1. Mamaluka's Avatar
    Can anyone with a bright business sense write a story to go along with the title of this thread?
    I will of course, welcome all nonsense such as "Yes cb nation...at approx 3:30am EST, mamaluka posted the most useless thread of 2012"
    Of course, I think the physical keyboard is the most important factor in the purchase of, or the staying with, a bb device. I hope they can pull out of this mess.
    04-27-12 02:31 AM
  2. Rootbrian's Avatar
    The physical keyboard can never be replaced completely. Nothing beats the tactile feel of real buttons.
    shemaree09 likes this.
    04-27-12 03:05 AM
  3. auto208562's Avatar
    Maybe to diehard bb users...I'll be honest, touchscreen is not as bad as people are saying. I am used to it on my pb and iphone. Do not be scared of change . In any case, I heard they will appeal to both demog with touch and physical.
    04-27-12 03:43 AM
  4. usjc0001's Avatar
    I carry 2 phones. A Droid Bionic (on verizon) and a Blackberry 9630 on sprint.

    The ONLY reason i keep the blackberry is because of the keyboard for my email. I type 20-50 emails per day on the blackberry.

    I can probably type 35-40 wpm on my droid...the problem with glass screens is it just isn't "enjoyable" to type on. And making mistakes in a long email...and reading back through the email and making corrections is a major pain.

    On the blackberry i probably type 25-30 wpm...HOWEVER I am extremely accurate...and correcting mistakes is SO much easier. Also it is just more enjoyable (as stupid as it sounds...it is a big deal).

    I had a blackberry 9930 for a few weeks and that keyboard was even better.

    If blackberry could have the bold 9900/9930 with bb10...and the MUST have apps....i would completely ditch the droid...the reason i keep the droid is for google maps/navigation...and the countless other fun apps.
    bluetroll, shemaree09 and jthep like this.
    04-27-12 04:09 AM
  5. Rootbrian's Avatar
    @usjc0001 heh, the best of both worlds I guess.
    04-27-12 04:12 AM
  6. o4liberty's Avatar
    This is a critical time for RIM to make the correct decisions. If BB 10 is a success and they make a BB10 device like the bold then they will have a winner and be able to stay in the running. This all depends on the acceptance of BB10 and how well it works.

    Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk
    04-27-12 04:43 AM
  7. Mamaluka's Avatar
    ESN, I agree. That 9000/99xx form factor can not be beat. Its a flagship model for sure. Make our minds bend at some wild outrageous improvement to this hardware and split the atom with bb 10 and I think it should fly
    04-27-12 05:59 AM
  8. eds817's Avatar
    Doing away with the keyboard would be the main reason for me to look at another device.
    04-27-12 06:03 AM
  9. ubizmo's Avatar
    The market is speaking loud and clear on this point. Most users want larger screens and compact devices more than they want hard keyboards. A number of Android phones have hard keyboards, but they are not the ones that are selling the best. Developers are developing with larger screens in mind. This is the market that BB must compete in.

    There are only so many possibilities. To have a keyboard on a phone without sacrificing screen size you must either have a slide/flip/swivel, which adds bulk and moving parts, or you must make the phone larger all around. As discussed in another thread, you could have a Bold that approaches the size of a Galaxy Note with a hard keyboard and a 3.5" or so screen. I have no idea how much appeal a phone like that would have.

    In the meantime, it's a mistake for RIM to play to the diehard keyboardists like myself. Soft keyboards aren't the future anymore. They're the present. RIM would do much better to build the best soft keyboard in the market (along with all the other things they need to do to stay relevant) and then, later, if they are successful they can build a retro model with a keyboard.
    04-27-12 06:37 AM
  10. sleepngbear's Avatar
    I don't care what the market says. I hate typing on a touch screen. Don't tell me I'd get used to it, because I've been touch-screen typing on the PlayBook for a year and attempting it on the Torch for almost a year before that. Everybody else can have whatever they want; I want my archaic keyboard on my phone, and that's that. And being that that's currently BlackBerry's biggest claim to fame (on the physical devices, anyway),I don't see them ever abandoning it.
    04-27-12 06:51 AM
  11. ubizmo's Avatar
    I don't care what the market says. I hate typing on a touch screen. Don't tell me I'd get used to it, because I've been touch-screen typing on the PlayBook for a year and attempting it on the Torch for almost a year before that. Everybody else can have whatever they want; I want my archaic keyboard on my phone, and that's that. And being that that's currently BlackBerry's biggest claim to fame (on the physical devices, anyway),I don't see them ever abandoning it.
    The point isn't what you or I want. The market says we are Neanderthals. This thread is about success, not keeping us happy. If RIM wants to maximize their chances for success at the launch of BB10 they must listen to the market and not to the Neanderthals.

    Hey, are you finished with that wooly mammoth T-bone?
    04-27-12 07:07 AM
  12. omniusovermind's Avatar
    The point isn't what you or I want. The market says we are Neanderthals. This thread is about success, not keeping us happy. If RIM wants to maximize their chances for success at the launch of BB10 they must listen to the market and not to the Neanderthals.

    Hey, are you finished with that wooly mammoth T-bone?
    good summary. I hear a lot of teeth gnashing going on here about this keyboard (or no keyboard) business but you folks are going to need to come outside of this bubble, because nobody outside of it is even aware it's an issue. It's not really even registering on the radar.
    04-27-12 07:25 AM
  13. sleepngbear's Avatar
    The point isn't what you or I want. The market says we are Neanderthals. This thread is about success, not keeping us happy. If RIM wants to maximize their chances for success at the launch of BB10 they must listen to the market and not to the Neanderthals.

    Hey, are you finished with that wooly mammoth T-bone?
    I agree, but that point is moot. The first BB10 phone is going to be a touch-screen for all the multitudes that require it, with QWERTY's to follow sometime after. It's not like the two are mutually exclusive where they can only make one or the other. There's nothing left to discuss except how well it is likely to be received by consumers. But as long as RIM keeps making a keyboard phone that is reliable and responsive, I and apparently a few more of us will be happy.
    CairnsRock likes this.
    04-27-12 07:35 AM
  14. byul's Avatar
    A lot more will be happy thrust me if they leave this out and go full touch they will lose another pack of users.
    And it's a huge pack.
    kbz1960 likes this.
    04-27-12 07:37 AM
  15. ubizmo's Avatar
    I agree, but that point is moot. The first BB10 phone is going to be a touch-screen for all the multitudes that require it, with QWERTY's to follow sometime after.
    Is it "official" or close to it that RIM will launch a QWERTY phone after its first all-touch BB10 offering? I've seen this repeated many times on CB but I don't know the source. I certainly hope it's true.
    04-27-12 08:40 AM
  16. sleepngbear's Avatar
    Is it "official" or close to it that RIM will launch a QWERTY phone after its first all-touch BB10 offering? I've seen this repeated many times on CB but I don't know the source. I certainly hope it's true.
    The point is that a full touch screen is pretty sure to be coming first, with a slider being hotly rumored to be next. But RIM would be nuts to ignore their candybar-loving devotees altogether. Heck, I wouldn't care if they keep candybars (I.e. Bolds and Curves) on BB7 for the time being. I'd bet there are a lot of us who would buy a next-gen Bold on an upgraded version of BB7.
    04-27-12 08:53 AM
  17. jacobmathias's Avatar
    hopefully someday the android screen keyboard will get extremely better but maybe not, who knows
    04-27-12 11:18 AM
  18. dandbj13's Avatar
    They don't have to make a BB10 phone with a keyboard. They will not lose a single customer over this. I don't care how angry or betrayed you feel. Where are you going to go? Android? iPhone? No! You are going to keep the phone you have or buy a new BB7 phone. You are not leaving BB over this and they know it.

    If, however, they can't build a compelling touchscreen device and ecosystem, there will be no RIM for you to be angry with.
    04-27-12 11:45 AM
  19. lnichols's Avatar
    [SARCASM]Lack of a keyboard by the competition is obviously hurting the competition's sales and RIM is the growing customer base at record pace with its qwerty offerings. I totally agree OP, RIM should cater to the base first because they already got money from them, and ignore what the vast majority of consumers are purchasing. This will keep RIM's financials strong for the next decade. [/SARCASM]

    You'll get your damn keyboard phones people, but don't question why RIM is releasing an all touch phone first when that is what is selling the best for the competition now.
    Last edited by lnichols; 04-27-12 at 01:30 PM.
    CairnsRock likes this.
    04-27-12 12:06 PM
  20. Joltcola1234's Avatar
    I may be in the minority of the CrackBerry nation, but come BlackBerry 10 I will not be purchasing a BlackBerry with a physical keyboard. I will look to the all touch devices that they offer first, in the off chance that I do not like them, I will switch platforms. There is a very slim chance of me switching platforms, but I am definitely over the QWERTY
    04-27-12 12:39 PM
  21. glidewells's Avatar
    I would like to have BB touch device the same size as the bold 9930, in my opinion this is the perfect size for a phone.
    04-27-12 01:58 PM
  22. CairnsRock's Avatar
    Lots of great points in this thread wrt touch and tactile kbds. I like all others have no real evidence that RIM will do a touch then a qwerty version. However it sounds right and just makes sense and seems to be the concession of most folks in the forum and the news and rumors gang.
    A few thoughts to add to the melee:

    Touch screens must be way cheaper to manufacture than qwerty kbds, so profit margins should me higher.

    RIM needs to begin to allow sw upgrades on older phones to the latest is versions, just like iOS. It's much easier to do this with touch screens.

    Editing is a big deal for me, to be able to able to blast thru typing, make mistakes, then quickly go back and edit. It's a real pain doing that on PlayBook and even more difficult on a phone size touch screen. It's much easier to make errors on touch, because of accidentally touching the screen. With qwerty kbds you can touch/Linger/hover on the kbd without it triggering a screen action.

    So rim serving both types of kbd, but leaning strongly towards touch seems like what the market wants.
    04-27-12 02:16 PM
  23. mmcpher's Avatar
    [SARCASM]Lack of a keyboard by the competition is obviously hurting the competition's sales and RIM is the growing customer base at record pace with its qwerty offerings. I totally agree OP, RIM should cater to the base first because they already got money from them, and ignore what the vast majority of consumers are purchasing. This will keep RIM's financials strong for the next decade. [/SARCASM]

    You'll get your damn keyboard phones people, but don't question why RIM is releasing an all touch phone first when that is what is selling the best for the competition now.
    Neanderthal I may be, but I still have opposable thumbs and I still prefer a physical keyboard. I suppose BB10 could just be such an insanely great leap forward that it will elevate the touchscreen BB10 above and beyond the countless Android, Apple and WP touchscreen slabs already on the market. If BB10 is this perfect, complete revolutionary OS, then it will be something that RIM hasn't had a good track record of pulling off in the past -- getting out OS upgrades on time and in polished, finished fashion. If OTOH, the BB10's are rectangular slabs with the usual "work-in-progress-subject-to-incremental-rollouts" shambling effort on the OS, why will everyone suddenly start going RIM's way? In all this newly eyes-opened tough clearthink on the part of RIM, there has to be a recognition that others have gotten to the touchscreen earlier and better. But no one has ever done email or a keyboard better. So why abandon one of your anchors, your traditional strength? If it has to be touchscreen first and then the qwerty, it has also to be the qwerty announced and on the near horizon at the time of the touchscreen launch.

    I almost hope that BB10 can't run on my 9900 because I hope that BB10 will utilize a more impressive set of specs.
    CairnsRock likes this.
    04-27-12 02:16 PM
  24. dwaynewilliams#WN's Avatar
    I would hate to sound negative, but unless RIM manufactures phones with physical keyboards, I don't really see them competing to well in the smartphone space. I could only imagine that the battery life of these phones would suffer. The hardware, at best is going to be on par with Android, WP7, and IOS devices. There aren't that many apps and really aren't any services that they could offer at this point that would make them more attractive than another platform. I see he keyboard, being one of the only reasons to want to stick with a BB. I for one hope that there are going to be more BBs with phsical buttons. But at this point, I think that they have to.
    04-27-12 02:36 PM
  25. CairnsRock's Avatar
    Lots of great points in this thread wrt touch and tactile kbds. I like all others have no real evidence that RIM will do a touch then a qwerty version. However it sounds right and just makes sense and seems to be the concession of most folks in the forum and the news and rumors gang.
    A few thoughts to add to the melee:

    Touch screens must be way cheaper to manufacture than qwerty kbds, so profit margins should me higher.

    RIM needs to begin to allow sw upgrades on older phones to the latest is versions, just like iOS. It's much easier to do this with touch screens.

    Editing is a big deal for me, to be able to able to blast thru typing, make mistakes, then quickly go back and edit. It's a real pain doing that on PlayBook and even more difficult on a phone size touch screen. It's much easier to make errors on touch, because of accidentally touching the screen. With qwerty kbds you can touch/Linger/hover on the kbd without it triggering a screen action.

    So rim serving both types of kbd, but leaning strongly towards touch seems like what the market wants.
    04-27-12 02:53 PM
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