With that said, the main reason why I switched from BB to iPhone is because of the little glitches here and there (temporary RIM outages, call logs and messages being deleted out of NOWHERE just to make room for more space, etc.) that added up in the end. I would rather not have to search for ways to troubleshoot the problem… I don’t want the problem to be there in the first place.

I travel A LOT for work, and the iPhone kept me so much company today while at the airport. I have no problems accessing my MS Outlook, Calendar, etc. This allows me to get a lot more work done on AT&T’s 3G network.

I have played with the iphone, and I just couldn’t work with the on screen keyboard, I will admit that the screen is amazing and the marketing department at our office is trying to push one on me in hopes that I will make the decision to move away from blackberrys and into iphones for our mobile email solution.

I don’t have anything negative to say about the iphone, I think it’s a great little device, I think it’s changing the idea of what a phone can do, that’s all great, but my preference is blackberry. I like the “feel” of my keyboard, as an IT technician and network administrator I rely a lot on my camera, I can take pictures and send them to vendors when I am at remote sites, so I think that’s an aspect that apple should look at and consider. Not a huge issue for the average user, but for someone in my type of career, it’s a requirement. Also, BES is huge for me, I set it up, it’s great and for my users it’s a great advantage.

Overall, I don’t see the need for the debate, there’s treo users that will never use another phone, there’s blackberry users who feel the same, and iphone users seem to love their phones. No need to trash another device, just like the PC/Mac debate, odds are no ones opinion is really going to be changed, but if you feel it’s best to go on a tirade to prove your point, more power to ya.

10 Touchscreen/Non-Touchscreen

“Call me crazy but I don’t miss the QWERTY keypad on the Curve at all.”

That’s your opinion and that’s why there are many cell phone makers today aside from Apple and RIM, because not everyone in the world needs all the features that both phone provide.

“And if you asked me if I would rather have the iPhone’s screen or the Blackberry’s keyboard, well I guess you already know which choice I would choose.”

Well that’s great! Good for you! But when the touch part of the screen dies on your phone (and it already has on my friend’s 1st gen iPhone) you might as well replace the paper weight on your table with your phone. It becomes almost entirely USELESS! (Aside from lighting up a room) You can’t even use the phone feature on it anymore. Now on the BlackBerry however you might have a dead keyboard but you’re still able to make outgoing calls and pick up incoming ones as well. Cause Apple guessed that well who’d want voice dialing right? Not so….. Innovative now are we? Also blackberry is releasing a touch screen phone towards the end of 2008 or early 2009. RIM is just going to expand in the market of cell phones.

9 E-MAIL

That’s a pretty easy one. In case you haven’t heard/read RIM has already released their new OS for “OLDER” (as well as new) blackberry phones to be able to read HTML e-mails just fine. Also what’s the point in getting e-mails with attachments when you… can’t even download them to your 8-16GB phones for? BlackBerry phones allow you to save the attachments you receive NOT just view them! Apple’s behind in more than just e-mail, cut and paste has been around since your grandmothers were born! What’s so innovative about a phone that can’t copy paste information on a text message/e-mail/web browser? I mean… OLD Macintosh computers did that!!! WTH!?

8 Design…

Yes, I must admit the iPhone does look impressive but that’s where it ends, In the looks department. Feel and use is totally different. I love watching people trying to use their iPhones with 1 hand juggling the device around trying to keep the slippery thing in their hands long enough to type out an IM to a friend that spells out… HI! Amazingly funny! Blackberry has always been easy to use with device resting in your hand as opposed to battling to use the device with both hands. You can indeed use it with both hands but you have more flexibility when you are able to use it with just… one!

7 Sync

Ohhh wow…. PC’s are such a dreaded horror that almost anyone in their right minds today uses the PC as opposed to an Apple. Apple is soooooooooooo great at making OS’s that they… went the UNIX root… Hmmm… not so innovative there either I guess. Better to steal more ideas like they did in the past with Xerox then… create fresh stuff to call their own! Apple’s are becoming the thing of the past… They’re a great history lesson and we should all learn about their breakthrough in history with the first PC but, that’s it! Not much sense in buying a car where “ohhh sorry sir if you want to use that stereo you’ll have to buy compatible speakers for it or it won’t work.” or… “Sorry sir that fuel isn’t compatible with your engine you’ll have to continue your quest in space in search for compatible fuel for your engine”. Give… me… a… break… and you talked about it being a hassle to find blackberry software… well sure because of course… the whole world revolves around… iTunes. Out-of-box = Vegetable-User-Friendliness.

6 Media

Hands down the iPhone wins there, or does it? I have a custom ringtone in my 8820 that well… I MADE! At the end of the day I felt good I was able to pick out a certain portion of a song I like as opposed to certain portions they have online, which I’m not interested in. I also put the file in there myself once I plugged my phone to my computer (having the desktop manager installed of course NOT used just installed for driver purposes). No iTunes sync, limitations or need to download iTunes to do something as simple as… LOL copy paste an mp3 file to the ringtone folder. Custom iPhone ringtones? Is that even possible if you jailbreak them? LOL that’s a good laugh. However, yes movies do look great on widescreen even though the sound isn’t all that great on an iPhone to begin with. Apple is great at presenting the media, just not so great at sharing/moving it around. Blackberry also has more compatibility for more media types than the iPhone does. Bluetooth stereo headsets anyone? What good is a media device without the ability to listen to music/movies on your… stereo headsets? Another loss there?

5 Web

Yes, FINALLY! We got to something Apple has better then a blackberry! Very true indeed the web browser is of something of the past on blackberry phones. RIM recently stated that in the near future they will be able to display flash movies on the browser of the phones with just an OS upgrade. As for the iPhone can only show… youtube videos. The new OS 4.5 for blackberry phones already does this… so what’s the big deal? Also if the browser is something of a big deal and you want to show it off that much then well… Safari isn’t even really… the best browser! Skyfire is the first TRUE desktop like web browser for mobile phones and it even lets you play flash movies directly from the page as they’re loaded into the cache of the phone! No plugins, software or tweaks to make that possible it COMES already set like that. So again! Apple is “BEHIND” in having the best web browser for a mobile phone!

4 Consistency

Wow… back to the dreaded iTunes. I guess if it makes your life easier to install a product Apple forces upon you, to make your so called media phone function as a media phone, without the capability of 3rd party software and easier to use/maintain for the vegetable part of society that needs things to work right out the box but in actuality still doesn’t. Consistently tapping that screen to get an e-mail/SMS message every time rather than just pull it out of your holster and have it instantly displayed on your phone… Then I guess sure… why not.

3 Innovation

“A big difference between Apple and RIM is that RIM is rooted in being a phone maker whereas Apple comes from the world of computers”

Yet has a long way to go in passing today’s PCs that are cable of doing the office stuff AND gaming stuff.

“There are certain features important to me that they’ll always be chasing Apple and other phone makers.”

What? What are these so called features? All I read was you blowing all types of different temperature heat out of your mouth without listing any key features… AT ALL! You want to list a “FEATURE” how about GPS and Stereo Bluetooth? Features Apple has yet again… FAILED to add to their 2nd gen iPhone. What’s next a 3rd gen iPhone that has Stereo Bluetooth and no REAL GPS? What are you going to buy 5 different gen iPhones before they finally… Get it right? I think Apple is the one behind because they still haven’t even gotten something as simple as cut and paste on their 2nd gen iPhones down. Hurry up Apple! At least the PALM had cut and paste and that OS is almost dead…

2 OS

Anyone that has anything on the OS issue should go buy a 1980’s Mac and sit there in the corner and drool over OS X. Yes that’s what we all want to do, because what’s the point of making improvements and moving forward right? Apple surely doesn’t seem to understand such a marketing strategy as they themselves have issues moving forward. As for hardware the BOLD will have the most powerful processors available for mobile phones when it comes out. So the most important part of an Apple, the thing that always set aside Apple products from the rest of the groups… is about to be left behind.

“Using little menu screens with a slow trackball makes little sense compared to flick, tap, touch.”

Which as my friend put about his 1st gen iPhone, get’s really old really fast when you need to access your e-mail quickly, and just… can’t. Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap… almost there! Tap Tap Tap Tap! Finally, DONE! Another tap, and back in pocket! Anyways, like I stated before if the trackball failed for whatever reason only that part of the device died and you could still use enter to open programs and such. If the screen died on the iPhone… you had a brick. An OS can’t fix that! But it can sure fix the ability to unlock the phone! Keep you depending on Apple for… everything…

1 The Present Future

“Honestly, the customizable nature of the Blackberry confused me. I want things clear-cut, show me what I can have and I’ll pick and choose from there. With the Blackberry I had to constantly double check with other users to see if I was using it correctly and if the programs I chose were the best out there.”

It’s called flexibility and as PC Magazine state with the Hacking article they wrote about. There’s only 2 reasons to hack something. #1 you admit the product sucks! #2 You hack it to fix it’s “Flaws”. Congrats Apple your product SUCKS, and users hack them to fix your Flaws.

“I’ve realized that in order to take advantage of everything the Blackberry has to offer, you have to be an active user. Meaning you have to constantly peruse the forums and blog sites to know what’s going on in the Blackberry world.”

How many don’t already do that with their jailbreak iPhones? What new stuff can I add to my phone? What emulators can I download!? What programs can I finally have that Apple is withholding from me!?!?!? The questions come pouring on those forums as well…

“With the advantage of iTunes, Apple has the comfort of knowing anyone who uses an iPhone will know when the next update comes and what it will do.”

Isn’t that the same as an OS upgrade? Ohhh no right… just a small service pack.

“In the future, the App Store should also help users remain “in the know” about their devices because a simple click from your iPhone could deliver all the new goodies you need (but of course, you shouldn’t live without TiPb!)”

Goodies? Didn’t you say earlier you didn’t want/need all these different apps and the so called out-of-box experience was the best? More hot air then I guess huh?

“The simplicity of the whole process makes it hard for me to ever imagine using a non-iPhone.”

There’s no simplicity in downloading and learning how to use that new app you got on your phone from the iStore… It’s back to dun dun duuuuuuuhhhhhh! Complicating your life again!

“I have infinitely more faith in the Apple phone revolution than being in RIM’s boat as it happens. Because I know Apple, I know Mac. I know the simplicity of the user experience and I trust them enough to deliver it to my handheld. From my experience with Blackberry, the entrenched veteran is just as far away as the promising rookie, Apple, from delivering the perfect device. So what does that say?”

What faith? What future for that matter? Apple locked themselves out of ANY future they thought they had by claiming they won’t use a keyboard anymore. Their market of products… just shrank the second Steve spit that out on the stage! He basically said “We’re going to keep making touchscreens till people get tired and BORED out of their minds on them!” Well Steve… good job I guess. Not the greatest man to do marketing since he split Apple and Mac and made both companies fight with each other continuously bashing Macintosh as a thing of the past. This is a guy that put down his own workers in shame that they made a worthless product!? Not the best business man in my eyes that’s why Steve Wozniak left him to crumble his company in shame all on his own. Don’t forget that Microsoft owns Apple so please stop picking on PC’s. Not that I’m a Microsoft fan I’m just pointing out that big brother came to rescue them from remaining in the history books. As for products blackberry has released their new flip pearl, a new touch screen is coming out soon and the future for marketing is just going to pick up for them as they bring out more and more devices for both consumers and corporate users to enjoy!

The REAL Final Thoughts In the end it doesn’t really matter what you use as long as you’re comfortable using it. If it suites your needs and does everything you can ever dream a phone could in your eyes that’s the most important part. I think that’s the true goal for BOTH companies at the moment. I am not an iPhone fan nor will I ever be but I must admit they have a decent product! I hate the company to hell but in the end the truth is I want them to last longer than their expected 2-3 years in the mobile market, for the simple fact that they bring new stuff like others to the table and push companies to compete! If there were no other phone aside from an iPhone you’d be paying $1K easy for the phone cause no one else would have the technology and there would be no competition! So be happy people compete with Apple! Be happy they target that phone! Because in the end the ones that benefit from anything those companies do is YOU! I hate the phone to death, I think its over-rated, I think it’s poorly thought out, too early into the competition and shamelessly feature packed (no cut and paste -.-) but they are here in the competition and they are the fuse that lit the flames in RIM’s development team! So go head to head and compete bring out all types of goodies for EVERYONE to enjoy and stop all the fighting! And as I will post this later on at both sites… long live crackberry.com and long live theiphoneblog.com!!! You guys bring the community of 2 successful mobile companies together and you provide a place/forums for us to finally call… home!

Another one is the email.. Blackberries email is so easy to use and its quick. I don’t know much about the iPhones email but if its anything like my brothers iTouch (my brohters) then its not that good.

everything else on the iPhone i personally like better because im a college student, but for business the blackberry is the top gun.

the sync for the music on the blackberry is terrible, they should make it syncable with iTunes but you gotta use Roxio Media Manager.

I want an iPhone, but the Curve is still one of the best phones out there and neither the iPhone or Curve would be a bad choice.

IMO, jayjay (post#36) hit the nail on the head. The iPhone is first and foremost a media player, while the Blackberry is first and foremost a communications device. That statement is the crux of the whole argument. RIM targets corporate customer needs, while Apple targets consumer entertainment needs.

I have supported BES and Blackberry devices since 1999. This was before converged devices, so you had to carry a Blackberry along with a cell phone if you wanted mail and voice. The focus was/is/always will be secure and reliable delivery of corporate/business information. That used to be just email. Now it has grown, along with the market, into IM, SMS/MMS, and voice services. RIM also focuses uniformity which results in reduced TCO (delivery platforms, support costs, etc). Apple OTOH will follow the market direction when it comes to consumer entertainment preferences. Things like multimedia and web browsing. The iPhone ROCKS in these categories.

Look at it this way. RIM pioneered mobile messaging communication via the Blackberry. They found that their customers did not want to carry two devices (phone and email), so they converged the phone and data. Apple revolutionized the portable music player with the iPod. They found that their customers did not want to carry two devices (phone and music player), so they converged the phone and the iPod.

At my company, we have decided not to support iPhone 2.0 devices. Several factors drove us to this decision, but the primary reason is intended device usage. The iPhone is for those who primarily need portable media functionality (iPod) but don’t want to carry a second device for communication services (voice and data), while the Blackberry is for those who primarily need business services (email, voice, data, corporate applications).

Basically, the iPhone becomes another fair-to-midland cell phone if you take the music and video functionality out. But with the media services removed, Apple’s target audience is eliminated as well. The same can be said of the Blackberry if the messaging functionality is removed. But then RIM’s target market is gone too. Which brings me back to my initial point: the iPhone is for media lovers while the Blackberry is for corporate customers. Any comparison of the two devices is apples and oranges until one of these companies changes their focus to the other’s.

When you can only get 4-5 hours of life when using Exchange Push e-mail how do you use that as a corporate user? Source: http://www.thestreet.com/story/10426319/2/iphone-battery-falls-down-on-the-job.html

Other fine reviews: JR @ Jul 17th 2008 2:35PM I live in the middle of Tempe, AZ and according to the AT&T coverage map I should have the best possible signal. When i sit in my room right next to a big sliding glass door my bars go from 0-1 to full .. back to 0 .. One call turned in to three when it dropped my calls twice last night. I know from talking to people I have missed at least 15 calls in a 4 day period where it goes straight to my voicemail. Most of the time I usually have 3G turned off so I am using Edge to save battery. Also I was sitting at my desk at work where I have great coverage and called my iphone 5 times .. it finally rang on the 5th call. I am really really disappointed in this purchase and wishing I stayed with Verizon. This is pathetic. I just dont understand how coverage can change so much when you sit in the exact same spot.

Rob @ Jul 17th 2008 4:25PM Function number one of the iPhone is “to be a phone.” If it can’t do that with flying colors, then all you have is a flashy iPod. People need to stop making excuses for Apple’s and AT&T’s half-baked product and services. I have absolutely nothing against any of the companies or products mentioned. But, it really bothers me when people behave like blind sheep instead of smart consumers. But, unfortunately, we live in a “me too” society and everyone feels like they must buy a phone that is no better than any other smart phone out there. Oh well. It’s not my money anyway.

Enjoy your new expensive toy, you will pay for it for years on AT&T…

One major complaint with ALL of the online threads comparing phones: it may seem radical to you ‘techies’, but some of us actually want to make person-to-person TELEPHONE CALLS on these devices!!!

Yes, actual live conversations…

Texting, photos, MP3, browsing, email etc. are luxuries -we actually make a living TALKING TO OTHER HUMAN BEINGS -frequently, two at a time on a three-way call.

I urgently need to know how these IPhones and the Curve handle common telephony: 3-way phone calls, call waiting, cool fax systems, switching between callers etc.?

Here are my issues:

1) I have Blackberry 8830 World Edition. The vary first thing that went wrong with this phone was that you could not here it ring if you went to another room. I had some many missed calls that were important! I went to alot blackberry websites to find out how to fix this and no one had a straight answer but I also noticed that the majority of these users where having the same problems?! I went to the official Blackbery website and got the runaround.

2) I know the main thing about the blackberry is the email. I really do not like looking at code when I get an email. I do not want to buy software to look at an email the right way. The other thing about email is the I receive the same email multiple times? It gets really annoying.

3) The web browser. I think everybody can see whats wrong without me saying anything.

The last thing that convinced me to switch to the iphone is Verizon. The blackberry I have can view multimedia files but because my phone does not have a camera they disabled all the functions??? Why??? I have to got to a website: vzwpix.com or something like that to view attachments?!

I am going to pay the $175.00 to cancel my phone with Verizon and switch to at&t and to the iphone. I have used Verizon for 8 years.