[kenorian]

Nearly everyone here likes/liked/still has kind of attraction to Blackberry.

Writing from here in the USA, so much of the tone reflects politics here (and maybe elsewhere though I can't say). It's an inverse bell curve - folks polarized on the fringes and and no strong middle.

First, we're talking about a smartphone here. Not religion, not life and death issues. Now.... I'm on the lunatic fringe of being connected with my smartphone as everyone here is. In the CrackBerry nation there are those of us who have been through the highs and the lows. Clearly, BlackBerry missed more than a few steps along the way. We're disappointed, but we can remember how cutting edge our phones were, how much they did for us.

Times change, technology changes, companies change.

You wouldn't believe how, at work (in a high tech Wall Street company) how many people are almost religious about their choice of smartphone! We've got a big and growing discussion group at work about iPhone, Android and Blackberry. Mostly lighthearted, sometimes a bit crazy.

Being a project management type I made myself a matrix of pros and cons of of migrating to a new device. I love my Bold 9930. It's an extension of me. The thought of moving to something else isn't a decision I take lightly. Call me a flip flopper - I am. Going back and forth. There's so much I like that is instantly available on, say an S3, and even more on the S4. No worries for a couple years. I want BB to succeed, and like a lot of what I've heard about the Z10. Still........ there are some things missing that I'd really miss. Coming - hopefully.... maybe. Maybe not. My (multi-billion dollar, high tech, Wall Street company) requires me to log in each day with a "guest" password to wifi because they've already given up on BB. If I had a Droid or iPhone today I'd have no issues. That's reality, and not a little company making a decision. Will they change? I hope so. But, how much loyalty can I have to a device, and for how long? Go the easy and safe road and get an S4 when it comes out.... get a Z10 when it's available and hope for the best? And, I have to say, after a major let down with the Playbook when I still can't Skype with my son in Italy after how long....?

This isn't a diss on BB. Just a conflicted person like many. That I'm writing this shows that I've not made up my mind either way - and that I'm crazier than the majority of people who like and use their phone without giving all that much thought to it.

Just another person hoping we will see Skype, Instagram, BerryBuzz, profile management and a more widespread ecosystem for BB.

[Denise in Los Angeles]

You should have written your third paragraph in the first person tense. You are only one person, not we.

[dbmalloy]

Hope you feel better now......

[Chaplain_Clancy]

I guess even though you did mention the whole smartphone as a religion thing, you need to make a choice. Your smartphone choice or your job. If your company is making it impossible to utilise the full benefits of blackberry and they can't be won over, which is more important. I hope and suspect it's your job. Companies are fickle too. When BB10 hits the US, then perhaps they will try and jump on board the new craze, who knows. What we do know is that in 12 months there will be new options and new fads...and you will still be able to provide for your family. I'm fortunate that my organisation doesn't dictate these things with their IT policies, but not everyone is in the same boat. Ever worked at Yahoo!? Meyer is making sure that BlackBerry is absent from all employees asset registers.

[Dapper37]

There coming! relax, The US is waiting on the carrires for the Z10, the people that have the Z are waiting on the US for the apps you and most people mention!

[geoffsdad]

I detect a slight bit of sadness? I don't think you need to tear yourself apart over your next phone purchase and I don't think you should take too seriously the "witty banter" that passes for a debate on Crackberry. Just put the phones in your hand and make your decision when the time is right.

[bombastic]

My (multi-billion dollar, high tech, Wall Street company) requires me to log in each day with a "guest" password to wifi because they've already given up on BB. If I had a Droid or iPhone today I'd have no issues. That's reality, and not a little company making a decision.

A multi-billion dollar, high tech, Wall Street Company that isn't concerned about security, or less actually by supporting iPhones and Droids over BlackBerry phones?? I'm baffled to say the least.

[texazzpete]

A multi-billion dollar, high tech, Wall Street Company that isn't concerned about security, or less actually by supporting iPhones and Droids over BlackBerry phones?? I'm baffled to say the least.

Neither Apple or Microsoft employees use BlackBerry devices extensively. Ditto for Google. I wish you folks would get off this sanctimonious line that any device apart from BlackBerry = carelessness about security.



Posted via CB10

[njblackberry]

A multi-billion dollar, high tech, Wall Street Company that isn't concerned about security, or less actually by supporting iPhones and Droids over BlackBerry phones?? I'm baffled to say the least.

Many, many companies that take security seriously have moved away from exclusively supporting the BlackBerry. You being baffled by this doesn't change that fact.

[Blacklatino]

Neither Apple or Microsoft employees use BlackBerry devices extensively. Ditto for Google. I wish you folks would get off this sanctimonious line that any device apart from BlackBerry = carelessness about security.



Posted via CB10

Once you've been there and done that(using all other non-Blackberry platforms), it becomes amusing to read ppl trying to convince someone that it's blackberry or nothing by talking trash about other devices. LOL. You can't convince someone to change devices that isn't ready....to change. Maybe they are magical like Houdini.

[brmiller1976]

Neither Apple or Microsoft employees use BlackBerry devices extensively. Ditto for Google. I wish you folks would get off this sanctimonious line that any device apart from BlackBerry = carelessness about security.

Well, to be fair, all three of those companies announced, within the last two weeks, massive hack-attacks that compromised their systems...

[Emu the Foo]

Do you agree with this mister Simon???


This is a forum for a specific item. That means it's like a club for people who have the same interests. Why would you go to a car club if you didn't like cars alot? So this is a fan site, whether it's the smallest fan that that enjoys blackberry or the most hardcover. FYI fan is short for fanatic, and we all know what that means.

[crackcookie]

Nearly everyone here likes/liked/still has kind of attraction to Blackberry.

Writing from here in the USA, so much of the tone reflects politics here (and maybe elsewhere though I can't say). It's an inverse bell curve - folks polarized on the fringes and and no strong middle.

First, we're talking about a smartphone here. Not religion, not life and death issues. Now.... I'm on the lunatic fringe of being connected with my smartphone as everyone here is. In the CrackBerry nation there are those of us who have been through the highs and the lows. Clearly, BlackBerry missed more than a few steps along the way. We're disappointed, but we can remember how cutting edge our phones were, how much they did for us.

Times change, technology changes, companies change.

You wouldn't believe how, at work (in a high tech Wall Street company) how many people are almost religious about their choice of smartphone! We've got a big and growing discussion group at work about iPhone, Android and Blackberry. Mostly lighthearted, sometimes a bit crazy.

Being a project management type I made myself a matrix of pros and cons of of migrating to a new device. I love my Bold 9930. It's an extension of me. The thought of moving to something else isn't a decision I take lightly. Call me a flip flopper - I am. Going back and forth. There's so much I like that is instantly available on, say an S3, and even more on the S4. No worries for a couple years. I want BB to succeed, and like a lot of what I've heard about the Z10. Still........ there are some things missing that I'd really miss. Coming - hopefully.... maybe. Maybe not. My (multi-billion dollar, high tech, Wall Street company) requires me to log in each day with a "guest" password to wifi because they've already given up on BB. If I had a Droid or iPhone today I'd have no issues. That's reality, and not a little company making a decision. Will they change? I hope so. But, how much loyalty can I have to a device, and for how long? Go the easy and safe road and get an S4 when it comes out.... get a Z10 when it's available and hope for the best? And, I have to say, after a major let down with the Playbook when I still can't Skype with my son in Italy after how long....?

This isn't a diss on BB. Just a conflicted person like many. That I'm writing this shows that I've not made up my mind either way - and that I'm crazier than the majority of people who like and use their phone without giving all that much thought to it.

Just another person hoping we will see Skype, Instagram, BerryBuzz, profile management and a more widespread ecosystem for BB.

This sums you up!!!



No you are right though all joking aside, everyone else here is doing cognitive dissonance for the most part, seeing something that they cannot attain, and then saying they don't want it because...well, they are unable to have it.

We all think BB has the best OS and basic build of features, it seriously feels like the others try to cash in on their short comings. We all want BB to succeed and have those things you mentioned, and it is only a matter of time until one or the other happens, they attain these features and remain useful or become dominant or that they continuously lag behind and are ditched by everyone.

One would think Carriers would be interested in keeping this more than a 2 horse race.....

[katiepea]

A multi-billion dollar, high tech, Wall Street Company that isn't concerned about security, or less actually by supporting iPhones and Droids over BlackBerry phones?? I'm baffled to say the least.

This is ridiculous. IOS and Android connect to exchange or bes in the same manner. These sort of comments are dumbing

[pepe68]

Actually, my cousin works there (Yahoo! lawyer on the legal team). My understanding is they are getting iPhones or Android. She's hoping to be able to keep her BB and is if she cant , she will get one for herself. She loves the keyboard abd BB features.

But it seems that she will have no choice and she will be for ed to get an iPhone 5.

[crackcookie]

This is ridiculous. IOS and Android connect to exchange or bes in the same manner. These sort of comments are dumbing

This my friends, is cognitive dissonance.

[webmeister]

This is ridiculous. IOS and Android connect to exchange or bes in the same manner. These sort of comments are dumbing

Let me break this down for you. Both data-in-transit
(that's another name for ones and zeros as they travel on a wire) and data-at-rest
(that's what we call ones and zeros stored in a data repository) are protected by encryption (that's what we call gobbledygook that the bad guys can't read) on a enterprise configured BB. FIPS-compliant micro kernel and other such security mechanisms are native to the BlackBerry architecture....add ons to others. Clear enough for you?

[bombastic]

FIPS-compliant micro kernel and other such security mechanisms are native to the BlackBerry architecture....add ons to others. Clear enough for you?

Exactly my point! It's native to the BB architecture, baked in! Not 'just' an add on. Hence my reply to being baffled.

[JasW]

Exactly my point! It's native to the BB architecture, baked in! Not 'just' an add on. Hence my reply to being baffled.

Great. So you remain baffled. Whatever. The point is that these large corporate entities (all of whom are apparently vastly less swift on the security uptake than you) have moved away from BB -- either by no longer supporting it/not getting a BES 10 server or by affording at best only a jerry-rigged back channel connection.

The OP has been presented with a conundrum. I empathize because I have the precise same dilemma. I can either soldier on indefinitely with my 9810, hoping that my firm will at some point get a BES 10 server (ActiveSync won't work because there is no Exchange server), or I can say goodbye to BlackBerry after 12 long years of never knowing any other smartphone or wireless email device.

Yeah, keep talking about how great security is on BlackBerry. Meanwhile, the S4 is being unveiled at almost the exact same time as the Z10 becomes available in the U.S.

[kenorian]

I cracked - kinda. Moved to a Droid Razr Maxx HD for my primary phone. Still have a 9930 for work and a Playbook. So, got a foot in two camps. I have to say.... I'm really freakin' liking the droid. Haven't slept more than four and a half hours in the last three nights setting it up and getting used to it. But, am at the point now where my old Bold is looking.... old. If the apps ecosystem for the Z10 develops, I'm happy to move back. There's too many viable options in the short to medium term now though, and brand loyalty only goes so far.

[SK122387]

I think "crack" is relative here. Did I "crack" when I got the 4th gen iPod touch in 2011 and the 5th gen one in 2012, because I got a device with iOS? I don't think so, because for me that device does the things I wouldn't want to waste my BlackBerry battery on.

I'm not some old person who doesn't understand the appeal of apps. I do. Apps I use regularly on my iPod touch that aren't on BlackBerry? Real Racing 3 and Words With Friends. Count them. Two apps.

I have a few other ones (Temple Run 2, Modern Combat 4, Peggle, Rayman Run, Need For Speed Most Wanted, Sonic Racing). But with these, it's that classic app syndrome you read about in those "studies"...I spend a couple bucks on each one, play them for a few days, then forget about them. I would absolutely love to see these on a future BlackBerry tablet (or on my PlayBook, like..immediately). But on MY BlackBerry phone? I couldn't care less. I know that eventually, BlackBerry 10 will be across tablets and phones, and I'll have the option to have all kinds of games and stuff, but I'm one of those crazy people who uses their phone to call, email, text, read my news feed, and go on Twitter.

The primary reason I want apps on the BlackBerry platform is so iOS and Android users will come back, so BlackBerry can thrive, and they can keep making phones that I love. I think it's all about having options, and people should have the option to download apps galore onto their BlackBerry if they want, while my BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 will pretty much continue to have apps like Spotify, my banking app, Pandora, Slacker Radio, BlackBerry Traffic and BlackBerry News.

I can appreciate the iPhone, because iOS is so basic, but there is absolutely nothing about the iOS experience that would make a true BlackBerry user want it. iMessage is to BBM what a tv with an antenna is to a tv with satellite/cable. It's like..yeah, it works...but it's ugly and if you've never had better, you really don't know what you're missing.

Are there business apps available on iOS that might make a BlackBerry user look at an iPhone? Sure, and I hope they come to BlackBerry 10 because everything else someone in business might use frequently (email, contacts, calendar) is far superior on BlackBerry 10.

One more thing about this "crack" in CrackBerry nation... the HOT SECOND Instagram lands in BlackBerry World, whatever cracks there in CrackBerry nation will be filled in in a big way.

[nquyen]

I most certainly don't see a phone as anything other than a communication device. It's when other people start talking crap about me using a BlackBerry is when I get a bit pissed off. It's a phone, get over it. I use a BlackBerry because it communicates well and serves my needs and well because I'm a shareholder. If your phone does not fit your needs, in no way should you be forced to use it. It's not like we're going to judge you, just do what's right for you.

[CDM76]

I most certainly don't see a phone as anything other than a communication device. It's when other people start talking crap about me using a BlackBerry is when I get a bit pissed off. It's a phone, get over it. I use a BlackBerry because it communicates well and serves my needs and well because I'm a shareholder. If your phone does not fit your needs, in no way should you be forced to use it. It's not like we're going to judge you, just do what's right for you.

Unfortunately, these days many DO judge others based on something as simple as a phone.

[qbnkelt]

Well I've got two different points of view on this.
For my personal device, I've been running an SGIII as my daily driver for a while now and I couldn't be happier with it. I also use an iPhone 4S, but my workhorse is now my SGIII. MY 9900 is purely for BBM with one contact left who uses it.
Even my banking is now done on my iPhone.
For work, however, I am in a position where I can influence what we use. At work, and for as long as I have my Director's ear, we will use BB. NOTHING ELSE provides the monitoring, accountability, and security of BB as of today. However, I am very curious to find out more about the Samsung Knox software solution.

Sent from my SEXY HOT RED SGIII using Tapatalk 2

[ubizmo]

No you are right though all joking aside, everyone else here is doing cognitive dissonance for the most part, seeing something that they cannot attain, and then saying they don't want it because...well, they are unable to have it.

This is a great insight.

I've been using a Samsung Galaxy Blaze since last July. There have been some glitches, but for the most part it's working well for me. And since the last mini-update pushed out by Tmobile, even the glitches are gone. Battery life is decent; performance is smooth. But for some reason I've convinced myself I need a new phone. And for some reason I think it should be a BlackBerry.

Why? I'm no CEO. If I'm honest, my productivity is unaffected by what phone I get. In fact, if I'm really honest, I'd be more productive with a dumbphone, since I wouldn't waste as much time playing with it. It's never going to matter to anyone whether it takes me one, two, or three swipes or clicks to check email or whatever.

Moreover, there are some things I know I'll be giving up if I get a Z10. One is Audible, which I use a fair amount. Sure, an Audible app may show up in BBWorld eventually; or it may not. Nobody knows. But for right now, I'll be giving that up. I'll be giving up Swype, which I've become amazingly (to me, anyway) good at. The continuous motion way of entering text feels utterly natural to me now, and I don't know how I'll get on with tapping letters again, no matter how clever the predictive text is. It's possible that BB10 will someday implement SwiftKey Flow, but at this point it's a mere theoretical possibility. I've heard no hint that this is on the roadmap. And I'll be giving up being able to double-tap in the browser and have text frames reflow the text to a preset size. Instead I'll have Reader Mode. Having experienced Reader Mode on the PlayBook, and reflow on the 9900 and Blaze, I prefer reflow.

There are some other apps that I use all the time, such as Pageonce, that may work sideloaded, or may show up in BBWorld eventually, but at the moment...*crickets*

And yet...I'll almost certainly get a Z10 next week! How is this possible, given the dissonance-inducing facts just mentioned?

Somehow I've convinced myself that I like being at the "cutting edge," as I was with the SideKick. Somehow, getting a Z10 is not just about buying a product but also about being part of something: BlackBerry culture! As I read those words I am fully aware of how delusional they seem, but that's how I accomplish dissonance reduction. In some weird way, my consumer decision has turned into something else that overrides the utilitarian concerns that should govern such decisions.