BlackBerry Forums Support Community

sotampagator · 02-11-2008, 08:11 PM

I finally used one for an extended period the other day. I was worried about AT&T's slow, EDGE service but the browser's interface is so superior that it almost makes up for the slow speed. I hear some rumors about its email pushing being not so hot, but I run a pop3 server at work.

I love my BB and have had it for 3 years, but the iphone does appear to be light years ahead of my 8703 and Alltel (my provider) will probably not have a similar BB product for 2-3 years.

Thanks for your input and help in advance...

jacobsaa · 02-11-2008, 08:23 PM

How about because Apple's products are superfluous (except for the ipod). They are more interested in design than they are in efficiency and productivity. For example, look at the new Macbook Air. What a joke. 1 USB Port, and a microphone jack. All it's for is surfing the web and looks. I hate apple.

I bought a G4 in 2004 and I had more problems with that than I ever did with any of my 5 Windows systems. Apple is for people who dont understand - that's just my opinion, and I have no reason to believe their iphone will be anything better. Blackberrys work. Blackberry has superior email, and you can bet now that they are going to target Apple and 1-up its web browsing. Once thats done, they own the market in every facet.

Sith_Apprentice · 02-11-2008, 08:32 PM

Compare the ATT BB to the Iphone, since you cannot use the Iphone on Alltel. But the only thing to tell you is get the iphone, if you like it, keep it, if you dont, come back to the BB

johnling · 02-11-2008, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacobsaa

How about because Apple's products are superfluous (except for the ipod). They are more interested in design than they are in efficiency and productivity. For example, look at the new Macbook Air. What a joke. 1 USB Port, and a microphone jack. All it's for is surfing the web and looks. I hate apple.

I bought a G4 in 2004 and I had more problems with that than I ever did with any of my 5 Windows systems. Apple is for people who dont understand - that's just my opinion, and I have no reason to believe their iphone will be anything better. Blackberrys work. Blackberry has superior email, and you can bet now that they are going to target Apple and 1-up its web browsing. Once thats done, they own the market in every facet.

Ditto . . . I might add, do a search and note the large number of BB users have tried Iphone and came back to their BB.

tsac · 02-11-2008, 08:40 PM

Read this post. It may help

http://www.blackberryforums.com/gene...phone-sim.html

tgeekb · 02-11-2008, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacobsaa

How about because Apple's products are superfluous (except for the ipod). They are more interested in design than they are in efficiency and productivity. For example, look at the new Macbook Air. What a joke. 1 USB Port, and a microphone jack. All it's for is surfing the web and looks. I hate apple.

I bought a G4 in 2004 and I had more problems with that than I ever did with any of my 5 Windows systems. Apple is for people who dont understand - that's just my opinion, and I have no reason to believe their iphone will be anything better. Blackberrys work. Blackberry has superior email, and you can bet now that they are going to target Apple and 1-up its web browsing. Once thats done, they own the market in every facet.

Well, that is the opinion of one. While I am happy and would not trade my Blackberry for an iPhone, I have been using Macs since 2000. In fact, my original iMac is still in our living room and used daily by my daughter in high school while I use a MacBook as my main computer. I'm not sure what is wrong with design in technology. The iPhone is revolutionary and I don't understand why Apple haters are against it. Doesn't it help all of us to have companies that will push the envelope of technology? I also don't understand why people compare the iPhone to Blackberry, they are two different products and can both survive in the same world. JMHO though, just like you have yours.

Sith_Apprentice · 02-11-2008, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgeekb

Well, that is the opinion of one. While I am happy and would not trade my Blackberry for an iPhone, I have been using Macs since 2000. In fact, my original iMac is still in our living room and used daily by my daughter in high school while I use a MacBook as my main computer. I'm not sure what is wrong with design in technology. The iPhone is revolutionary and I don't understand why Apple haters are against it. Doesn't it help all of us to have companies that will push the envelope of technology? I also don't understand why people compare the iPhone to Blackberry, they are two different products and can both survive in the same world. JMHO though, just like you have yours.

While i agree with you, that Apple does have much better design than say IBM, I do not see the iPhone as a revolution. It didnt completely alter the course of technology, it merely took the best features of many other devices and put them into one. This is besides the point however, as personal opinions will vary. I will say however, that these "keep me from buying X" threads are kind of amusing. The only real person who will convince anyone of anything is themselves. If you have a chance to play with new technology, do it, its usually alot of fun and normally you learn something. If you like it better than your current device, good luck to you, noone here will wish ill of you. If you dont, you still have your trusty (well, still over 99.98% uptime) blackberry. Either way, good luck

TBOLTRAM · 02-11-2008, 08:59 PM

Simple, you don't always get what you pay for.

kjjb0204 · 02-11-2008, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sith_Apprentice

While i agree with you, that Apple does have much better design than say IBM

Not sure how that comparison can be made - Apple makes consumer devices, IBM makes business servers and storage hardware. IBM products are industry leaders in design and innovation. They make smb and enterprise class products and Apple makes enterprise class nothing.

I would think a more appropriate comparison would be comparing a Dell notebook to an Apple MacBook. Apple has the edge on style, os stability and proprietary software that just works. Dell has the edge on price.

jacobsaa · 02-11-2008, 09:43 PM

Apple OS stability is a myth. They crash just as much as windows systems, the only reason you dont hear about them as much is because of the market share differences.

seasonedstudent · 02-12-2008, 02:01 AM

I was in the Cingular store with my son at Christmas and spoke with one of the reps in there. I wanted to know if I should get the iPhone and she told me that she had one for 2 weeks, and got rid of it! Now this coming from an rep??? Was enough for me thats sure.

takeshi · 02-12-2008, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sotampagator

Why Shouldn't I Switch to the iphone?

You should. Nothing will tell if you if it's the right or wrong choice better than first hand day-to-day use. You should have a return period to really test things out in case you do have buyer's remorse.

dpeters11 · 02-12-2008, 09:14 AM

If I were looking at getting an IPhone, I'd seriously ask myself if I need one right now, or if I could wait a few months, to around June. It is very possible the next generation will be coming out. There may be some features you want on those, or it will at least drop the price of the first generation. Since you get locked into a two year agreement and the phone is not subsidized, it is something to consider.

mavsx · 02-12-2008, 09:23 AM

no BES support. F That. Pop is crap.

Alex Alexzander · 02-12-2008, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sotampagator

I finally used one for an extended period the other day. I was worried about AT&T's slow, EDGE service but the browser's interface is so superior that it almost makes up for the slow speed. I hear some rumors about its email pushing being not so hot, but I run a pop3 server at work.

I love my BB and have had it for 3 years, but the iphone does appear to be light years ahead of my 8703 and Alltel (my provider) will probably not have a similar BB product for 2-3 years.

Thanks for your input and help in advance...

I have been posting on these forums for a god while. Not as long as some of you, but a good while. I bought an 8800 and later an 8310. I have said a few things about the iPhone after having used a friends iPhone. Using it for an hour or a few minutes doesn't really count. I say that because, about a week ago, I walked into the Apple store and bought one.

I had Exchange server hosted by Mail2Web for $15 a month, with the BlackBerry Enterprise Services add on for another $15 a month. And BES is truly great. Instant email is the hallmark of the BlackBerry. It's why I bought it in the first place, and it didn't disappoint me one bit.

I did pay a premium as you can see, since my Exchange services were not provided by the company I work for. It was simply me paying all the bills to get the best possible experience. And I truly got what I paid for. I had left the Palm Treo for the BlackBerry. The Treo was driving me crazy, and it made m so angry so many times, the veins in my forehead and neck would stick out and people would quickly say, calm down, it's not worth it. Once I was trying to send an email reply to a client and it took 20 minutes of trying just to get the email to send. That was the last straw, and I went BlackBerry and loved it.

When the iPhone released, I thought about all the BlackBerry has to offer. Software, reliability, etc. It's all good. And I won't take anything away from those qualities because they are unmatched in my opinion.

But, I obviously did buy an iPhone. So what do I think? It's been more than a week, and I have canceled my BlackBerry. So am I saying the email is better on iPhone? Well, in some ways it is, and in some ways it is not. Which is just my opinion. Let me explain...

When you get an email on the iPhone, you pretty much see it the same way you do on your PC or Mac. You don't need an add on. The two add ons that are available for the BB do not match the quality of the email presentation on the iPhone. It is simply better visually.

One day on the way home, I was on BART. BART is a train that we have in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is mostly above ground around San Francisco, and all under ground within San Francisco. I was writing an email above ground, but when it came time to send it, I happened to be underground with no signal. When I reached my destination, I found that AT&T was having a problem with their network. I found this because I have two accounts on the iPhone, and neither worked, but they did work on my Mac. So nothing wrong with the accounts. The problem was with AT&T accessing data services. The minutes I was close enough to my apartment, the iPhone sensed my WiFi, attached, and sent the emails, bypassing AT&Ts problems.

I have WiFi at work, at home, and in most places I travel to. It acts as a backup to the data network, and it's great to have it. WiFi does a few things for you.

1. it can act like a GPS system, and that works in doors. When I am in downtown San Francisco, GPS doesn't work. The reason for this is that the buildings are so tall, I have no line of site to the satellites. Sounds nuts, but it is completely true. And I use GPS mostly on foot as I have sold my car years ago and take the train or walk for the last 3 years. In the city, GPS doesn't work. The iPhone triangulates Cell Towers and Beacons from WiFi hot spots to pin point your location. In a large city like San Francisco, it's impressive how accurate this is. I used it indoors with the Google map with the hybrid overlay, and it knows which house I am in!! That's impressive. And because it's Wifi / Cell Tower, it worked in about 3 seconds flat. You can ask for directions, but they are more like directions you'd get from Map Quest via Yahoo than GPS turn by turn directions. On foot, that's not a problem. But your millage may of course differ from mine. I am fine with it.

I never thought I'd use a web browser on a cell phone, but I submit that once you use the iPhone's you will start to find all kinds of reasons why thins is a good thing. I love it now.

AudioBooks that actually work is nice. Having your music, and a few TV shows I have not yet watched is a nice plus too.

But mostly you'd want to know about software. That was my concern at least. I love ToDoMatrix on the BB. Best app ever. Now I use iCal on the Mac, and Calendar on the iPhone. It doesn't compare to ToDoMatrix, but it does give me a simple list of things I need to take care of for the day. I've used it for short time, and truthfully, I have got so used to it that I don't really think about it anyway. I have become great at simply adding items that need to be done to the calendar, and thus I still have my client in mind.

I used to use DataVault as well. Nothing on the iphone like that. I did buy FileMaker's Bento, which I used to create custom databases with. It's very good, and very simple. I hope they develop a way to allow us to create custom databases for the iPhone, because Bento is truly awesome. It is simple, powerful, and best of all, $49.

Like most things, you will feel at home when all your assets are there. Once you have your email with you, and you music, audible content, etc, you will start to see the strengths of the iPhone. Home is where your data resides. There are plenty of things to like about the iPhone and the BlackBerry.

Now I said I'd never switch. You can find some pretty damming posts by mere about the iPhone on this forum. I am eating crow right now. But I have to be honest here. I do like it, and I have indeed switched after giving the iPhone an honest chance.

Just as I did, I get an email from DataVi showing me screen shots of the coming Documents2Go. I was waiting for that for so long, and I guess my wait starts all over again as I have switched and it's not available for the iPhone. I do think that once the SDK is released for the iPhone, that you will see a lot of 3rd party software for it. The iPhone already has 28% of the shipping smart phone volume now. They have a lot of momentum. And that's attractive to developers. So I think we're going to see a lot of support for this. Enough to make a few of you re-consider your positions on the BlackBerry vs. iPhone debates. The foundation of the iPhone is pretty impressive.

The thing you give up, is PUSH email. And that has taken the most time for me to get used to. I am used to it now, and it's not a bother, but for a few days, it truly was. Now I honestly am past it. Many of you use nothing but BIS anyway, and so you're pretty much in the same arena.

I won't tell you the iPhone is better. That's something for you and everyone else decide on a personal level. I will say this though I was pretty adamant about the BlackBerry, and I switched.

So don't throw rocks at me. I'm just being honest. I actually feel bad for the wonderful developers. Especially Ascendo who added a feature for me in DataVault at my request. And here I am leaving the platform after they have been so nice. It feels like I have been diss loyal to their good nature. And this community is by far more professional than any iPhone forum I have seen so far. Business people here, which is more to my taste, where as the iPhone crowd tends to be kids and consumers. So those aspects count for something as well.

Anyway, thanks for being a great community, and I hope the BlackBerry continues to be a success. But for now, I have to admit, I like this iPhone.

Alex Alexzander

itsj · 02-12-2008, 10:30 AM

i don't like touch screen personally on my phone product, but thats just personal preference i guess.

ArgonNJ · 02-12-2008, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sith_Apprentice

While i agree with you, that Apple does have much better design than say IBM, I do not see the iPhone as a revolution. It didnt completely alter the course of technology

I have to disagree with you there. The interface is quite revolutionary and will change how we will interact with other touch screen devices in the future.

But to the OP questions, I would say you would have to evaluate the priority of your needs. If you need heavy email or find yourself typing a lot, then the BB is the way to go. If you're looking for an internet connected, multimedia smart phone with light email usage, then its the iphone. Only you can determine what is right for you.

ArgonNJ · 02-12-2008, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacobsaa

Apple OS stability is a myth. They crash just as much as windows systems, the only reason you dont hear about them as much is because of the market share differences.

Ahh, no its not. Maybe in the pre OSX days, but not now.

bc7 · 02-12-2008, 11:13 AM

I must say that I have both. I have an unlocked BB 8700c that I use for my work phone, and an iPhone for my personal phone. Both are great for different things.

The big thing that people will talk about why they love their BB is because of the e-mail. If that is the most important thing to you, I would not recommend the iPhone. If you use it for just about anything else I would recommend the iPhone.

I have had my iPhone since July, and I still don't like the keyboard. It works, and I can type on it somewhat quickly, but I don't like it. The auto correct seems to work pretty well, so that makes up for some of my mistakes, but I do prefer to text/e-mail/blog on my BlackBerry.

So apparently my advice is to have both. How'd I do?

kjjb0204 · 02-12-2008, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArgonNJ

I have to disagree with you there. The interface is quite revolutionary and will change how we will interact with other touch screen devices in the future.

What is so revolutionary about the interface? Does it show fingerprints? Yes. Does it crack/break? Yes. Does it provide any tactile feedback? No. Once it can fix those issues, it will be revolutionary.