BB dying (if not already dead) in the US. RIP BB
Some of us BB lovers have to face reality. As much as I love my BB Bold 9930, it's time for me to make the change to a Droid or Apple platform.
Factual Reasoning - in no particular order:
1) My carrier (Sprint) divorced BB some time ago and no type of new BB devices are available.
2) My Bold 9930 is 3G - Sprint engineers tell me CDMA will no longer be available in a year or so for all carriers and only 4G phones will be operational.
3) Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are the only carriers that have availability of the Priv or new DTEK50. Since the QWERTY is a must for me, the Priv would be my only choice.
4) After visiting Verizon and AT&T to see the Priv in action (seems nice, loved the keyboard), sales agents told me they sell maybe 1 unit every other month, if that. If that is the case, knowledgeable support for problems or questions is probably non-existent.
5) An Apple store is about 10 minutes from my home so if I go in that direction, support is there. Where are the BB stores :(
5) A friend of mine attends the Las Vegas tech show each year and he tells me this is the first year BB did not even have a booth. If that is the case, is there a future for them here in the states? I'd be foolish to answer anything but NO.
Droid or Apple don't have QWERTY keyboards so the changeover is going to be painful but I think it has to be done.
I'll probably run on my Bold until the network kicks me off. The size of my Bold, ease of use, ease of typing and many other features makes me depressed that I'll have to be without it shortly but that is the way it is. It's been a great partner and I'll certainly miss it.