Giving up the Blackberry - long time BB user converted (Galaxy-S/BB comparison)
I�ve never considered myself loyalist, no far from it. It was the other day when I was walking down the street looking at peoples shoes that I realized that I don�t own two of the same brand pair of shoes- and this got me wondering: �Does that guy wearing the Nikes only buy Nikes, much in the same fashion that someone who buys Blackberry Smart Phones really only buys Blackberries?� And then suddenly it dawned on me��Hey, I�ve only bought Blackberries over the last 6 years.� I pondered quizzically over the reasoning for this madness and remembered back to my pre-Blackberry phone experiences and quickly began all sorts of things that I began intentionally blocking out of my conscious.
It was never my intention to become such a Blackberry fanatic � it was just extremely good work on Research in Motion�s part to make such bloody good phones for the last number of years. My first real cellphone had been a Nokia 3210, this was pre � �smart phone� and in fact, the only thing I could say that was positive about it was that it was blue. Not to the discredit of Nokia mind you, we�d just crossed the millennium � computers barely ran at 1 GHz, what could we expect from a mobile device just shy of possibly making a call? Well, that was all really, I can remember sometimes being able to make and receive phone calls � but the most common use I had for the device was using it to play snake. I�d chosen to upgrade through several similar models � thinking that possibly there was one device superior to another � but sadly I drowned in a sea of monochromatic despair as devices floundered in their infancy. It was years later, upon hopping carriers that I decided to give Nextel a shot � and my very first �push to talk� device was in hand. The best thing I could say about it was that it was black and a flip phone. I don�t even remember what model it was � but it did have a one and a half inch screen with maybe thirteen pixels and it was in color. The most endearing feature of Nextel phones was �push to talk,� which was tantamount to hitting a button on the side of your phone that allowed you to professionally annoy whomever you were attempting to reach. Again, there was no web-capability or email � however, I believe this phone was the infancy of a very primitive SMS text option. In any event, by this point everyone I knew owned an awful phone so we were all in the same boat.
It wasn�t until around 2005 that I was introduced to the Blackberry proper.
Yes my very first BB was given to me as part of a push to get all the managers at my company communicating better � I�d walked into my office to find this wonder device that could not only make and receive calls, but I could get my email � real and actual email, messages � it was amazing to say the least. As my little Blackberry aged, I would look around at other devices that were newer � shinier and still as featureless, or at least not as feature rich as the comparative Blackberry, and it became the norm to just upgrade to the next Blackberry Device. I went through several iterations even delving into the Curve and Pearl lines when those devices would venture into new and interesting places � and all was right with the world for several years thereafter. And then�
It was around my last upgrade cycle, about the end of 2009 that I had taken notice of the iPhone, it wasn�t a shabby device like other its predecessors for new phone candidacy � but again, looking at the features available given the Blackberry option � it just didn�t offer the options I was looking for, and at that point I made my last Blackberry upgrade � to a 9700 Bold.
I�d like to take a moment to commend RIM on the Blackberry 9700 Bold � it was everything I wanted out of a mobile device at the time, and even up against flashier devices like the Storm/2 and iPhone 3gs � it still stacks up remarkably well�the fact that I�m still gushing about a year old device with a slow web browser, low resolution tiny screen and (by today�s standards) archaic processor and intolerably low amount for application storage � even with all these shortcomings � I still like this device more than 99% of what�s out there. So why, if I�m going on about how wonderful Blackberries are, have I switched to Android�because I realized that I was holding on to what I liked about Blackberry in the past, and that didn�t hold up to what I wanted now.
Most of you are reading this in hopes that I trash or treasure your preferred device�I won�t do that. I simply wanted to convey the things that I�ll really miss about my Blackberry and what I like about my new device. But before I get to that, it�s important to note that I was motivated mostly by the examples of RIMs �forward thinking� in deference to the �changes� it�s making with OS 6 and its newer hardware. More to the point, I felt really coldly toward the 9800 Torch and how it�s being marketed as a half step between the classic RIM business culture device and the new personal entertainment device � in short, I find it a load of hooey. What is it about the 9800 Torch that makes it more personal exactly? It�s the same old same old RIM OS, built ground up from previous versions � just re-arranged and labeled differently. While some are willing to excuse the lack of innovation and brand what�s presented as �a smooth transition,� or worse yet �a familiar feeling,� I�m decidedly more apathetic.
And I suppose apathy is the best way to describe how I feel about the future of Blackberry � it�s not that I don�t appreciate subtle improvements to the browser, or the amount of application memory�.it�s that I can�t get past the stagnation in screen resolution, CPU type and speed along with the utter and complete oversight of not including a GPU in this particular device�and if this is a sign of things to come, I�m gone. So what options did I have left? There was an iPhone � but Apples �big brother� mentality and overbearing development approval process scared me off of their products years ago�and Android, which � for all intents and purposes � was a sort of open standard operating system on a piece of hardware that I fell immediately in love with � so my end choice was a Samsung Vibrant (a Galaxy-S phone, this particular model offered from T-Mobile). So let�s get down to it � what do I like, what do I miss�and what�s the skinny.
What I like:
Well what�s not to like? The hardware in design is genius � modeled after the iPhone (or at least, homage if you will) � the Samsung Vibrant is a glorious piece of technology � running a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor and a screen that is just a marvel to behold.
Display: Apparently a somewhat smaller version screen when compared to other Android devices available, the 4 inch SAMOLED display is something to witness yourself. I�ve never seen such clarity in a display � and in fact, I�m waiting until this technology is brought to televisions before I upgrade next time. The blacks are really black, the colors are vibrant � and while it may not offer the highest resolution screen out there � it offers clean icons and text while presenting media in stunning fashion.
Touch screen/Input: I�d played around with iPhones and other touchscreen devices pretty seriously before my 9700 upgrade last year � and what a difference a year has made. The haptic feedback is satisfying, the precision of touch is a lot more accurate that what I was prepared for � and I�m not sure if it�s that processor speed is so much improved, but I don�t get that �lag� feeling I had when considering phones from last year (the 3gs and Storm 2 included).
Application Management: One of the nice thing about Blackberries is that you have complete control over open applications, and it was one of the area�s most of us die-hards have become pro�s at managing (mostly out of necessity) � I was greatly apprehensive about moving to a new device mainly because I�d become such an expert at managing my current, but soon found that managing open applications, icon layout � general navigation �all of those were easily learned and a lot more intuitive than what�s necessary on a Blackberry (well� without 3rd party applications anyway).
Build Quality � Another area of particular concern, my Blackberry 9700 and 8900 before it were tanks � they�d been manhandled, dropped, stepped and sat on for years � so I was concerned when I picked up a device that had a fraction of the weight of my previous device, a third the girth and a cheap (looking) plastic battery door cover�I�ve been pleasantly surprised thus far. The device is just solid, and when I say that � I mean my 7 month old daughter and 3 year old son have taken off with it and I�ve found it no worse for the wear after their abuse. There�s this huge touchscreen surrounded by a thin plastic frame � so I thought for sure there�d be some give, or wrenching to the device � again, I�ve been pleasantly surprised.
Browsing and Social Application Use: Oh god�it�s amazing. I�m not going to say that browsing the internet is painful, but�well yes I am. I�m used to starting to load a web page then getting coffee and having a smoke before the page loads � part of the wonderful reality of having all of your data request go through BB servers before they get to your device - and that was just to load mobile versions of website, god help you if you wanted to load a full web page. With the android, I get what I�d define as �near broadband speeds� with a full web experience. I�m going to acknowledge that RIM has made the web somewhat more accessible with its web-kit browser (currently slated for three existing devices) � but the speed at which actual web pages load is dismal � so you might as well discount it all together.
SWYPE � I know this isn�t specific to my phone, but I love it. Swype, if you�ve been hiding out from the thousands of TV commercials about the silly Guinness texting record, is an input algorithm for on screen keyboards that calculates approximations of your finger position rather than relying on your big fingers to hit the tiny on screen keys to make a stroke. It works like this � you get an onscreen keyboard, let�s say you want to type the word �Avenged� � you�d put your finger on the screen over the �A� then move your finger (without taking it off the screen) to the area of �V� then �E��so on and so forth and then remove your finger from the screen when you get to the �D.� The system calculates your finger position and approximates what you were typing and uses some sort of decision engine to decide the word you typed vs. other possibilities (which it will list if there are any). While this sounds complex in process � it�s SO MUCH more accurate than it sounds, and AMAZINGLY quick. I�d been on a blackberry keyboard for a long time, it was one of the things that held me to the device and I was terrified to transition to a keyboard. I can say that after a week, I�m faster and more accurate with swype and only require one finger to type. That�s pretty amazing.
Things I miss about my Blackberry:
I miss my LED notification window � there I said it � I really do, the first couple of days on the Android were somewhat jarring looking down at a sleeping device, not knowing if I had any text messages or emails�I can�t understand why it would be so hard to include a little blinking LED, but it�s an omission that I�m having a hard time with
Battery Life � I won�t go as far as to say that battery life on my Vibrant is abysmal- quite contrary � it�s probably really good for an Android phone � but I�m used to having the holy grail of all battery experiences with my 9700 bold. Once, I went four full days without charging that sucker and it still had almost 20% of its battery capacity left, and that was with heavy use. I think what I�m experiencing is going from an amazingly energy efficient device, to an average efficiency device�but because the bar was set so high�it feels a lot worse than it really is. I get about 7 hours of life out of my Android when fully charged (that includes a normal day�s worth of calls, texting, browsing � which I do a lot more of now thank you very much, and general use) � not the end of the world�but I miss the reliability and convenience of forgetting my charger at home when I�m out for the weekend
GPS � The GPS on the Vibrant sucks�period the end. I know it�s going to get fixed with some Froyo or Frodo patch on the horizon, but I don�t care if the hobbits show up and fix it themselves � the GPS on this thing was unreliable out of the box, and that shouldn�t have been.
Push Email � OK, you knew this was coming. It�s the one thing that Blackberry does better than anyone else � I miss my instant emails. There I said it. Enough to keep me on Blackberry? Certainly not, but it is a feature that I miss when I live without it. That being said, GMAIL works amazingly well (as it should) and is as-instant as any push account � so there are ways to get your email to you sooner.
The bottom line:
Honestly, I�m not kicking myself for waiting this long to transition from my beloved Blackberry. I think the timing was just right, and had I moved sooner � I may not be so happy with where I ended up. RIM has sort of painted itself into a corner with the Blackberry over the last couple of years � they were founded on a strong business structure, and now that more people want to use them for non-business purposes�they�re having a hard time evolving their device without alienating what they were originally meant to be. I think that�s where the critical impasse comes into play and where everyone needs to make a decision for themselves � �Do I want a phone to use for surfing the web, social applications, playing games and general communication along with some advanced media features?� If yes, it�s time to drop the Blackberry � their model isn�t evolving fast enough to �keep up with the Jones�s� even though they are trying valiantly to keep up. If you�re looking for a device solely to receive and send messages, maybe look up a phone number or do some light internet browsing�then Blackberry is probably right for you.
Me personally? I�m ready to move past the limitations that RIM has set for the Blackberry brand. Will I ever come back? Maybe someday when they prioritize general, social and media use as more important that iron-curtain security.
Jack