[Xenolock]

Why are people still arguing this?

Fact 1: some people prefer a physical keyboard to a virtual keyboard.

Fact 2: there isn't any smartphone out there with a physical keyboard that is worthy of flagship status outside of BlackBerry.

Fact 3: BlackBerry desperately needs all the customers they can get.


So, if BlackBerry produces a full touchscreen phone, they pretty much are gambling that they can lure people away from other touchscreen phones. If BlackBerry produces the only baller keyboard phone, they have no competition for that market.

If your company were on the line, would you take the sure thing or a bet?

Saying that physical keyboards are analogous to pre-electric typewriters is just silly. Would you trade in your pc keyboard for a virtual one embedded in your desk?

Almost all cars built before the 70's were Rear-wheel drive. In the 90's, everyone in the auto industry were building Front-wheel drive cars. Now, there are very many reasons why Front-wheel drive is more technologically advanced, more efficient, and safer than RWD. It's pretty hard to argue the opposite. But a LOT of people still liked the feel of RWD. So Dodge / Chrysler produced the 300 series and the Charger (both RWD) and made a whole lot of money on a completely under-served market, even while mechanical engineers around the world (automotive equivalent of spec nerds) were bashing it. A lot of people now like and will like (in emerging markets) the Feel of PKBs. And the emerging market is where all the growth is. Fact is, the developed countries' markets just aren't nearly as important as a lot of people make them out to be.

If old style and old technology had no market, then Instagram wouldn't have millions of people posting crappy pictures that have filters to make them look like Polaroids from the 80's. Now, BlackBerry PKB phones aren't old enough to be that retro yet, but a whole lot of people (especially in the developing world) still love their keyboard phones. To ignore that wide-open market would basically be suicide for BlackBerry.



From a Z30

[coldRooster]

Good post OP. I agree with everything you stated. And to add that the old OS /phones will not bring in new users, which is what is needed for revenue and growth in a a company.

Posted via 10.3 on Verizon

[BBPandy]

I think the Q20 is a decent middle ground.

It's a BB10 phone for traditionalists. Yes it has a trackpad and physical back button etc... but it's STILL BB10! And that's the important part.

I may step off the BlackBerry wagon for a generation (1-2 years) while they focus on the traditional user and the enterprise market.

But I'll be back when they start serving the consumer market again with high-spec all-touch phones without 'belts'.

I love the Z10 and the new OS (BB10) just as it is (but with better Android app support -- yes I am the complete opposite of a 'traditionalist'). I don't want the belt (though a discrete (almost invisible) trackpad would be cool... even Apple is considering adding trackpad functionality into the home button!! An invisible (or at least flush) trackpad underneath the "BlackBerry" logo on the Z10 would be perfect: you get a trackpad but you don't lose the aesthetic of a clean slab-phone.)

The immediate future will be highly keyboard-centric according to Chen. I'll be back for the Z50 or Z70... whenever they feel they have stabilized the company enough to come back to all-touch for users like me, who want the modern productivity features and multitasking of BB10, but also want a high-spec, multimedia-capable device with a big screen and great camera.

Posted via CB10

They still have the Z30 which is a great phone....though a bit fragile by BlackBerry standards.
& Chen didn't say that they would not be releasing any full touch.....that isn't to say that I agree with the mutation of the BB10 guesture based OS just to bring in the belt....