[1812dave]

Anyone who is jumping ship now is ridiculous, I am definitely a BB fan but I am not biased to the facts. I think every BB owner and addict knows that RIM has to step out of their boundaries a bit and step their game up, which means they definitely need come out with some great products during this year, but to say their done now? Absolutely not.

They are still the #1 in market share worldwide and can you tell me one manufacturer that uses android that is even close? The demise of RIM is determined on how long it takes them to get out new devices with the QNX OS and the QNX Operating System itself.

1. I'm not ridiculous for wanting a different brand of phone.

2. I'm not "jumping ship". I owe NOTHING to ANY mfgr. EVER. Got that??

3. I don't care what market share numbers you want to quote. what have they done for me lately? ANSWER: "Nada".

End of story.

[1812dave]

Bionic released April. So I've read.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[In my best Marty McFly voice]"Okay, all right. Saturday's good. Saturday's good. I can spend a week in 1955. I can hang out. You can show me around."

Replace Saturday with April!

[mededitor]

Add me to the growing list of people leaving the BB world of smartphones. I've been a BB user since the days of the Big Blue devices with the side track-wheels---I did like the track-wheel.

However, I need a better browser and I don't see anything coming from RIM that interests me. IMO, OS6 offered very little in the way of innovation when compared to OS5. QNX might be an option, but it's too far down the road (for phone use) to even consider it as a reason to stick with BB.

With so many new devices to choose from now, I'm leaving my BB behind. I'll miss it, but I can't close my eyes to the great features being offered by other phones now.

I'm still trying to decide between the VZW iPhone and the upcoming Motorola Bionic. Not sure I want to go the Android route, but it's nice to have some really great choices.

[Azurestrike]

For work, all I really need is bbm and e-mails. My BB does exactly what I need it to do. And I'm sure other people feel that way too.

[reeneebob]

I gotta say I'm pleasantly surprised that with the exception of one particular poster who always behaves like a ****, this thread has been very civil and not turned into "Don't let the door hit you".

I'm still here because my mom and sis have BB's and I am the tech girl who keeps them running, so I need to be up on Torch and Bold OS stuff. The one thing that working on their phones to keep them up to date has reinforced to me is how disappointed I am in RIM. A couple of hours on my mothers Torch was like pulling out my own fingernails.

I've said it before - I want RIM to succeed because it's a Canadian company. It's frustrating to me to hear ML open his mouth and spout off his BS answers. He is RIMs worst enemy.

[howarmat]

Everyone checking out androidcentral also should check androidforums.com Its a great resource with more action than AC sometimes.

[lssanjose]

+1 for androidforums.com

[kb5zht]

I agree with the premise of the op which is that RIM has stepped out of the fight (their excuse is that the top end phones can't really be made right now? Yet Motorola is doing it).... They certainly aren't #1 anymore and certainly aren't making the #1 phone anymore.

However, they may decrease in marketshare but it seems right now there are soooooo many die hard bb fans, and I mean fanatic , to where I really believe you could scoop up cow dung in the pasture, slap the bb symbol on it and they will buy it. The sales numbers show they are still selling blackberries.

I think RIM is definitely in decline but much like Rome it will take many years... Unless they climb out of their stubborn stupor and start making competitive phones. The Dakota- 4 gig of onboard memory? Wtf

Confuscious: "Those who say it can't be done shouldn't interrupt those doing it."

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Chrisy]

What I miss is being excited about my phone. For a lot of us smart phones is also a hobby (in addition to a tool). I remember going from my LG enV to BlackBerry I felt like it was such a huge upgrade! And it was. When I got the Tour I was half as excited because I was getting a global phone, Rev A, more memory.

If I upgraded to the Bold I wouldn't be excited. No great new features and options to try out. Wifi would be nice. But every phone has that now.

I'm on board with Apple and Google because they're bringing innovation to the table. Yes, I will always use my phone as a tool first (this includes so called business functions like Word/Excel, communications and entertainment), but I'm looking forward to having fun exploring a new phone capabilities and using it fully.

BlackBerry has gotten so redundant lately, issuing only the smallest of upgrades and improvements.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[MamaBee]

I seriously doubt I'll be getting another BB when I upgrade. My first BB was a black 8520 which gave me tons of trouble. It was replaced with a white 8520 whose UMA calling sounded like I was in a bad drive-thru, despite having priority on our router. After a load of calls/chats with Tmobile and trying several different batteries, I asked to switch phones. I got a Curve 3G. I was told that 3G was available in our area: it is, but not at my house. I still get poor quality wifi calls. I had one day where it hung up on a phone call with my Mom 5 times in about 3 minutes. I wasn't even on Wifi that time.

I'm just frustrated with the issues, frustrated that my husband can take amazing pics of our kids with his Vibrant and mine are dark and grainy. I'm frustrated that he can use a bar-code scanner even though shopping is roughly equal to torture for him. It drives me up the wall that he can read Kindle books on his phone comfortably and I have to squint and scroll almost constantly.

I was so proud to have a BlackBerry at first. I was thrilled with the initial stability. Since then it has been short stretches between problems. It would seem to me that they are not carrier problems since my daughter and husband have no issues with either of their phones.

It makes me feel a bit sad to be leaving BlackBerry. I'm a pretty simple person...a housewife. I do, however, enjoy technology and putting to work to help keep track of appointments, etc. I need reliability to make sure I can be reached by my kids should they need me at school, by my husband to let me know when he's headed home, by my elderly grandma. I don't want to buy a product and lock myself into a 2 year contract and spend 2 years feeling like I'm just killing the time until something better comes out.

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

My prediction: RIM will be bust by Q2 2011.

[valorian]

My prediction: RIM will be bust by Q2 2011.

ok, so this is what, the sixth time in less than an hour you've said this? You say RIM will go bust this year but every quarter they post strong earnings with a stock at over $60 a share. Sure, RIM will go bust.

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

ok, so this is what, the sixth time in less than an hour you've said this? You say RIM will go bust this year but every quarter they post strong earnings with a stock at over $60 a share. Sure, RIM will go bust.

Well, look at the Torch 2 specs, and that Apollo BlackBerry. They aren't exactly bringing out new stuff are they? Sorry, but I'm getting annoyed, and I have to stick with BlackBerry. Seriously, if they get their act together before they go bust, then great, I will really appreciate that. But I can't take these constant DOA devices, coupled with the fact the only way I'm allowed to leave BlackBerry is for them to go bust.

[Evan_O]

I seriously doubt I'll be getting another BB when I upgrade. My first BB was a black 8520 which gave me tons of trouble. It was replaced with a white 8520 whose UMA calling sounded like I was in a bad drive-thru, despite having priority on our router. After a load of calls/chats with Tmobile and trying several different batteries, I asked to switch phones. I got a Curve 3G. I was told that 3G was available in our area: it is, but not at my house. I still get poor quality wifi calls. I had one day where it hung up on a phone call with my Mom 5 times in about 3 minutes. I wasn't even on Wifi that time.

I'm just frustrated with the issues, frustrated that my husband can take amazing pics of our kids with his Vibrant and mine are dark and grainy. I'm frustrated that he can use a bar-code scanner even though shopping is roughly equal to torture for him. It drives me up the wall that he can read Kindle books on his phone comfortably and I have to squint and scroll almost constantly.

I was so proud to have a BlackBerry at first. I was thrilled with the initial stability. Since then it has been short stretches between problems. It would seem to me that they are not carrier problems since my daughter and husband have no issues with either of their phones.

It makes me feel a bit sad to be leaving BlackBerry. I'm a pretty simple person...a housewife. I do, however, enjoy technology and putting to work to help keep track of appointments, etc. I need reliability to make sure I can be reached by my kids should they need me at school, by my husband to let me know when he's headed home, by my elderly grandma. I don't want to buy a product and lock myself into a 2 year contract and spend 2 years feeling like I'm just killing the time until something better comes out.

Get something besides a curve (ie bold) and it would greatly improve. Curves after the 8900 are no bueno imo.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Agreed with Evan, I have a BlackBerry Curve 8520, and the Curve 8900 dwarfs it. Even the Curve 3G isn't that brilliant.

[sleepngbear]

Like I said I think the iPad is the best offering at the moment in my opinion. I don't believe the playbook will be able to even come close to the iPad. With that being said I do believe that somewhere down the road someone will make a better tablet.

As for the iPad being a giant iPod touch....perhaps it is. But how is that bad....

On my iPad I...

Watch movies comfortably
Type up documents, power points, and spread sheets
Print the above
Read books with ease
Use it for school
Use it for work
Browse the Internet comfortably.

Trust me I'm not one of those types that worships apple or jobs. But I do enjoy the iPad and it's simple layout and usefulness. Does it replace my laptop? **** no, but it's still pretty handy.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Will not argue the iPad is a great device. Just bought one for the wife and she loved it as soon as she turned it on and seems to get more addicted to it by the day. But what baffles me is how you can say with such confidence that the Playbook won't come close to that? It actually got a glowing review from someone who got to use it at CES (I'll be dipped if I can remember where the link is now). He had four pretty intensive apps open at once in tiled windows so he could see how they were all performing (if memory serves, it was a movie, some 3D 1st-person shooter game, editing large document, and the browser open with several tabs). All at once, no lag. Sounds to me like it ain't gonna be a slouch.

Nobody's going to tell you you have to stay with BB. Geez, you gotta go with whatever works best for you. But by the same token, you can't go predicting the absolute failure of an entire corporation based on assumption, speculation and personal opinion. If that were the case, Volkswagen would have been out of business years ago because they stopped selling the Beetle in the US.

[tmelon]

Will not argue the iPad is a great device. Just bought one for the wife and she loved it as soon as she turned it on and seems to get more addicted to it by the day. But what baffles me is how you can say with such confidence that the Playbook won't come close to that? It actually got a glowing review from someone who got to use it at CES (I'll be dipped if I can remember where the link is now). He had four pretty intensive apps open at once in tiled windows so he could see how they were all performing (if memory serves, it was a movie, some 3D 1st-person shooter game, editing large document, and the browser open with several tabs). All at once, no lag. Sounds to me like it ain't gonna be a slouch.

Nobody's going to tell you you have to stay with BB. Geez, you gotta go with whatever works best for you. But by the same token, you can't go predicting the absolute failure of an entire corporation based on assumption, speculation and personal opinion. If that were the case, Volkswagen would have been out of business years ago because they stopped selling the Beetle in the US.

My problems with the PlayBook are the small screen and the assumed lack of apps. BlackBerries have never had a good selection of Apps and on a tablet it's very important. I also think that tablets should be about the size of the iPad. Smaller just looks like an oversized smartphone.

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Nobody's going to tell you you have to stay with BB. Geez, you gotta go with whatever works best for you. But by the same token, you can't go predicting the absolute failure of an entire corporation based on assumption, speculation and personal opinion. If that were the case, Volkswagen would have been out of business years ago because they stopped selling the Beetle in the US.

Point 1: I am being told to stay with BlackBerry, just not directly.
Point 2: The fact I am being told to stay with BB doesn't bother me, it works best for me.
Point 3: So how many Apple/Android fanboys does that stop? Btw, I am neither an Android/Apple fanboy. I hate Apple, and Android doesn't have the functionality I need.
Point 4: Seriously, when did they stop selling the Beetle in the US? I believe they still sell them in the UK.

My problems with the PlayBook are the small screen and the assumed lack of apps. BlackBerries have never had a good selection of Apps and on a tablet it's very important. I also think that tablets should be about the size of the iPad. Smaller just looks like an oversized smartphone.

Point 1: Assumed being the KEYWORD here. Maybe they haven't had a good selection of apps in the past, but there's been a major recruitment drive.
Point 2: Oh, so carry a hard to transport device then, whereas I can slip the BlackBerry tablet in my inside pocket without a hitch? True, it's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. But tablets are meant to be portable devices to try and make you leave the laptop at home for general stuff. The Playbook will do said thing for me, the iPad wouldn't. I'm getting a Playbook, no matter what.

[ttz]

I respect everyone's opinion, and of course wish everyone leaving Blackberry a very nice time with their new phones/tablet/whatnot.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm happy with BB.
Allow me to explain.
I really, really, really do not like Apple. The iPhone for me is nothing special (ymmv, of course), when it came out in Europe the first time it was an expensive, gadgety looking thing with 2G GSM when everyone else was pretty much 3G already, plus all that nonsense about 'jailbreaks' and the likes. I don't want to jailbreak my mobile phone. It's a mobile phone, for pete's sake. At least I can hold my BB with any hand I fancy using without losing signal. It might even turn out to be useful every time daylight saving comes up, or every time there's a 2nd of January in a year. Just sayin'. If you're happy with Apple's model (very good design but vendor lock-in that puts Bill Gates to shame), good on you and imma let you finish, but I find that Blackberry, although less multimedia-oriented, although not on the cutting edge of technology, is a reliable, real-world device that does what it says on the tin and (to me) feels more like a grown ups phone, a tool rather than a gadget. It's a communications device, and excels at that.
Now, Android. Many reasons to like some of the new ones, but again, I just don't like it, personal preference, might be that after using Google mail, Google search, Google maps and Google toilet paper I really fancy something that is not made by Google these days .
RIM is clearly behind the latest and greatest in tech but they're showing willingness by purchasing QNX and once the new OS is on their phones, we'll be up there with the best of them. Plus, the Playbook will be a resounding success within the BB crowd. I'll buy one of these when it becomes available, then I'll wait for something QNX on the phone front and I'll be set. Companies go through peaks and troughs (see Microsoft, Windows XP=good, Vista=bad, 7=good again) and I believe RIM still has something to say in this market. If you want to switch, why not? It's a phone not a religion . Get your Android, iPhone, Nokia, whatever it is and if RIM releases something worth your salt... well I'll be waiting for you on BBM

[Reed McLay]

Seriously, when did they stop selling the Beetle in the US? I believe they still sell them in the UK.

The moment they introduced front end collision testing, the original design didn't stand a chance.... Gas tank right behind the front bumper?

[ttz]

The moment they introduced front end collision testing, the original design didn't stand a chance.... Gas tank right behind the front bumper?

The OP is probably referring to the 'new' Beetle, which has VW Golf (Rabbit, in the US) underpinnings. Which is a bit like what RIM is trying to do with QNX, especially with the PlayBook: brand name you know, but with something modern under the hood. Clearly the new Beetle doesn't drive like the old one, but still VW sold a good few

[Chrisy]

I respect everyone's opinion, and of course wish everyone leaving Blackberry a very nice time with their new phones/tablet/whatnot.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm happy with BB.
Allow me to explain.
I really, really, really do not like Apple. The iPhone for me is nothing special (ymmv, of course), when it came out in Europe the first time it was an expensive, gadgety looking thing with 2G GSM when everyone else was pretty much 3G already, plus all that nonsense about 'jailbreaks' and the likes. I don't want to jailbreak my mobile phone. It's a mobile phone, for pete's sake. At least I can hold my BB with any hand I fancy using without losing signal. It might even turn out to be useful every time daylight saving comes up, or every time there's a 2nd of January in a year. Just sayin'. If you're happy with Apple's model (very good design but vendor lock-in that puts Bill Gates to shame), good on you and imma let you finish, but I find that Blackberry, although less multimedia-oriented, although not on the cutting edge of technology, is a reliable, real-world device that does what it says on the tin and (to me) feels more like a grown ups phone, a tool rather than a gadget. It's a communications device, and excels at that.
Now, Android. Many reasons to like some of the new ones, but again, I just don't like it, personal preference, might be that after using Google mail, Google search, Google maps and Google toilet paper I really fancy something that is not made by Google these days .
RIM is clearly behind the latest and greatest in tech but they're showing willingness by purchasing QNX and once the new OS is on their phones, we'll be up there with the best of them. Plus, the Playbook will be a resounding success within the BB crowd. I'll buy one of these when it becomes available, then I'll wait for something QNX on the phone front and I'll be set. Companies go through peaks and troughs (see Microsoft, Windows XP=good, Vista=bad, 7=good again) and I believe RIM still has something to say in this market. If you want to switch, why not? It's a phone not a religion . Get your Android, iPhone, Nokia, whatever it is and if RIM releases something worth your salt... well I'll be waiting for you on BBM

This is exactly the reason I think I'll like Android. I enjoy, and use, many Google products. Mail, Search, Talk, Voice, Maps, Latitude, Sync, Buzz. I haven't tried the TP yet. But if you like their products and services you'd probably like their OSs as well. That's my thinking as I'm making the switch. Makes sense to me.

I don't understand folks who automatically hate anything that is popular. It's like they are making such an effort to be "special" or "different." Sometimes things are popular because they are good products. Not always, but that's how the market works. People buy what they like and the company makes money and more products and/or improves existing ones.

This is why I think RIM will be struggling soon.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[TheScionicMan]

Why isn't anyone worried about Samsung? Anyone seen their 4Q results...

[Chrisy]

If I used a Samsung, and liked their products, I'd be worried about them. But I don't. I'm interested in RIM because that's what I use.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Jaguarr40]

Everyone checking out androidcentral also should check androidforums.com Its a great resource with more action than AC sometimes.

All very true and good info Mat. I constantly check out both and contribute in the forums or more like ask questions in preperation of making up my mind on my next phone in March when i can upgrade.

I have no interest in the rooting deal end of Android that many push and know all about it but there are very eager and well informed people over there that are happy to assist.

That is why I like it there as much as here. Thank you for the reminder to everyone about checking it out.