Blackberry Classic vs. Palm Treo 650: 32 ways my old phone was better than my new one
Back in 2006, I bought a Palm Treo 650, and quickly discovered it was one of the most beautifully functional tools I had ever owned. Once phones with increased capabilities started appearing, every six months or so I would go out shopping, but could never find anything that was as well designed, that could handle the basic functions I used most as simply and effectively. So every time my Palm got dinged up, I would buy another one off Amazon, swap out the motherboard, and just carry on.
I replaced the phone three times that way over eight years, till finally I could find no more on the Internet, and I no longer had a choice but to move to another platform. As a physical keyboard is a non-negotiable starting point for me, Blackberry was the only viable option, so I sprung for a new Classic.
It immediately became obvious that despite the quantum leap in technological development, the device compared very poorly in terms of coherent user experience design� functional flow and just plain usability. It surprised me, and continues to astonish me more and more, that Blackberry would not have studied a device that was the apotheosis of its time, and incorporated obvious features and functions that were available so long ago.
So, just in case someone up there is listening, here is my list of things that Blackberry should have, to make it work as well as a 2006-era Palm Treo:
1 - 4, Key commands
- right off the bat, there needs to be a dedicated button to put the phone in �Airplane mode,� which is readily available without making the user flip through a menu to find it. As both the �Power off� and �End� buttons currently duplicate the same function, it would make sense to reassign the �End� button to the �Airplane mode� function, as did the Palm.
- an option is needed to silence the phone and alarms by touching any key. This is very useful when the device is in a coat pocket, for instance, so just squeezing the device through the fabric will shut it up when that needs to happen quickly.
- keystrokes for Copy/Cut and Paste, and Undo (for deleted text). Without getting into an argument about Blackberry�s unique system of manipulating text via touchscreen, if they are going to provide a keyboard, basic keystrokes should be available.
- the touch-screen numeric symbol keyboard needs to have a �0"!
5 - 13, Sync and backup
- the sync cradle is a disaster. Seating the phone properly is a very awkward two-handed process, while seating the Palm could be accomplished in one quick, smooth and positive one-handed move. The cradle charges slowly, and does not have an indicator light to show that charging is happening, and when it is complete.
- inserting or withdrawing the phone from the cradle starts up the computer when it is in Standby mode, which is extremely frustrating
- Blackberry Link is also a disaster. Poorly designed interface, and incomprehensible procedures, especially to set up custom sync relationships (and yes, I have read the documentation). The first time I tried to do a Factory Reset, it lost over 1,100 of my contacts (fortunately also backed up elsewhere). It does not back up the �Remember� app (at least not in any accessible way). When open, it prevents the Windows taskbar from popping up. I am told �Blend� is better, but frankly I am scared to try it-- and why should I need two applications? By contrast, the Palm desktop software was a simple, one-stop application to back up, manage, sync and edit everything on the phone, that never once failed me.
14 - 19, Calendar
- the input screen for �Events� is awkward, slow and error-prone. The screen for event time and date in particular is too crowded; with not enough room to swipe properly, with the result that the user often touches, and unintentionally changes, other selectors. By contrast, actions on the Palm interface were simple, quick and positive.
- this is exacerbated by the selector for alarm times in 1 min increments. Does anybody really need that? The selector for "Events" is in 5 min increments, which makes much more sense (as was the case in the Palm).
- �Events� need to have categories, those need to be able to be custom-created, and to have assignable colors, and those events need to all be visible as multiple dots per day in the �Month� view of the calendar (as in Palm).
20 - 26, Contact list
- ditto for "Contacts"� those need to have categories, those need to be able to be custom-created, and to have assignable colors. (Arguably, the �Contact groups� can be made to function this way, minus the colors, but that is a work-around, not a feature.)
- the �Company� field needs to be immediately predictive. If the user has entered the name of a company once, it should immediately be available when entering the next three contacts at the same company, without waiting for the predictive feature to �learn� it. Palm could do this.
- all the fields on the �Contact� entry window are geared towards personal info; there are no real options for business entities, like �Main� or �Toll-free� for phone numbers, or �Head office� or �Warehouse� for address fields. This is frankly astonishing for a platform that touts itself as oriented for business..
- it appears to be impossible to assign contacts to contact groups on creation. The user has to create the entry, close it, then search for it, open the side menu and select �Add to group.� Duh?
- after receiving a call from unknown number, an option is presented to add to the contact list, but after dialing a new number, no prompt appears. My Treo did both
27, Texting
- no alert appears if a text is submitted while in �Airplane mode,� meaning an important text can inadvertently not get sent. Again, this is an astonishing oversight in a device geared for business use.
28 - 29, Marketing
- Blackberry is fighting an uphill battle to regain market share, and unfamiliarity with the platform is a major hurdle to consumer acceptance-- yet they don�t seem to be doing the basic things to encourage their user base. I purchased my phone March 17, registered it probably on the 19th, but the first welcome e-mail with suggestions of resources only arrived on the 24th, the next on the 26th and the 28th. This is a surprisingly slow response when their target demographic presumably comprises largely power users.
- one of the major factors in my almost ditching the device after the first week was the poor product knowledge at the dealer. I had to go to four different outlets of the same carrier before I could find someone who could tell me anything about the device, and even then, he knew very little. By contrast, years earlier I had been told by a sales associate at the same carrier that every few months a rep from Palm would come around to demonstrate the phone to sales staff, and solicit user feedback.
30 - 31, Amusement
- while the default sounds for notifications, alarms, etc. are quite appealing, I am disappointed that the other options are not. I realize that it is possible to upload custom sounds (which the Palm couldn�t do) but I would appreciate some pre-loaded options that are not harsh techno.
- and last but not least, while a good Solitaire game may not be a priority for everyone, I have searched Playstore in vain for a well-designed (esthetically and functionally) Solitaire game like the one that came pre-loaded on my Palm, and that I still use almost daily to unwind for a few moments.
32, Documentation
- inevitably, the good people on this forum will point out that one or more of the flaws I have mentioned is in error, and there is a simple answer. While very much appreciated, that underscores my final complaint, that the documentation is scattered and sometimes obscure, and the guidance available on the phone is neither complete nor clear enough.
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So, that is my list of gripes just compared to my old Palm Treo. I have a much longer list of bugs and deficiencies for the Blackberry/OS 10 just on its own, which I may post some day if I survive the death threats this post will likely elicit. ;)
So why do I keep using it? Basically, as the only mature device with a physical keyboard, there is no alternative. Yes, there are many things to like about the Classic. It is a beautiful machine� no-one can fault the engineering or manufacture. I love the �Agenda� calendar view; I love the way it effortlessly sets up e-mail accounts and connects to Wi-Fi. I love the screen. But quite frankly, if I could go back to the Palm, I probably would. And as a Canadian who would desperately love to see Blackberry succeed, that makes me sad.