[Rick-TJR]

I finally see a woman with a Red Passport in the wild. First time I've ever seen anyone in the wild with a Passport as my wife doesn't count. I ask her about the phone and to see if she likes it and she says not so much. Another, my work wants us to use it story. So I asked her what she doesn't like about it? She says she has to swipe through too many pages to get to the apps she wants. I asked her if she knew about making folders for the apps to make it more organized and the answer was a confused look like, "You can do that on a BlackBerry?" I showed a few more things that she never knew about and could have went on for days to show her the power of bb10. The phone looks like it has been through the ringer so she must have had it for at least 6 months or more.
I think when a company issues a phone and it is a BlackBerry, the person feels it is junk or was given to them because the company must have gotten an incredible deal, otherwise why would anyone use a BlackBerry for goodness sakes at least this day and age.
She was shocked when I pulled out my BlackBerry and told her my wife has a Passport and love it, as it is the best phone she has ever owned.
No wonder BlackBerry is struggling.

Posted via CB10

[pat-wallace]

I see this all the time, a friend has a Z30 "for work" and hates it, until I showed them a few tricks like you mentioned, including the android apps, and they were very pleased, good job for helping her

[Malazm]

There's so much sad going on. People who don't know the power of BBOS 10, new Android slider, the name of that thing, should we still buy a BBOS 10 device that may no longer be supported, etc, etc. I can't even think straight right now. And then there are so many people out there who simply say get a hold of yourself, move on. Well, maybe I'll just...oh, I don't know.....

Posted via CB10

[RyanGermann]

Imagine this:



Only instead of "Kahn!" it's "Marketing!", directed at BB's marketing department and strategy.

That's how I feel sometimes.

[Steve�]

I think the problem is that operating systems like ios have made people lazy....noone bothers much anymore, I had a Nokia N900 phone and had a custom kernel on it that meant I could overclock it, loved doing all that and command line installations and updates.

However the folders thing isnt just confined to Blackberry - I know people with an iphone who have to scroll through 8 home screens to get to the app they want, rather than putting it in a folder or just searching for the app with the swipe down action. Lazyness!

[conite]

We've unfortunately always had this issue with BB10. It works great for those of us who like to learn, tinker, and do workarounds (like Snap or Cobalt).

The normal Jane or Joe tend to just pick up a device and start pressing buttons and expect it to work. That's the beauty of iPhone, and to some extent, Android. One app store, and everything works. Want email? - just tap the email icon. Etc.

Most people don't want to look at tutorials, manuals, or forums.

For those who go the extra mile, BB10 is a treasure. But we see where that has led us.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.2639

[yyz321]

We've unfortunately always had this issue with BB10. It works great for those of us who like to learn, tinker, and do workarounds (like Snap or Cobalt).

The normal Jane or Joe tend to just pick up a device and start pressing buttons and expect it to work. That's the beauty of iPhone, and to some extent, Android. One app store, and everything works. Want email? - just tap the email icon. Etc.

Most people don't want to look at tutorials, manuals, or forums.

For those who go the extra mile, BB10 is a treasure. But we see where that has led us.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.2639

Not sure I completely agree with this... I think the people that really like to tinker are using android and XDA forums.

Email and calendar was a breeze to setup on this device. Plus I think the way contacts is managed is much better than android (even though there are some improvements necessary, such as when it creates duplicate contacts).

I think the lady that doesn't know how to create folders wouldn't know that it's possible on any other OS either.

Posted via CB10

[FirstBerry101]

Co worker asked me why I use BlackBerry. They suck he says. They are bankrupt. They don't even have facebook. He was passionate about his feelings, he hated BlackBerry.

When was the last time you used a BlackBerry I respond?

His answer.. never.


That is the perception BlackBerry faces daily.

Posted via CB10

[conite]

Not sure I completely agree with this... I think the people that really like to tinker are using android and XDA forums.

Email and calendar was a breeze to setup on this device. Plus I think the way contacts is managed is much better than android (even though there are some improvements necessary, such as when it creates duplicate contacts).

I think the lady that doesn't know how to create folders wouldn't know that it's possible on any other OS either.

Posted via CB10

Of course Android is great for tinkerers.

I was speaking to the fact that for most people, BB10 has a difficult learning curve.

I thought it was easy, and so did you apparently.

But without fail, every single person I know who was issued a corporate BB10 device all say "I don't know how to use this thing", or "I don't use the HUB, because it's complicated".

Strange, but true.

When announced, BlackBerry themselves described BB10 as a paradigm shift. People weren't very receptive of this shift it would seem.

It's my favourite OS, so you don't need to sell me.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.2639

[CrazyJo82]

There's so many tricks that not many people know about... did you know if you pinch in the hub, it will show unread messages?

Posted via CB10

[conite]

There's so many tricks that not many people know about... did you know if you pinch in the hub, it will show unread messages?

Posted via CB10

I prefer to use it to show flagged/starred messages. Great feature.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.2639

[AnimalPak200]

Well, this would happen with any device really. The difference with iPhones and Androids is that she would have bumped into the iPhone/Android equivalent of you much, much earlier in her device ownership span.

And so that sort of organic 'network effect' really does become a positive feedback that is very hard to recreate by a manufacturer.

Posted via CB10

[KAM1138]

Hello,

Hmm sounds like at least a few people might have a better opinion of BlackBerry if...oh I don't know, just thinking out loud, someone might have some sort of effort to convey information to these people.

Now only if someone could invent such a practice.

Nah, must be impossible, so let's not even try.

The world can't deal with anything more complex than a back button for their app switcher.

KAM

Posted via CB10

[DolemiteDONS]

[QUOTE=Rick

You are 100% right and very nice to help her. But if she never bothered to figure out how to organize her Apps, then she had little interest to begin. Q10/BB10 was my first smartphone and I am not tech savvy, yet I learned because I was interested in finding out. Surprise! It was simple and took just a few seconds.

It's a shame that people's initial reaction is to trash BlackBerry, without giving it a chance. Evidently and unfortunately, many people don't like to look into their phone's attributes themselves, and there aren't enough BlackBerry users like yourself to assist them at every step. Instead, they prefer to have disinterest and say, "I hate it".

[KAM1138]

Hello,

This goes back a while, but the Palm Pre was my first real smart phone and I (stupidly) switched to an HTC Evo (android) and it's interface was anything but functional. The OS had no functionality but app switching.

So if an on/off function is all people can handle then that's pretty sad indeed. And that's our future with android?

Or have the inferior, less functional OS moved towards what others like webOS had years ago.

It sounds like what is mentioned here is that these other OS (android, iOS) are catering to the lowest common denominator of consumer.

That would be quite a step backwards for me to endure again.

If consumers are so lazy that they can't sit through a tutorial that is on board the device's then I want to be as far away as possible from a product catering to those folks. It's not for me.

But I guess Mr. Chen wants to make that choice on my behalf.

KAM

Posted via CB10

[m3mb3rsh1p]

Thanks for the nice story and for spreading BlackBerry knowledge. I wish I worked somewhere where I was "forced to use a Red BlackBerry Passport."

[anon(2325196)]

BlackBerry cannot compete with relentless human stupidity.

Posted via CB10

[Prem WatsApp]

We've unfortunately always had this issue with BB10. It works great for those of us who like to learn, tinker, and do workarounds (like Snap or Cobalt).

The normal Jane or Joe tend to just pick up a device and start pressing buttons and expect it to work. That's the beauty of iPhone, and to some extent, Android. One app store, and everything works. Want email? - just tap the email icon. Etc.

Most people don't want to look at tutorials, manuals, or forums.

For those who go the extra mile, BB10 is a treasure. But we see where that has led us.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.2639

Until someone looks to configure their hotspot. Find that on Android. Joe Doe won't, or will struggle... :-)

�   Leakers' gonna leak... :-)   �

[KAM1138]

BlackBerry cannot compete with relentless human stupidity.

Posted via CB10

Few things can hope to. However, what BlackBerry COULD do is more effectively reach out to offer a life-line to the folks who might want to pull themselves up a bit higher.

You are guaranteed to fail if you don't try. But of course trying just anything isn't a good idea either.

KAM

[Vistaus]

I finally see a woman with a Red Passport in the wild. First time I've ever seen anyone in the wild with a Passport as my wife doesn't count. I ask her about the phone and to see if she likes it and she says not so much. Another, my work wants us to use it story. So I asked her what she doesn't like about it? She says she has to swipe through too many pages to get to the apps she wants. I asked her if she knew about making folders for the apps to make it more organized and the answer was a confused look like, "You can do that on a BlackBerry?" I showed a few more things that she never knew about and could have went on for days to show her the power of bb10. The phone looks like it has been through the ringer so she must have had it for at least 6 months or more.
I think when a company issues a phone and it is a BlackBerry, the person feels it is junk or was given to them because the company must have gotten an incredible deal, otherwise why would anyone use a BlackBerry for goodness sakes at least this day and age.
She was shocked when I pulled out my BlackBerry and told her my wife has a Passport and love it, as it is the best phone she has ever owned.
No wonder BlackBerry is struggling.

Posted via CB10

Or she can type on the homescreen to quickly find an app using Assistant.

Posted via CB10

[TheBirdDog]

Or she can type on the homescreen to quickly find an app using Assistant.

Posted via CB10

Or use the 'scroll' at the bottom to quickly jump to any page or the Hub in one gesture.

Some people might complain that some of these things make parts of the OS feel redundant. I like the fact that there is more than one way to do most things and it really makes the OS feel intuitive and natural.

[Taigatrommel]

Or use the 'scroll' at the bottom to quickly jump to any page or the Hub in one gesture.

Some people might complain that some of these things make parts of the OS feel redundant. I like the fact that there is more than one way to do most things and it really makes the OS feel intuitive and natural.

Same here, after going back to BB10 after a few weeks using an Android device almost exclusively, I immediately found the things I love about BB10:

The swiping gestures just feel so natural, especially with the quick preview on the Hub.

Quick navigation everywhere. Swipe through the homescreens, quickly scroll through them using the little icons or again scroll by using either the keyboard of the Passport or the trackpad of the Classic.

Want to share something? The OS usually never needs to leave an app for that. Sharing a weblink to Twitter or a picture to Whatsapp? It never feels like the OS starts launching any dedicated apps. Plus you can have multiple sessions in different apps. It's a seamless workflow which has yet to be achieved by the competition.

Last but not least the BlackBerry Hub. There are competing products trying to get a similar experience, but they aren't even nearly as powerful as the Hub. BlackBerry really improved that communication centre from the beginning and now has a unique and very useful way to manage all your communication needs.


I get it though that BB10 makes some people struggle. It starts with the absence of buttons they can hit and it continues with being too lazy to actually care for any tutorial steps. On my Passport, I already got reminded that I can move around apps by holding them and create folders by dragging them on another app.



Posted via CB10

[muellerto]

Most people don't want to look at tutorials, manuals, or forums.

Yes, right, I also don't want. But for those people you need a GUI that leads the user and helps him to get what he needs. This is something what BB10 is not always close to.

I deal with GUI development for about 25 years now, since the early days of Windows (3.0). Since then I've seen a lot of paradigms and practices coming and going. But some things are basic and fundamental, for instance that the user must recognize a control. If the user must know something he can't recognize by himself this is in many cases almost as if it wouldn't be there. Perhaps he detects it later by accident, or someone else tells him, but this is a clear lack of the GUI.

The thing with moving icons around and putting them into folders, also: getting an item out of a folder, is indeed not good. The user has to guess this all. Look, you can't even move an icon around without getting the damned question if you want to put two items into a folder - this question is in 99% of all cases NOT what you want, but you get it again and again. And why? Because the GUI has no control (no button, no icon in a corner or on toolbar, no menu item) to create a folder. The creation of a folder is always implicit by moving one icon onto another, this will then move two (!) icons into a none existing, new folder. Who should know that?

This is a simple thing, one of some more, it's wrong by design, everyone who ever developed a GUI sees that immediately, but it's recent BB10. I don't know if they ever watched their users. Watching users provides a lot of interesting informations.

[Taigatrommel]

This is a simple thing, one of some more, it's wrong by design, everyone who ever developed a GUI sees that immediately, but it's recent BB10. I don't know if they ever watched their users. Watching users provides a lot of interesting informations.

I think they do, at least to some extent. Yet, as it is the case with many things for BB10, they came pretty late. I remember the initial tutorial was much more basic back in the day when the first devices got released. I am also to 100% certain those on-screen tips and hints weren't available but added pretty late, I think with 10.3.0?
They also introduced a dedicated icon for the Hub with 10.2.1 which created quite an outrage with power users. However the idea getting that icon was based on customer feedback, customers who suffered from easily reaching the Hub.
Also with 10.2.1 they introduced a new way to answer and reject calls. Another change which caused quite an outrage with existing users, but obviously there were quite some people having problems with the existing call interface.

I am not close being an UI designer myself, however I also tend to agree BB10 is not actually an intuitive interface, especially for new, not so tech savvy users. It's one of those things which they should've addressed earlier.

Posted via CB10

[ChrisLeNeve]

Wow. This is not ordinary stupid. This is advanced stupid.

Forgive my typos, I don't look when I type