[FredericL]

Hi everyone!

I’m a student Communication & Multimedia Design from Holland and I’m doing a research about smartphone users. From the information I’ll collect I want to make personas, which are descriptions about the average user of a type of smartphone. I make distinction between providers of operating systems which are used by smartphones.

The providers are:
- RIM (BlackBerry)
- Apple (iPhone)
- Google Android (like HTC and Samsung)
- Symbian (like Nokia)
- Windows Mobile / Windows Phone (like Sony Ericsson)

From you I would like to know why you have chosen the smartphone you are using now, or want to buy. Which function, specification or other reason is, or was decisive; and why not a smartphone from one of the other providers I mentioned above. I’m not interested in answers like “I chose my iPhone because it looks beautiful” or “I chose the HTC Desire because of the many apps I can download”. Don’t be afraid to give a big description, the bigger the better (for me at least). What I also like to know is when and where you use your smartphone, at school/work? Or when traveling by train or other public transport, etc.

I’m curious if you make your choices based on function or design, or maybe both. I hope to find out which functions are decisive. Like the HD recordings of the Symbian or the mail function of the BlackBerry.

When I finished my research and made up the results I definitly want to share these with you, if you are interested.

Many thanks for the onces who will help me with my research!


Greetings,
Fr�deric Luksemburg
Student Communication & Multimedia Design @ Avans Hogeschool - Holland

[hondateg91]

I chose my current phone which is the Droid Pro due to the Android web experience and full qwerty keyboard setup like BB. I have no need for HD recording, front facing cameras, or HDMI out cause that's all just useless to me ATM. Every Motorola phone I've had has been built very solid and seems to have not one problem except their locked bootloaders. Just hope Moto learns this was a big mistake.

[FredericL]

I chose my current phone which is the Droid Pro due to the Android web experience and full qwerty keyboard setup like BB. I have no need for HD recording, front facing cameras, or HDMI out cause that's all just useless to me ATM. Every Motorola phone I've had has been built very solid and seems to have not one problem except their locked bootloaders. Just hope Moto learns this was a big mistake.

Thank you for your response.

First of all, what are locked bootloaders? I'm not familiar with that term.
Second, what makes the web experience from the Android better than, e.g. the iPhone? And when or in which case do you use your Android the most?

[ngoogs]

I am a 21 year old college student. As such, I wouldn't consider myself the typical business user that is commonly associated with blackberry, i have, however, fallen in love with blackberrys due to their superior keyboard designs! I do a lot of texting and facebook/twitter use which blackberry is very efficient at doing and I also love BBM! Hope this helps, Broseiden!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[T�nis]

I choose BlackBerry because I need a highly reliable messenging device with push email and superior battery life. Communication and the device's security are of utmost importance. My BlackBerry has password protection that will wipe all data if the allowed number of wrong passwords are entered. My BlackBerry also encrypts my device's data using unbreakable AES. Another thing I love, a bonus, is BlackBerry's highly customizable notification profiles feature.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[clitrenta]

I'm an older IT Professional. I carry an Android Tablet and just recently got rid of my Android smartphone in favor of a Blackberry. I chose to split these functions up because I love Android and what it gives me, the form factor as a whole. I saw no need to carry two Android devices however and since I prefer my Tablet in Android form, I went to the Blackberry for my phone. While Blackberry may not have the bells and whistles of Android or iPhone, it does all of the basic smartphone functions better than any other OS. Those functions include battery life, call quality, messaging (e-mail and texts), notifications along with the incredible customization of them, the keyboard, and most of all, the ability to do almost anything on it with just one hand and probably faster than any other device. Touchscreen Android for fun and Entertainment and the Blackberry for the 'serious' stuff. BB doesn't do as much as the others but it does what it does REALLY well.

[rdiddy_25]

I came back to Blackberry because of the form factor, keyboard mainly. I've had Windows Mobile, iPhone and Android and keep coming back to BB. A lot of emailing & texting. Love the notifications for my BB also. Good luck with your research/project.

[FredericL]

First of all, thank you all for the response

@ ngoogs: Although you don't consider yourself as the typical business user that is commonly associated with blackberry I was wondering if you use the BB for your work? And what other places or circumstances do you use your BB?

@ Tonis: Does all of what you said about password protection only works on BB? And what do you mean by "highly customizable notification profiles feature"? Does it mean you can customize how your BB looks like?

@ Clitrenta: Do you use your BB also at, or for work?

@ rdiddy_25: Do you use your BB at, or for work/school? And you mentioned the keyboard, some of the Windows Mobile (and maybe also Android?) devices also have a keyboard, why you still chosen the BB als favorite? And what other notification you like which you love?

I see all of you like the keyboard, I'm wondering if you still want BB if they only had BB with touchscreen like iPhone.

[rdiddy_25]

First of all, thank you all for the response

@ rdiddy_25: Do you use your BB at, or for work/school? And you mentioned the keyboard, some of the Windows Mobile (and maybe also Android?) devices also have a keyboard, why you still chosen the BB als favorite? And what other notification you like which you love?

I see all of you like the keyboard, I'm wondering if you still want BB if they only had BB with touchscreen like iPhone.

I use it for work, personal and for school too. I had the HTC Tilt; which was windows mobile and is in the top 3 of my most favorite phones. As for the notifications, I like being able to change the color of each notification message that comes thru.

[kbz1960]

Hi, I'm just a normal consumer. I chose a blackberry because I had an old dumb phone and needed a new one that could at least do bluetooth. At the time I was using a dumb phone and a usb modem for my laptop. I asked the sales guy about a phone and what their prices were on the usb modems.

He told me that I could tether my blackberry (for an additional charge of course) and the cost ended up being cheaper than my dumb phone and a usb modem. He did not suggest any android or other phones at the time, maybe they were trying to get rid of the blackberries, I don't know.

I guess the features would've been the ability to tether and bluetooth. Now that I've had the phone for some time I found it's much more but I mostly use it for the calendar, phone calls, very little texting and tethering when I need.

I will consider other phones that have the same function, the blackberry screen is just too small for me to surf on it. I do like the antiquated OS as everyone else seems to dislike.

[tkwolf]

I'm a blackberry user.
I'm a university student majoring in psychology geared towards industrial and minor clinical courses. I'm 19 by the way.
I chose blackberry for both its functions and designs. I wanted a smartphone with a good OS but at the same time with a superior physical keyboard design.
Among all the options, blackberry seems to be the best smartphone for me.
I mainly use it for communication with my folks, social networking and emails with my course mates and professors.

oh yeah i NEVER use my phone for games and music. I use it for productivity (to-dos, calendar, reminders) and some utility-based functions (email i suppose is a part of this)

[Tom Slick]

For me it's simple. A phone is a communication device. Whether I'm texting, talking, emailing or social networking, it all falls under the category of "communication". I've told many people in the past who have called me from their iPhone to call me back when they surface (as in they sound like they're about 10 feet under water). I know that some androids come with real keypads, but most do not which an automatic disqualification for me (touch screens suck for typing!). Also, although still not great with the BB, battery life is critical. What good is a communication device that you can't use? Oh, and I use my BB for personal use, not business (I use a laptop and a stupidphone for that).

[anon1937793]

In the last 4 years, I've used 2 iPhones, 1 Android phone, 2 Symbian phones, 1 Windows mobile phone and 2 Blackberries. In the end, I always come back to the BB because:

1) Absolute best battery life, no question. I need my phone to go through the day, and I don't want to have to charge it. iOS / Android could not provide that to me, and WM / Symbian I just didn't really like the OS.

2) I love the physical keyboard. I can type super fast on it, and don't need to look while I type. <-- Try that on a touch screen!

3) The main purpose of my phone, is to make phones calls, message people (bbm, text msgs, MMS, etc.), and check my e-mail. IMO Blackberry does this best. They are not the best for games / apps, but I have an iPod touch for that.

4) If you travel a lot out of the country, the money you save using a Blackberry vs any other mobile OS is HUGE. Most iPhone / Android users are too afraid to even turn their data on while travelling, as they don't want a 6 digit phone bill.

My Blackberry is for personal use, and it's with my 24/7/365.

[MrXpress]

I have a Motorola Atrix (Android) which I use purely for personal use, no business purpose at all. I'm a pretty heavy user and I found it to offer me the best combination of battery life, call quality, messaging, and features (notifications, games, camera setup, etc.) amongst the devices available. I came from a BB Bold 9000 that I enjoyed but was becoming dissatisfied with, as I had call quality issues, problems with the Google Talk app, browser hangups, finicky Wi-Fi, and a lack of apps/games that I found useful. I also became irritated with how long it took to initiate and actually fetch any sort of data transfer, I presume because of RIM's routing of all BES network traffic through their servers.

I like the iOS devices but I don't like their notification system and I'm a pretty heavy Google Talk user so the lack of a native app was a downside. WP7 probably had the biggest appeal outside of Android due to the Xbox Live and Zune Pass integration but I don't like the devices currently available for AT&T and the OS in general appears to be rather unfinished; I also have worries that the userbase will grow to the point that there will be continued support both from Microsoft and third party developers (I was already burned by Microsoft's lack of commitment to the Zune HD so I wasn't going to repeat that).

[FuzzyB]

I have a 9550 storm 2...I am a business owner and need top notch mobile communications. I chose an s2 because I love the sure press and larger screen so my 40+ year old eyes can read what's on it. I manage a few different email accounts and bb has always handled my email flawlessly. Also use bbm to communicate with my wife. I have many friends, family, clients etc who have both iPhone or droids and based on many conversations and hands on experiences, the only other platform that temps me just a little is android. I have no interest in an iPhone...the bb and verizon combination at this time seems to be the best pairing for my needs.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[canook]

I'm a student as well as a small business owner. I've owned Iphone 2g, iphone 3g and also had a small love affair with the 3GS. It came to a point where I realized I didn't need an iphone anymore. I had a handful of apps, maybe 15 or so, did a lot of browsing and had 0 music on my iphone. Eventually I just got sick of having a touchscreen device and the battery life just plain sucked imo. I took the plunge, got a berry and have never looked back since then.

Great call quality, phenominal battery life, and an incredible KEYBOARD. The little things like the notification LED aand the stellar push email really made me happy with my decision. While I wish there was a greater multimedia focus, it really doesn't bother me at all. I love my non-touch device and I haven't used a phone that comes close to the bb in messaging. As a pure standalone call/messaging device, blackberry is king which is why I purchased a playbook on launch and will do the same when the dakota drops.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[agp423]

I'm using the blackberry bold 9650. I chose this phone because I wanted a phone that is not touch screen. In my past I've only had bad experiences with touch screen phones. I also wanted something that is on the smaller end when it comes to size - this also eliminates most touch screen phones. Last but not least, I want convenience and simplicity. Sure touch screen phones have lots more apps and sure they are cool to play with, but I wanted a phone that would be used mainly for call, text, and email rather than a phone mainly for play.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[the_game969]

Hi I'm a student and part-time worker.one of the main reason why I decided to choose a blackberry is that I wanted a unique phone.I was just sick to see everybody with a iphone and I wanted something that was going to make me stand out of the crowd.I also found that this phone somewhat matched my personality,I'm a serious,ambitious and motivated person who likes to have fun once in a while

Business first pleasure later.The quality and build of these phones are incredible and powerfull.Blackberries just gives you a lot of options,you can choose the look of the phone,curve,bold,storm,torch.The colors,white,black,red and even pink.Heck...u can even have customs nhl skins phones.That's just the outside,because the inside you can have your own ringtone,custom led color,themes and the list goes on and on.Blackberry gives me the possibility to make my phone unique and I love that.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Hawkeberry]

1) I wanted a QWERTY
2) I am a heavy texter. so I needed a device which can be good for my email, sms, twitter purposes
3) friends who had blackberry had very few negative things to say
4) My previous phone was a touchscreen one. Touch not for me
5) with BIS, I can use internet anywhere in the country without roaming

[szotz926]

I'm a 21 year old student of graphic design and communication. Coming up on graduation, I value a device that allows me to communicate and network, something that BlackBerry does best. While I currently don't work at a business that requires a smartphone for corporate function, i'm an active participant in a variety of networks and having a reliable battery life, constant connection, the ability to vommunivate efficiently, and more is much more important to me than having an Android, WP7, or iOS device. Having tested all three due to working for a major network carrier however, I can appreciate their innovations in media and accept that those phones don't suit my priority needs.

Having a phone, my major interest is being a part of an accessible system that is easy for me to maneuver, and to be easily reached. I value communication above all else.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[mtint]

Long history with smart phones - WinMo, iPhones, Nokia E71, and bit of Android.
Not long ago the "perfect match" for me was a device with large touch screen and physical qwerty - needed the device for emails, some work, and lot of browsing on mobile phone.

After got tablet (orriginal iPad), found myself not anymore browsing on the phone, while critical for me is:
1. Physical qwerty
2. Very reliable messaging/email system
3. Battery able to take me through heavy day
4. Workhorse on the go
Naturally moved into BlackBerry world

Plans to replace iPads with PB 3G version when available. iPad is great device, but not that good using it for work, and 10" display form factor not that convenient on-the-go.
(explaining about the tablets /iPad and PB/ as I see my mobile experience not related to a single device - smartphone, but the combination between phone and a tablet)

[K Bear]

I'm a 31 year old female who works in a large medical price. I've left the Blackberry existence for Android. I've found Android to be more reliable, customizable, and, to offer more free and functional medical apps than Blackberry ever did.

My device has to have a rich multimedia existence. The bulk of the work my device does is browsing. I'm constantly reading up on new topics, current topics, and latest news. My device needs to be able to render full HTML emails, websites, and be able to utilize Adobe Flash since many sites, like WebMD, use Flash.

Having to constantly reload the OS, deal with BIS outages, and a device that is a phone and pager first does not cut it for me. My time with Blackberry was initially pleasant. My Pearl was a great messaging device and limited, quick e-mail viewer. My Bold was the device that drove me away groom the platform.

Reliability is a must for me. If there are new guidelines for vaccines and I'm away from my work tablet, I need that information now, not when and if BIS decides to work. I can't afford too wait for my device to reboot from a battery pull because the browser locked up the phone. Having a device that can and will not hold a 3G signal while on a call cannot happen in my line of work. I can't wait for 3 OS versions to try to fix the dropped calls on 3G. I need a device that isn't hampered by its limited OS.

Every user had their own experiences. My use and experiences will differ from others. But from my existence, Blackberrys are nothing more that glorified pagers and are useless to anyone outside of the corporate arena.

[moiselles]

I'm 25 (almost 26) years old and I use a BlackBerry Torch. I have been a previous BlackBerry owner, first starting the Pearl 8100 then I made the move to iPhone for about 9 months, then came back to Blackberry in November with the Torch.

I love the BlackBerry form factor and the BlackBerry OS6, the physical keyboard, the push messaging is superior to anything else out there. Love the battery life, BBM, the amazingly customizable notification settings. The LED notifications are crucial and I hated the "pop up" texts and such that my iPhone had and really disliked that it would "wake up" my screen to preview the text. The LED is perfect for telling me I have an email/BBM/Facebook reply etc without being obnoxious.

My BlackBerry is purely for personal use. We aren't allowed to use our cell phones for work purposes. But it is with me constantly and I'm absolutely a "Crackberry" addict. I honestly don't believe I'd ever leave BlackBerry again.

[ngoogs]

First of all, thank you all for the response

@ ngoogs: Although you don't consider yourself as the typical business user that is commonly associated with blackberry I was wondering if you use the BB for your work? And what other places or circumstances do you use your BB?

Well, you know, I'm a college student and I work at foot locker, so not really! lol

I mainly use my blackberry as a social device, with BBM, twitter, facebook and text messaging. I do use the e-mail on it frequently for conversing with my professors or other classmates when need be. hope this helps!

[FuzzyB]

I am glad you found the device that fits your needs as droids are most definitely better for your situation...but I couldn't disagree more with your assessment of blackberry. I run a business and do a major portion of it with my blackberry. I don't necessarily need the web access you do, but the communication part is essential and in 3 years of using one it has never let me down. I do like droids, i admit that. But I just can't switch away from blackberry as it has been great and made me a lot of $$$.

I'm a 31 year old female who works in a large medical price. I've left the Blackberry existence for Android. I've found Android to be more reliable, customizable, and, to offer more free and functional medical apps than Blackberry ever did.

My device has to have a rich multimedia existence. The bulk of the work my device does is browsing. I'm constantly reading up on new topics, current topics, and latest news. My device needs to be able to render full HTML emails, websites, and be able to utilize Adobe Flash since many sites, like WebMD, use Flash.

Having to constantly reload the OS, deal with BIS outages, and a device that is a phone and pager first does not cut it for me. My time with Blackberry was initially pleasant. My Pearl was a great messaging device and limited, quick e-mail viewer. My Bold was the device that drove me away groom the platform.

Reliability is a must for me. If there are new guidelines for vaccines and I'm away from my work tablet, I need that information now, not when and if BIS decides to work. I can't afford too wait for my device to reboot from a battery pull because the browser locked up the phone. Having a device that can and will not hold a 3G signal while on a call cannot happen in my line of work. I can't wait for 3 OS versions to try to fix the dropped calls on 3G. I need a device that isn't hampered by its limited OS.

Every user had their own experiences. My use and experiences will differ from others. But from my existence, Blackberrys are nothing more that glorified pagers and are useless to anyone outside of the corporate arena.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com