Another facet of the Blackberry experience

Part of the Blackberry experience is what I call the search for the Holy Grail of OS's for your particular device. Everyone wants an OS that is fast and meets all their needs. When the stock OS comes up short in one or more areas, a new (usually leaked) one appears to address those issues.
I wonder how the average consumer views this. I assume that most consumers don't read CB before selecting a phone, nor do they consider the OS as such. Downloading and installing a new OS takes a little time and effort. This might (in their minds) be more than they bargained for. I'm asking if this might not be a factor when the average person is considering a smartphone.

i doubt if the average consumer really cares that much about what version of the OS he or she is running.

I had a classmate who still had an 8330 last year. She had never updated the OS since she got the device back in 2008.

Not every BlackBerry consumer i know (teens) knows about updates or even care. In my area, people come to me and ask what can they do to fix an issue they have, so when I check their installed OS, it's pretty much stock installed.

I'm pretty sure if RIM made it quite clear what OS updates were there for, people would update. However, the fact that OS updates come pretty much every other month and how they're (most of the times) bug fixes, I can see why people would be turned off by the fact.

A good example of an "intriguing update" would the Ice-Cream Sandwich. Android users know about this, it's a major release and a lot of the phones can be updated.

OS updates is something RIM should address with BB10. Definitely.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

Most OS are updated when the BB is plugged to the DM, for those that use this to either sync their calendar or do a back up.

@Bilaal
Exactly, a lot of people don't even know what App World is...:confused: they literally pick the phone up and use it as is thinking thats all there is :eek:

Originally Posted by dentynefire

@Bilaal
Exactly, a lot of people don't even know what App World is...:confused: they literally pick the phone up and use it as is thinking thats all there is :eek:

I CANT STAND people who buy phones, especially Smartphones,(or electronics in general) and dont know EVERYTHING their gadget can do!!

Like play with it - Learn!

Everytime I show a noob a common feature, its like Magic to them!




Sent from my BlackBerry Scorch 9860 using Tapatalk
searzyOUT!!

Originally Posted by Searzy

I CANT STAND people who buy phones, especially Smartphones,(or electronics in general) and dont know EVERYTHING their gadget can do!!

Like play with it - Learn!

Everytime I show a noob a common feature, its like Magic to them!




Sent from my BlackBerry Scorch 9860 using Tapatalk
searzyOUT!!

A lot of folks really do not care about capabilities. They might have just chosen the device because they got great deals. For example, if a carrier offers [new smartphone brand X] for $0.01 or buy-one-get-one free, the customers might choose it solely based on price.

A large part of iPhone's success is Apple's ability to cater to people who just want to use their phones to socialize, play a few games in addition to making calls. BB is very geeky compared to iPhone IMHO, which is great if you are a tech buff.
Not so great for the "common" people.

I work as a .NET dev and I love BB, and would switch to Android if RIM goes Palm but I would never consider iPhone or Windows Phone for the unacceptable lockdowns in what a user can or cannot do with their phones.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by dentynefire

@Bilaal
Exactly, a lot of people don't even know what App World is...:confused: they literally pick the phone up and use it as is thinking thats all there is :eek:

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. A friend on Facebook lost her BB the other night, she had no clue what BlackBerry Protect was or anything.

When RIM decided to aim for the consumer market (was this, what? Back in late 2009, early 2010?), they should've made it clear what the phone was capable of. Thing is, with a smartphone, how you handle it reflects on the phone's performace. The average teenager won't know that and won't bother.

Originally Posted by ljfong

A large part of iPhone's success is Apple's ability to cater to people who just want to use their phones to socialize, play a few games in addition to making calls. BB is very geeky compared to iPhone IMHO, which is great if you are a tech buff.
Not so great for the "common" people.

I work as a .NET dev and I love BB, and would switch to Android if RIM goes Palm but I would never consider iPhone or Windows Phone for the unacceptable lockdowns in what a user can or cannot do with their phones.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk

Exactly. I love my BlackBerry. It does what I want it to do with A FEW good games and apps. Sure, a lot more apps and games would be fine, but it's a matter of preference.