[BlackBerry Guy]

Came across this and thought it might be a good read for everyone here

Please Stop Fighting About Your Smartphone | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

Please Stop Fighting About Your Smartphone
By Mat Honan 03.22.13

BlackBerry just shipped a new phone that almost nobody has tried. But lots of people already have an opinion about it! Some people think it is great! Others are already making fun of it! That�s pretty typical behavior. People love to fight and fight about phone platforms; to toss around the term fanboi and other insults and invective. People love to lob polemic after polemic in the most boring argument since Mac vs. Windows ever.

Do you like Android? You should, it�s amazing. iOS? Wow, what a great platform, no wonder it started a revolution. Windows Phone? Seriously, it�s got a remarkable and beautiful interface. BlackBerry? There are plenty of great reasons people love it. And no matter which platform you adore, it�s shockingly possible to both have a preference and respect that other people may prefer an entirely different device. I know. Totally weird. But true.

Or, you can just call anyone who expresses a contrary opinion a ****, or a fanboi, or butthurt, some other un-clever and deeply unoriginal pejorative that ends with the suffix �tard� and ultimately makes you look dumber than the person you�re trying, vainly, to insult.

The phone wars, the platform wars, should be left to people who work for Apple and Samsung and Google and Microsoft and Nokia and BlackBerry. Do you work for Apple? Do you work for Samsung? No? Then shut up.

Nobody cares what kind of smartphone you believe in. It�s not a religion. It�s not your local sports team even. Stop being a soldier. You are not a soldier. You are just wrong. Shut up. You there, with the blog, in the comments, in the pages of the newspaper or the magazine or on Twitter or Facebook. Whatever your opinion is, as soon as you employ it in partisan fashion, it�s deeply and profoundly wrong. Just by sharing it, you are wrong. And nobody cares. Except for the people who do. And they are wrong too. Myself included.

�But, but, but,� I hear you stammering like some sort of horrible person who has mistaken a code base for a system of moral beliefs, �the screen is too big and not big enough.� No. You�re wrong. It�s just right. It�s just right for whoever is holding it, unless it�s not, in which case they�ll decide that it is wrong on their own and get a different one. And then they�ll be right, while you�ll still be wrong.

Here�s the thing: Every phone can be right, for the right reasons. Every platform can be wonderful. (Do you know how easy it would be to make a BlackBerry joke right here? Do you? I�ve got the joke right here in my pocket. You sense it even. You�re dying to make it yourself. Go ahead. This one time. Just do it. Whisper it. I�m listening.) Here�s the thing. That Blackberry Z10? It�s right for someone, somewhere. It really is. There�s someone out there who will take that phone home and love it. Just completely love it. Not in a romantic, or sexual way. (I hope.) But nonetheless, love.

And he (and it will almost certainly be a he) will be right to love that hunk of metal and glass. Completely and totally right. All the way up until he goes online to fight over phones, at which point he becomes completely wrong. Because, again, nobody cares what kind of smartphone you believe in. You are wrong. So go ahead. Take to the comments and call me a **** and a fool and a butthurt fanboi. But it�s okay. I know I�m right about this.

[Bolderholder]

Funny u should post this. I just posted a comment about why it is we seem to be ok when people buy different cars from different brands...but we get all worked up to criticize others based on their decision to buy one smartphone over another. Mind blowing.

[RussBerry007]

I wanna see some fistfights, and fat lips and stuff!!!

[wolf_359]

Well said. Great article.

[raino]

If I were to start a drinking game where the objective was to take a shot every time the author made a good point, I'd be...many blocks deep on Tequila blvd.

[MADBRADNYC]

Do I really have to say it???

Post Count Post...

[DawnMills]

Amen brother. It's all about respect.

[Masahiro]

Someone had to say it, sadly enough.

[Suhailone]

Agreed, Z10 pwns them all though tbh

[katesbb]

I just posted a comment about why it is we seem to be ok when people buy different cars from different brands...

It's the same story on car forums, especially sports cars where passions run high. Purchase justification is an amazing force

[BigBuffBerry]

This should be posted on bgr.com. I can't think of a site that spews more hate than that. They make their money off page views from people cutting each other up none stop.

It's pretty sick actually.

[anon(5639363)]

I hate Antarcticans!

Posted via CB10

[JasW]

I actually do like pie.

[djdragon]

This should be posted on bgr.com. I can't think of a site that spews more hate than that. They make their money off page views from people cutting each other up none stop.

It's pretty sick actually.

They are the Westboro Baptist Church of Tech Blogs

[Lendo]

Funny u should post this. I just posted a comment about why it is we seem to be ok when people buy different cars from different brands...but we get all worked up to criticize others based on their decision to buy one smartphone over another. Mind blowing.

I always criticize people who buy anything but a Jeep :P

[glamrlama]

I'm here because I enjoy my BB. I am just amazed at the number of people that are so interested in the phone I use. Why? Why do they care? Phones are personal devices; use the one you like!

[kbz1960]

I hate Antarcticans!

Posted via CB10

You would

[anon(5639363)]

Why? Why do they care? Phones are personal devices; use the one you like!

Partly it's human nature to want to validate one' s choices. Most of the rancour is simply people trying to prove to everyone, and most importantly to themselves, that they made the right decision backing/supporting (via their hard earned money) one horse over the others.

Probably another big part of it is a form of vanity, with a little fear mixed in as well. You can bet that many many of the most vehement arguments over what smartphone is better are between people that fancy themselves as the "Resident Smartphone Expert" in their circles. If they've convinced themselves they are just that, have convinced themselves that those around them believe it too, and have been touting Brand X for a long time as the be all end all, then they are always scared of looking like they don't know as much as they want everyone to believe.

Posted via CB10

[qbnkelt]

INCREDIBLY AWESOME ARTICLE.

That should be posted as a response to every isheep or cyborg comment. Or every time some militant self appointed mod or self hired site admin with delusions of grandeur and self importance tells anyone that if he/she has to leave unless that person pledges undying love for a BB.

Great find.

[CeeXTwo]

The people who write these sh*tty blogs are just as guilty as us "fanbois" and we all know it's true.
They write flawed, inaccurate and uneducated reviews (like the one I just read and tweeted from Wired) and force us to defend a platform that we love.

This is how I see it anyway.

[ibpluto]

Great article. I think what I notice the most is a flat out hate on for BlackBerry south of the boarder. You have to be flat out daft to not tip your hat to what they have pulled off. This I think is what gets everyones hackles up. When I have discussions with folks about phones, I'm always told they are surprised how much I know about ALL platforms. Lends credibility to your final choice.

I truly feel BlackBerry is not getting a fair shake in the media in the US. There is a high level of ignorance to what this phone can actually do and do for you.



Posted via CB10 from my awesome Z10

[adjdudley21]

I love how the article is like IOS good platform, Windows phone cool interface, Android good OS, Blackberry there's some reason.. hahahaha an unintended swipe .. anyways, long live blackberry.. I argue for blackberry to my friends all the time.. Itll be sweet to say in your face when blackberry climbs back to relevancy... I'm all for diversity, Ive owned an iphone 1, 3g, 3gs, and 4, an android galaxy note 1, and currently an lg optimus g... but one thing remained constant through it all and that was blackberry (I have 2 lines). It just did the things I needed and very well (albeit gave me the death wheel at times and completely reset itself a few others) but when it worked, it did phone functions better and more efficiently than the others.. but to each their own and we must respect that!!!!

[pmccartney]

Great. Thanks for sharing your find. We need to keep this at the top of the threads so everyone eventually reads it.

Posted via CB10

[djenkins6]

Yeah, that comment about cars is what I've been saying for a long time, no one says everyone but one should shut down, there is room for lots of manufacturers. Some are mass market and others fulfill particular niches but still make money and keep customers happy. Maybe BlackBerry will grow again to be a Ford Toyota type operation or maybe they'll stay in a niche or several niches like a Tesla, or the perceived luxury of the Mercedes of phones.

Posted via CB10

[anon(375378)]

Scroll down and read some of the replies to that article as well. They are hilarious. Good find

Pssst...Apple and Android still suk!

Posted via CB10