactured product that did not pass my test. In fact, it broke while trying to remove it from my iPhone. If someone is interested in designing a higher quality detachable keyboard for the iPhone 4S or the new iPhone5 you will be successful if you are able to manufacture them around the $19 price point, and distribute at $59, and retail for $79. Kickstarter & Crowdbacker are calling your name.