[Tim Smith2]

I think BlackBerry need to look at why the die-hard BB users are not flocking to take up the Q10. I don't mean people like us who use CrackBerry but the millions of business users who use their OS6 & 7 devices all day every day.

Having used the Z10 since launch and played with a Q10, I think I understand why traditional BB users are not making the switch in big numbers.

In their desire to keep up with the apples and androids, BB has lost some of what made it a hit with business users. The all touch screens that are now standard across most devices in the industry are really not well suited to those who need to type large amounts of text. Therefore, the good looking Q10 with its excellent keyboard should be perfect so, why isn�t it? There are a few good reasons why the Q10 is not as good as it should be. Primarily, it doesn�t have a trackpad. This is a much-debated topic but the lack of a trackpad is probably the single biggest turn-off for the long-term blackberry user. Don�t forget I�m talking about BB users not BB fans. I would suspect that the lack of apps is an annoyance to many in this core of BB users but is probably not that much of a big deal.

I believe that the biggest single barrier to the transition from happy BB7 user to ecstatic BB10 user is the lack of the trackpad. Sure, you can just press your great big smudgy finger on the screen to set where you want to start typing. Sometimes, you can even get it in the right place- as long as it is not close to the edge of the screen. If you get it wrong, you can move the big circle around a bit and as long as you have a transparent finger then you can get it in exactly the right place. Joking aside, pressing on the screen and the insertion point circle are never going to be as quick and easy to use as the trackpad. Some say this is the price of progress but I don�t see how it can be progress if even after months of practice I still find editing text a slow and frustrating process. I�ve pretty much stopped doing it.

I used to use my old 9800 for writing all kinds of stuff. People would marvel at how much and how quickly I could write on it. I would modify text, move sentences and paragraphs around- it was effortless. I rarely do this on my Z10 and when I do, it is a slow and frustrating process. It is not a learning curve issue- more of a learning wall- you soon find the limitations and these cannot be overcome.

There also continues to be a good number of websites that don�t work on apple, android or BB10 phones but you could operate effectively on BB6 and BB7. Many sites rely on the mouse-over function to show menus. On phones with a trackpad these work great, on BB10 they do not. Ok, bad website design but there are a number of them and it is a frustration when it is just another thing that I used to be able to do on my old BB phone.

Is there an answer? Maybe there is. I have used a very nice and simple app that gives you an onscreen track pad. It works really well, much like the original. Unfortunately, it only works within its own text editor, so although it is good for writing, having it separate from the OS means it is not that useful. If BB could build this into the interface somehow that might just be a simple quick and cheap fix. If you could use it when editing emails, BBM, and text messages, and also allows you to have a cursor for the browser and for selecting text then many of the hard-core BB users would not be so put off by the transition from BB6 and 7 to the Q10 and Z10.

Therefore, come on BB give us back some of the things that made BB great. Right now, there is little point in getting a Z10 over an android or apple product. Yes, peek and flow is somewhat nice but it is not that much better than android or apple notifications. Who genuinely cares about Multitasking? People can say how clever the QNX kernel is but it really doesn�t do much to distinguish BB from the competition. Until there is a compelling reason sales will continue to be sluggish at best. We need the blackberry magic back and to that end, let�s start with an on-screen trackpad.

P.S.

I got my Z10 at launch in the UK. It is a really good phone and there is a lot about it that I like. I knew I would miss the keyboard so when I got it so, I fully intended to swap to a Q10 when my contract is up for renewal in November. Now I am not so sure. I know I miss the keyboard but I think I actually miss the trackpad more. For this one single reason, my current Z10 may be the last in a long line of BlackBerrys that I have owned.

Flaming ******** underpants locked and loaded�..

[ray689]

I think the main reason is people's resistance to change. Yesterday the 4th person I know who got a q10 had their BBM status as "hating the q10". When I asked why, the response was, "it's too complicated" which all 4 of them have now said. I've heard this so much that I can only come to 2 conclusions. People are either really lazy or just plain incompetent. May sound harsh but I'm so sick of hearing "it's too complicated".

Posted via CB10

[ranzabar]

It's because most people are sheep. They won't argue with the salespeople, they buy what their friends have and they are afraid of being not be in part of the crowd.

Posted via CB10

[currentodysseys]

Well i get that some people may find it hard to adapt and think that the UI is "complicated for them.

But in all honesty, it is much more complicated for someone to actually learn to use a bb7 or prior device to its full potential.

I find that the BB10 OS gets to feel really natural after a few days and honestly you have four sides on a rectangle..., untill you get it, just try swiping from each one of them in every screen and you ll figure out the patterns really quick.

I just think some people are really adverse to change.

Anyhow, each has the right to their opinion and choice but I think that objectively, the BB10 os UI is very friendly and productive/ useful.

I just got my Q10 yesterday after rocking a Z10 since February and right now I do not really know which one I prefer... love them both!

Posted via CB10

[Tariq Nasir]

I think we should wait till the earnings call to reserve judgment on Q10 sales.

Posted via CB10

[Tim Smith2]

Hi Ray,
Have you considered that maybe- for an average 'old-school' blackberry user- that the interface is just too complicated? I get it and I love the gestures. I like Peek and flow. Once mastered the gestures are easy and natural. However, I hate typing and editing text with just a touch screen, or a touch screen and keyboard as on the Q10. Maybe if these people who complain that the q10 is too complicated are having similar difficulties. Don't forget most of them were very happy users of previous BB devices. they learnt to use them ok so, it would seem unlikely that they are all lazy or incompetent.

It seems to me that these people that you are talking about are the millions that make up the bulk of the BlackBerry user base. If they are not happy transitioning to the Q10 then there is a real problem. I doubt a trackpad is the only answer to making them satisfied with their new phones but I'm very sure that it would help.

[cgk]

Are people over complicating this? I think (in market terms) you have a small crowd of enterprise people and enterprises who will buy for a Q5/z10 but the majority of Blackberry's real customer base are the poor/the young and people with low disposal incomes - there is simply not a BB10 device they can afford.

[Wayne_Enterprises]

You're 100% right about the track pad. Especially when it came to alt + trackpad scroll to quickly select all or portions of text for copying and pasting. BlackBerry wasn't thinking of their core fanbase when designing this OS, they only thought about trying to attract new customers, which as we know, ain't gonna help move the needle! Keeping the fanbase is what they should have focused on.

I've used that trackpad app too, but agree, it's functionality would be a great addition to the rest of the OS. Even if there was an ability to toggle it on and off.

Good post OP.

Posted via CB 10 on 10.1.0.1720

[Tim Smith2]

You're 100% right about the track pad. Especially when it came to alt + trackpad scroll to quickly select all or portions of text for copying and pasting.

You are so right! I should have mentioned the alt + track pad. That was so powerful and so easy. An awful lot has been lost with the removal of the track pad.

I will continue to support Blackberry but not blindly. We - the faithful- need to tell them when they have got stuff wrong and not just accept an inferior product because it is their latest (and lets hope not last) offering. If long time BlackBerry users don't like the new products it is not the fault of the users for being lazy or stupid, it is the fault of the products. Modern products should be easier to use than the ones they replace, not the other way round. /ENDOFRANT.....

[GingerSnapsBack]

It's because most people are sheep. They won't argue with the salespeople, they buy what their friends have and they are afraid of being not be in part of the crowd.

Posted via CB10

Why must every argument involving other platforms include the words "sheep" or 'iToy?"

I don't care what crowd I belong to. Heck, I live in the Corn Patch on Hee Haw and I'm a hockey nut and I hate baseball, football, NASCAR and tea. You can't get much more outside the box than that.

[nyc_rock]

I got news for ya, the fanbase aint close to being big enough to support Blackberry. Especially when you consider that a large chunck the original fanbase have long since move on to other platforms. Blackberry did the only thing they could have done. Try and make a cutting edge OS that could compete with IOS and Android while still pleasing the hardcore BB user. Basically trying to be all things to all people. Its cliche, but the saying goes when you try to be all things to all people you wind up disappointing everyone.

[Tim Smith2]

nyc_rock, you are right. The fanbase isn't strong enough to support BB. Trouble is all BB have achieved with BB10 is to create a clone of Android/Apple and lose much of the good stuff from BlackBerry's previous OS versions. This is not going to appeal to the mainstream smartphone user or the remaining long term BB users.

You see it a lot in software and other product development. There is an existing product which is getting old and needs replacing (BB7). New guys come along to replace it (QNX). They are smart guys with a great product and they think they know best. They create a whole new very good product to replace the old one (BB10) but because these guys knew best and didn't worry too much about what was really great about the old system (BB7), they forgot to include the good stuff that made the previous product a success (Track Pad, easy copying and pasting, BIS, BES). So we are left with an outstanding product but one which is just a slightly worse version of iOS or Android. Don't get me wrong, BB10 is an amazing achievement with a really solid core to the OS. It performs magnificently but without the branding and hype of apple and the massive number of excellent apps from Google, the only thing it could of had was the things that made BlackBerry so special, like the track pad, easy of creating text, etc. Even BBM has lost out to WhatsApp and the other cross platform messaging apps.

What we are left with is a platform that has all the drawbacks of Apple and Android with very few of the advantages of the old BB devices. They maybe tried to be all things to all people but have fallen a long way short.

[ranzabar]

And here you are on CrackBerry. I rest my case

Posted via CB10

[ray689]

Hi Ray,
Have you considered that maybe- for an average 'old-school' blackberry user- that the interface is just too complicated? I get it and I love the gestures. I like Peek and flow. Once mastered the gestures are easy and natural. However, I hate typing and editing text with just a touch screen, or a touch screen and keyboard as on the Q10. Maybe if these people who complain that the q10 is too complicated are having similar difficulties. Don't forget most of them were very happy users of previous BB devices. they learnt to use them ok so, it would seem unlikely that they are all lazy or incompetent.

It seems to me that these people that you are talking about are the millions that make up the bulk of the BlackBerry user base. If they are not happy transitioning to the Q10 then there is a real problem. I doubt a trackpad is the only answer to making them satisfied with their new phones but I'm very sure that it would help.

It's one thing to hate the editing on the phone...it's another to just say the phone is too complicated to use. I didn't say a track pad is the solution. In fact, for me, bb10 is a smooth and easy experience if people just took the time to use it rather than give up after a couple hours and declare the platform over complicated.

Posted via CB10

[kbfunk]

I will tell you why sales are not going well.
The foremost reason is that Blackberry apparently believes most consumers are stupid. They consistently produce sub-standard quality products (inside and out) and try to pass them off as being superior for top dollar. One example (and there are more : i.e the pathetic quality speaker in the Q10) is the camera in the Q10 and Z10. This is by far the worst camera I have seen in a phone in YEARS. I take a picture with my Q10, then my iPhone 5 and then my S4 and I cannot believe what I am seeing. It is like comparing an apple to a gorilla! To be clear; Pictures are "Life's Reference" and the idea having a phone that I paid close to a $1000 that every time I take a picture I have effectively wasted the opportunity to capture that moment of my life when I could have as easily taken the picture on any of my other phones, makes me almost sick. I recently took some pictures in my hotel room of my wife on our 20th Anniversary night so that I could post and share them on Facebook with family and friends. Thank god I also brought my real camera because without it, I would have wasted one of the milestones of my life with a bunch of low quality, distorted pictures of my beautiful wife. Don't get wrong, I love Blackberry! My proof is in that I recently lost more than 1/4 million dollars with the last quarter results, but (call me crazy) I am still here! I want Blackberry to succeed!
I will continue to hope and dream Blackberry will (before it is too late) come to their senses and release a real phone with a REAL CAMERA that is 100% as good or better than it's competitors. If they blow it again and release the up coming A10 with the same piece of crap camera they have been pedaling in the Q & Z10's I am sorry to say but I would very afraid for the future of Blackberry.
I beg you Blackberry... Please wake up, acknowledge your mistakes, learn by them, make them right and quit trying to pull the wool over consumers eyes!

[kbz1960]

I don't think it's difficult to learn. Seems the board or someone on the board thinks they need to exit the consumer market and be a niche corporate player which they are also losing at. But who knows.

[Tre Lawrence]

It's because most people are sheep. They won't argue with the salespeople, they buy what their friends have and they are afraid of being not be in part of the crowd.

That's a dismal way to refer to legacy BBOS users.

[berklon]

It's because most people are sheep. They won't argue with the salespeople, they buy what their friends have and they are afraid of being not be in part of the crowd.

Or they, ya know, want a better product.