[kbz1960]

I've been following this thread because I'm interested in the topic. I am a business user and use the Outlook app. CloudMagic, Outlook, Mailbox. All offer business ready email features. A lot of businesses use the iPhone as their device of choice. I'm curious why some of you are so against it? Not here to argue. Genuinely curious why some of you view the iPhone email as less than adequate when there are email apps that do everything a Blackberry can.

Because a BlackBerry has to do it better. It's a business phone. Tool not a toy.

Well that's what they think anyway. That and it's a BlackBerry forum so they are right.

[nick13b]

If it's for work and you are new don't buck the trend, go with the iphone from your employer if you came and worked for me and you said well I use a BlackBerry I would tell you to see your way out.

Now maybe get their iphone and if you want to use a Z30 then buy one and ensure all the office apps, calendar functions all blend and work.

If your employer wants you to use whatever phone then I would use what they asked.

Posted via CB10

Would never work for someone like this person.

Posted via R115-Aramis.

[rodney0905]

Because a BlackBerry has to do it better. It's a business phone. Tool not a toy.

Well that's what they think anyway. That and it's a BlackBerry forum so they are right.

Honestly laughed out loud at this.

[jhanks64]

I've been following this thread because I'm interested in the topic. I am a business user and use the Outlook app. CloudMagic, Outlook, Mailbox. All offer business ready email features. A lot of businesses use the iPhone as their device of choice. I'm curious why some of you are so against it? Not here to argue. Genuinely curious why some of you view the iPhone email as less than adequate when there are email apps that do everything a Blackberry can.

I explain it like this (sorta joking a little): If you are born with one arm, you can do a lot of things, you don't know anything different. Those of us born with two arms know that it's easier for us to do things.

Seriously though - there are a few reasons:
BB10 (and Android somewhat) are the closest to a real computer in terms of accessing the file system and not being controlled and limited.

Steve Jobs vision for iOS was to make it simple for "normal" people, which means dumbing it down.
("to appeal to those of little education or intelligence" from Wikipedia)
Because of the purposeful limitations designed in, the feature set is limited on purpose so simpletons don't get too confused. When I refer to simpletons, I mean specifically "tech simpletons" because people can be smart about other things, but confused by technology. Besides the tax code and other government complexities, computers are the most complex things in our life. The designers try to make them easy to use, but they really are incredibly complex far beyond most people's comprehension.

This simplicity is a general overall theme with the iPhone. Of course over time, they have added features due to demand - but still do not allow access to the file system like a computer would.

So, this leads to convoluted workarounds for something as simple as attaching a PDF to an email reply.

Consider the design decision to not have a "menu" button on the screen or a menu button. I think the idea is to basically only have features that can be "seen" or something along those lines.
That severely constricts what features you can provide in an app. BlackBerry and Android usually have a menu button that provides additional features that can't be "seen".
A simple example is in the Hub on BB10 - you can Press and Hold to get actions, you can tap the menu button to get more features or you can just tap on a message and then have other features available when that message is open.

I personally find much of the control and limits that iOS has to be personally insulting and despicable.
Once I connected a clients iPhone 4 to his new computer and because iTunes didn't have the "right" library, it started deleting apps off of the guys phone. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
The keyboard is a joke (many web sites are built around the stupidity of the auto-correct "feature")
It's my music, I should be able to put it on whatever devices I choose.
Maybe I like to organize my pictures into folders.
Perhaps I want to upgrade my media capacity without buying a new phone.
What if I want to use mp3 files as ring-tones?
The iOS calendar and email and contacts apps are just way too limiting for many of us.
How about following some of the industry standards - noooo - must use only Apple designed interoperability.
Maybe I want to edit a word and insert a letter in the middle of a word or just back-space a little.
Maybe I want to see what the password I just typed in is to confirm I wrote it correctly.
Perhaps I like to use a volume button on the side to take a picture or something convenient like that.
Awhile back, someone wrote an app that would allow just that and it was a huge seller. Apple didn't like that and pulled it from the App Store. Can't have people doing things the Non-Apple way.

I can go on and on for hours about all of the bone-headed limitations and the problems it's caused me in my business of helping people with technology. I've lost so much time and money trying to find solutions or fixes for things that BlackBerry already does easily.

BlackBerry phones have never been perfect, of course they have bugs, flaws, limitations - but they are different ones that some of us can overlook because of the sweet productivity we usually get from them.

IMHO

[Sir Reaper]

I can only speak for myself, personally I hate the iPhone, it's fidgety, with a terrible keyboard and pathetic Web browser. I employ 20 people that work in the field and deal with customers on a daily basis and I would never force them to use a specific brand because if you aren't comfortable with the device you are using then you will be less productive. If we need an app that isn't available then we make it and we make it work on iPhone, Android and blackberry.

Why Blackberry? Because I can!

[rodney0905]

I explain it like this (sorta joking a little): If you are born with one arm, you can do a lot of things, you don't know anything different. Those of us born with two arms know that it's easier for us to do things.

Seriously though - there are a few reasons:
BB10 (and Android somewhat) are the closest to a real computer in terms of accessing the file system and not being controlled and limited.

Steve Jobs vision for iOS was to make it simple for "normal" people, which means dumbing it down.
("to appeal to those of little education or intelligence" from Wikipedia)
Because of the purposeful limitations designed in, the feature set is limited on purpose so simpletons don't get too confused. When I refer to simpletons, I mean specifically "tech simpletons" because people can be smart about other things, but confused by technology. Besides the tax code and other government complexities, computers are the most complex things in our life. The designers try to make them easy to use, but they really are incredibly complex far beyond most people's comprehension.

This simplicity is a general overall theme with the iPhone. Of course over time, they have added features due to demand - but still do not allow access to the file system like a computer would.

So, this leads to convoluted workarounds for something as simple as attaching a PDF to an email reply.

Consider the design decision to not have a "menu" button on the screen or a menu button. I think the idea is to basically only have features that can be "seen" or something along those lines.
That severely constricts what features you can provide in an app. BlackBerry and Android usually have a menu button that provides additional features that can't be "seen".
A simple example is in the Hub on BB10 - you can Press and Hold to get actions, you can tap the menu button to get more features or you can just tap on a message and then have other features available when that message is open.

I personally find much of the control and limits that iOS has to be personally insulting and despicable.
Once I connected a clients iPhone 4 to his new computer and because iTunes didn't have the "right" library, it started deleting apps off of the guys phone. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
The keyboard is a joke (many web sites are built around the stupidity of the auto-correct "feature")
It's my music, I should be able to put it on whatever devices I choose.
Maybe I like to organize my pictures into folders.
Perhaps I want to upgrade my media capacity without buying a new phone.
What if I want to use mp3 files are ring-tones?
The iOS calendar and email and contacts apps are just way too limiting for many of us.
How about following some of the industry standards - noooo - must use only Apple designed interoperability.
Maybe I want to edit a word and insert a letter in the middle of a word or just back-space a little.
Maybe I want to see what the password I just typed in is to confirm I wrote it correctly.
Perhaps I like to use a volume button on the side to take a picture or something convenient like that.
Awhile back, someone wrote an app that would allow just that and it was a huge seller. Apple didn't like that and pulled it from the App Store. Can't have people doing things the Non-Apple way.

I can go on and on for hours about all of the bone-headed limitations and the problems it's caused me in my business of helping people with technology. I've lost so much time and money trying to find solutions or fixes for things that BlackBerry already does easily.

BlackBerry phones have never been perfect, of course they have bugs, flaws, limitations - but they are different ones that some of us can overlook because of the sweet productivity we usually get from them.

IMHO

While I disagree with much of what you said and would chalk a lot of it up to your personal preference about what is superior/inferior in a phone (just as I have my own). I asked about productivity and for thoughts. You gave that. I can appreciate your thoughtful response.

[rodney0905]

I can only speak for myself, personally I hate the iPhone, it's fidgety, with a terrible keyboard and pathetic Web browser. I employ 20 people that work in the field and deal with customers on a daily basis and I would never force them to use a specific brand because if you aren't comfortable with the device you are using then you will be less productive. If we need an app that isn't available then we make it and we make it work on iPhone, Android and blackberry.

Why Blackberry? Because I can!

I'm interested in your stance on this. I think many would disagree with your sentiment that the iPhone was fidgety with a terrible keyboard, but to each their own (you did say that you were speaking for yourself. I just don't hear that opinion too much). I'm more interested from a business perspective. If an app isn't available, you design it yourself and build for these three major platforms? It seems like a company has to have the capacity to be able to do that?

[katesbb]

Consider the design decision to not have a "menu" button on the screen or a menu button. I think the idea is to basically only have features that can be "seen" or something along those lines.
That severely constricts what features you can provide in an app. BlackBerry and Android usually have a menu button that provides additional features that can't be "seen".
A simple example is in the Hub on BB10 - you can Press and Hold to get actions, you can tap the menu button to get more features or you can just tap on a message and then have other features available when that message is open.

iOS kinda does this through "Action Sheets" which slide up when a Toolbar icon is tapped, revealing more options for that task.

iOS also has swipe functionality in many apps, such as swiping an email left or right to reveal options like Mark as Read or Trash, as well as a More option which reveals an Action Sheet of options similar to an "Overflow" menu.

The app features are there in most cases, but iOS has it's own ways of getting to them. Sometimes I find it quicker and more intuitive than BB10, sometimes I wonder what they heck they were thinking

[Sir Reaper]

In all honesty designing an app isn't that complicated if you have experience, we have an IT department that has 2 brilliant programmers in it and they sort out all our needs. My point of view is to outsource as little as possible and do as much as possible in house. some would say this is an archaic way of doing business but it has worked really well for me. Also to be honest our blackberry apps are just ported android apps so ultimately the guys are just developing for the two platforms as no one in the company is using windows phone.

I personally use a Z30, it replaced my Galaxy S3 and I've never looked back, I tried numerous other devices but the call of blackberry was just too strong. I have a feeling I'll use this phone until it's falling apart.

Why Blackberry? Because I can!

[katesbb]

the guys are just developing for the two platforms...

Just curious: are they developing Native apps for each or using HTML5 / PhoneGap to distribute a single app to both platforms?

[Centerman66]

I explain it like this (sorta joking a little): If you are born with one arm, you can do a lot of things, you don't know anything different. Those of us born with two arms know that it's easier for us to do things.

Seriously though - there are a few reasons:
BB10 (and Android somewhat) are the closest to a real computer in terms of accessing the file system and not being controlled and limited.

Steve Jobs vision for iOS was to make it simple for "normal" people, which means dumbing it down.
("to appeal to those of little education or intelligence" from Wikipedia)
Because of the purposeful limitations designed in, the feature set is limited on purpose so simpletons don't get too confused. When I refer to simpletons, I mean specifically "tech simpletons" because people can be smart about other things, but confused by technology. Besides the tax code and other government complexities, computers are the most complex things in our life. The designers try to make them easy to use, but they really are incredibly complex far beyond most people's comprehension.

This simplicity is a general overall theme with the iPhone. Of course over time, they have added features due to demand - but still do not allow access to the file system like a computer would.

So, this leads to convoluted workarounds for something as simple as attaching a PDF to an email reply.

Consider the design decision to not have a "menu" button on the screen or a menu button. I think the idea is to basically only have features that can be "seen" or something along those lines.
That severely constricts what features you can provide in an app. BlackBerry and Android usually have a menu button that provides additional features that can't be "seen".
A simple example is in the Hub on BB10 - you can Press and Hold to get actions, you can tap the menu button to get more features or you can just tap on a message and then have other features available when that message is open.

I personally find much of the control and limits that iOS has to be personally insulting and despicable.
Once I connected a clients iPhone 4 to his new computer and because iTunes didn't have the "right" library, it started deleting apps off of the guys phone. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
The keyboard is a joke (many web sites are built around the stupidity of the auto-correct "feature")
It's my music, I should be able to put it on whatever devices I choose.
Maybe I like to organize my pictures into folders.
Perhaps I want to upgrade my media capacity without buying a new phone.
What if I want to use mp3 files are ring-tones?
The iOS calendar and email and contacts apps are just way too limiting for many of us.
How about following some of the industry standards - noooo - must use only Apple designed interoperability.
Maybe I want to edit a word and insert a letter in the middle of a word or just back-space a little.
Maybe I want to see what the password I just typed in is to confirm I wrote it correctly.
Perhaps I like to use a volume button on the side to take a picture or something convenient like that.
Awhile back, someone wrote an app that would allow just that and it was a huge seller. Apple didn't like that and pulled it from the App Store. Can't have people doing things the Non-Apple way.

I can go on and on for hours about all of the bone-headed limitations and the problems it's caused me in my business of helping people with technology. I've lost so much time and money trying to find solutions or fixes for things that BlackBerry already does easily.

BlackBerry phones have never been perfect, of course they have bugs, flaws, limitations - but they are different ones that some of us can overlook because of the sweet productivity we usually get from them.

IMHO

My single biggest complaint with the iPhone is the lack of a file management system. How a smartphone (the modern day analogue to a computer) can not have a way of storing, arranging, and retrieving files is, frankly, beyond me. It renders the iPhone unusable to me. I won't go into the many other reasons i prefer BB10 over iOS.....all of which have been discussed on this website ad nauseum. But at the end of the day, the terminal shortcoming of the Apple product is their lack of a filing system. I have colleagues and partners that have to email files they may need later to themselves...and then when the need arises they have to find the emails in the email app. WTF?!

[Sukiyaki]

@ jhanks64 you are absolutely correct about Apple's desire to ***** proof things. Their latest version of mac mail sets the servers automatically for known email providers. Once it is set up (for any provider) the incoming server field is grayed out and unchangeable. Ours is a " known" one, but not all our customers use the same servers. The first time I ran into this about a week ago, the customer had bought a new PC and said he had been working with apple and they didn't have a way to change it. We have changed our servers from time to time over the years. There was no option for manual set up in the wizard they have. If you have to delete and readd an account to change the server, that will delete any emails associated with it, and treat the readd as brand new and download all the emails on the server again. I've had customers with over 70 thousand emails on their server so for an existing user just needing to change servers, this would be a nightmare. I was able to create a fake acct domain where it asked for servers it didn't know, but no one should have to go through this. One good thing is their recovery, I think it's called " time machine " but don't quote me, it will restore an inbox back to the last time it was backed up, so if you do delete an email acct in error, you only lose a day of emails.

Posted via CB10

[Sir Reaper]

Just curious: are they developing Native apps for each or using HTML5 / PhoneGap to distribute a single app to both platforms?

I don't want to lie to you, but as far as I know they develop native apps.

I remember them saying that it's more reliable and effective to develop them as native.

Why Blackberry? Because I can!

[Avenzuno]

The most important thing as a new employee is to keep your nose clean and stay off the radar. I have two personal phones I use for work: iPhone 6 Plus and Z30. I use both for work email, and talk to clients on my BlackBerry. The OP should accept his employer's iPhone 6 (with work phone number) and use it for work. But I suggest he also get a Z30 as a second phone with personal cell number, and find out whether the employer will allow him to use the Z30 also for work email.

Posted via CB10

[filanto]

Take the job and the phone unless you are independently wealthy. Blackberrys are great but you can also buy a personal phone with your paycheck. Heck do a bang up job and buy multiple Blackberrys.

Posted via CB10

[jic999]

I've been following this thread because I'm interested in the topic. I am a business user and use the Outlook app. CloudMagic, Outlook, Mailbox. All offer business ready email features. A lot of businesses use the iPhone as their device of choice. I'm curious why some of you are so against it? Not here to argue. Genuinely curious why some of you view the iPhone email as less than adequate when there are email apps that do everything a Blackberry can.

The company I worked for was on iP6 with all the email Apps and cloud folders. Opening the apps its all bloat ware and does not even compare to the integrated email, and native file folder of BB10.
Especially now on 10.3 OS the remote PC on my phone is seamless . How you share From the Hub and from the File folder is smooth and very intuitive. Attachment email on the BB10 with Hub Attachment is another fabulous feature.
I have Docs to Go Key App from the Amazon App store ( $9 99) gives me Google Drive.

I will end it on this Native File manager or a Cloud Drive ...answer Native all the way !! BlackBerry Security wins

Posted via Z30. CB10 App

[katesbb]

The company I worked for was on iP6 with all the email Apps and cloud folders. Opening the apps its all bloat ware and does not even compare to the integrated email, and native file folder of BB10

BB10's file handling is great, no arguments there, best I've seen on a mobile device.

But OP, if you end up using an iPhone, I've been experimenting a bit with workarounds... and it seems like the idea is to get an app like Documents. You still can't access the "native" iPhone file system with it, but it mimicks a similar function by saving files in it's own in-app files area. You can save attachments from an email (they call it "Open In... Documents") to the app, as well as go into the app and select multiple files previously saved to start a new email.

Scary though, as if you delete the app, all your saved files go with it - they're part of the app, not the native file system. And you still can't pick files from within an email, you need to go into the app first, select your files, then click Mail To.

Awkward and limited, but it's something By no means am I saying it's as easy as BB10, I'm just throwing it out there for anyone considering using iOS for whatever reason.

Ironic how trying to simplify the experience actually ends up complicating it.

[jic999]

Open email then write then attach documents pics etc....and no deleting of files

Posted via Z30. CB10 App