1. guerllamo7's Avatar
    This is an interesting review from a 20 year apple fanboy on how the iPhone has evolved into a more complicated device as they pack more things into it. My take as a BlackBerry user is to wait for the BB10 and compare the two.

    Battelle: iPhone a 'Massive Fail', Apple Losing Way: Video - Bloomberg

    There was no mention about the Justice Department's lawsuit against Apple for price fixing e-books, the restriction of e-book storefronts on apps nor the latest step back with removing (and not allowing to download) Google maps, which many say has left them lost. Is Apple becoming arrogant?

    As a BB user, my hope is the BB10 device really has leapfrogged this older technology is the way the iPhone leapfrogged the BlackBerry in useability and as a content device.

    If BB really can make that leap and hold on to its title as the most secure consumer smartphone, we in CrackBerryland could have a great 2013.

    Go RIM!
    Last edited by guerllamo7; 09-27-12 at 08:39 AM.
    Ben1232, Snowman888, sugbo and 3 others like this.
    09-27-12 08:37 AM
  2. iankeiththomas's Avatar
    Is Apple becoming arrogant?
    No moreso than always. Apple's approach to everything has always been "do it our way, or don't do it." The Maps situation, in particular, was the best choice Apple had among a few bad ones.

    At any rate, this guy sounds nuts. It's too bad that he has run into some problems with his phone, but it isn't endemic of some kind of greater problem at Apple. He just has a really particular usage pattern, and frankly sounds kind of bitter, which is something that happens to long-term fanboys.

    Finally, if the iPhone is being accused of not being user friendly, then that basically spells doom for everything else, which is significantly more complicated than "hit home button, poke app."
    09-27-12 08:51 AM
  3. meinarson's Avatar
    "The guy sounds nuts" that's how you summarize him? John Battelle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    09-27-12 09:42 AM
  4. iankeiththomas's Avatar
    Apparently; I just did.
    09-27-12 09:59 AM
  5. jweihrauch's Avatar
    Thanks for posting. It was nice to watch the short clip and see someone like me (Huge fanboy for Apple) who's realized Apple is losing their way QUICKLY. Record sales are okay this time around but I don't foresee this happening again.
    09-27-12 09:59 AM
  6. Blackberry_Boy's Avatar
    It is the beginning of the end. They are at the point of inflection. It all goes back to what is it that a phone was originally intended to do: communicate. Once you start asking it do do way more than was ever intended to do, life just becomes complex. However it seems that it is not just the iPhone where the problems reside.

    I think this does not necessarily help RIM, but it should warn them that they should not forget what most people want to do with a "phone": email, BBM, video conferencing. In other words COMMUNICATIONS. If they forget they are creating essentially a device to communicate they will lose their way....completely.
    shemaree09 and killa4luv like this.
    09-27-12 10:13 AM
  7. sleepngbear's Avatar
    Are you guys serious? I mean, the guy who invented the wheel, how many more equally revolutionary ideas do you think he had? Apple came out with a great product with the iPhone and a supporting cast to keep it around for a long time. Something somewhere some time will come along and supplant it as the next big thing. It could be Apple, but it will more than likely be someone else coming up with a new way to do something that nobody else ever thought of or would think would be as popular and sought-after. But I wouldn't count on it happening any time soon. The end is far from near for Apple.
    richardat, esk369 and kbz1960 like this.
    09-27-12 10:22 AM
  8. brucep1's Avatar
    This is an interesting review from a 20 year apple fanboy on how the iPhone has evolved into a more complicated device as they pack more things into it.
    I would love to see anyone who thinks the iPhone is complicated navigate BB10 Flow or Jelly Bean.

    If you want simple, get a flip phone. If you want a smartphone, nothing is easier to use than the iphone.
    richardat likes this.
    09-27-12 10:24 AM
  9. qbnkelt's Avatar
    It is the beginning of the end. They are at the point of inflection. It all goes back to what is it that a phone was originally intended to do: communicate. Once you start asking it do do way more than was ever intended to do, life just becomes complex. However it seems that it is not just the iPhone where the problems reside.

    I think this does not necessarily help RIM, but it should warn them that they should not forget what most people want to do with a "phone": email, BBM, video conferencing. In other words COMMUNICATIONS. If they forget they are creating essentially a device to communicate they will lose their way....completely.

    Most people no longer use a smartphone as a phone. Data has taken preeminence as the main feature of a smartphone. The most successful the ability of the phone as a consumption tool, the more the smartphone sells.

    Personally, I do most of my communication on my BB. The rest of my activities are on either my iPhone or my Skyrocket.
    killa4luv and esk369 like this.
    09-27-12 10:36 AM
  10. shemaree09's Avatar
    Most people no longer use a smartphone as a phone. Data has taken preeminence as the main feature of a smartphone. The most successful the ability of the phone as a consumption tool, the more the smartphone sells.

    Personally, I do most of my communication on my BB. The rest of my activities are on either my iPhone or my Skyrocket.
    But that's the point. It all boils down to Communication. Whether its call quality, email, texts, or social media. As you stated you do most of your communication via BB, assuming because it does that better than your iPhone/Skyrocket.

    When I had an iPhone, it was good everywhere else except the phone/communication dept. Making a call, organizing schedules, composing and reply emails/texts just wasnt efficient for me.

    With BB10, Communication should be the core function. Everything else second.

    Data is used more than actual phone calls, but when you NEED to make a call it shouldn't be a problem.
    09-27-12 10:42 AM
  11. dfb8085's Avatar
    That's what worries me. I don't think BB10 will have the ease of doing things that it had in the past
    09-27-12 10:46 AM
  12. guerllamo7's Avatar
    Interesting comments. I agree with those that say the iPhone is a device that offers many features and I don't agree with those that say this is the beginning of the end for Apple.
    What I do think makes sense is that the BB10 UI is going to be awesome, if for no other reason than it will be the newest kid on the block for what could arguably be the oldest hands in smartphones.
    So, guys with tons of experience on data, security, keyboards, push, etc. Now have had a couple of years to put it all together using QNX, the newest OS for smartphones.

    I think BB finally got them memo. As I watched the new CEO's keynote speech I noticed he mentioned "we listened to you" several times.

    I am looking forward to the launch of BB10.
    09-27-12 11:00 AM
  13. qbnkelt's Avatar
    But that's the point. It all boils down to Communication. Whether its call quality, email, texts, or social media. As you stated you do most of your communication via BB, assuming because it does that better than your iPhone/Skyrocket.

    When I had an iPhone, it was good everywhere else except the phone/communication dept. Making a call, organizing schedules, composing and reply emails/texts just wasnt efficient for me.

    With BB10, Communication should be the core function. Everything else second.

    Data is used more than actual phone calls, but when you NEED to make a call it shouldn't be a problem.

    Actually, you *assumed* that BB does it better than the iPhone or Android.

    Push email is now the norm. They all do it. They manage it in different ways, but I can now get the same email on all three devices at the same time. Trust me, I'm enough of a geek to have tested it. So it is not a matter of better/worse rather than a matter of preference. I am one of the few people who prefers truncated email...I don't like huge emails coming to my device...so I ignore mail on my iPhone and on my Skyrocket.

    The iPhone calendar app works fine for me on a personal level. I keep work/personal separate and so the granularity of the BB calendar is not something I need to make/keep a mani/pedi appointment. Or a doctor's or vet's visit.

    As far as calls - yes, it is easier to just hit "P" and have the phone call "Paul" but then again....that one second to swipe to unlock, hit the icon, hit the Favourites and hit dial are not going to break me.

    What I'm saying is this...it's all preference. There are days I don't want to carry my BB but I have to because family and loved ones across the pond are on BBM and some refuse to put any instant messenger client on their phones. There are days when I cannot manage my day without my BB. And I would never give it up for the sake of the others. But BB is not the only viable form of communication. And because we are consuming data first and because we now routinely do our banking, calorie counting, exercise progress, book trains, etc from our phones, there can no longer be that communications first, everything else second that got RIM into trouble. A phone today MUST do them all concurrently and MUST do them all well. Whether the consumer CHOOSES to use those features that's another matter entirely, but they MUST be there from the get-go.

    I'm not looking for BB to overtake the iPhone or Android. I'm looking for it to remain a viable third choice because its loss would have devastating professional and personal effects on how I manage my day. To remain viable it must evolve for today's consumption of data AND continue to be the superior communication device that got it its former glory.
    09-27-12 11:02 AM
  14. ubizmo's Avatar
    The line between communication and "other things" is increasingly blurred.

    Words with Friends is a game, but it's also a communication app, and that's part of why it's successful. Since July, I've been mainly using an Android phone. I had no interest in WWF, and only a vague idea that it's some kind of Scrabble game. A friend sent me an email inviting me to play, so I got the app. I soon found that other friends were inviting me to play. Soon I had about eight games going, and chats going on in each one. Most of these games were with people that I didn't have much online contact with before, but the game "broke the ice", so to speak.

    Some will dismiss this as frivolous, but the fact remains that this game functions as a kind of social medium, and I think this is one reason why so many people are playing it. There are plenty of other examples, but I chose this one because I've recently experienced it.

    Communication is the core function, but it's important not to take too narrow a view of what counts as communication. People want to communicate in lots of different ways, some of them playful. Apple and Android get this. I'm certain that RIM gets it too. It's just a question of whether they get enough ducks lined up for launch. They will be judged more on what's there than on what may be coming soon.
    09-27-12 11:18 AM
  15. shemaree09's Avatar
    I agree with many points. I just feel like in my experience BB handles Communication/Data/Social Media better. With BB10 I want them to keep the communication they have down pat and include some app support.

    When I had my iPhone, downloading apps, web browsing , and multimedia was really cool and fun! But I hated how much notifications and app integration was handled.

    When I got new twitter mentions (or any notification for that matter), I had no idea until I engaged my phone by unlocking and looking for a notification.

    With the Blackberry OS you have something as simple as an LED light that can also be customized, and manage all notifications from you inbox.

    Its the little things like that, that I love. I really hope BB10 keeps this and builds upon that.
    sam_b77 likes this.
    09-27-12 11:29 AM
  16. berryaddictnoza's Avatar
    Most people no longer use a smartphone as a phone. Data has taken preeminence as the main feature of a smartphone. The most successful the ability of the phone as a consumption tool, the more the smartphone sells.
    Q, I couldn't agree more. This goes along with what a friend of mine said about BlackBerry "BlackBerrys are designed as data generators, other smartphones are designed as data consumers". Wow, I never thought about BB's that way! It's how I use my BB! Yeah, I think it's a little blurrier than that, but a good observation.
    09-27-12 03:41 PM
  17. shemaree09's Avatar
    Q, I couldn't agree more. This goes along with what a friend of mine said about BlackBerry "BlackBerrys are designed as data generators, other smartphones are designed as data consumers". Wow, I never thought about BB's that way! It's how I use my BB! Yeah, I think it's a little blurrier than that, but a good observation.
    Makes sense. And I actually like that. It makes Blackberry cheaper to own. I can buy the cheapest data plan available and not worry about it. Nowadays, youre forced to spend money on your PHONE just to accommodate its data consumption. Thats why unlimited talk/text is cheaper now. Since data is so hard to measure you kinda have to go for the largest data plan available without having to worry about expensive overages.

    I mean think about it. Most people are already paying for home internet plans/cable, why is a cell phone data plan almost the same price? There are people paying $100-200 month just to own a smartphone. Its a little ridiculous.
    09-27-12 03:46 PM
  18. westcoastit's Avatar
    When I had my iPhone, downloading apps, web browsing , and multimedia was really cool and fun! But I hated how much notifications and app integration was handled.

    When I got new twitter mentions (or any notification for that matter), I had no idea until I engaged my phone by unlocking and looking for a notification.
    I don't know how long ago this was, but now you can set notifications to appear on the lock screen. You'll get the first part of a message or email and can unlock by swiping that particular icon across to open the message instantly. Twitter and other apps you allow notifications from work the same way.

    Personally I prefer this method to the LED, you get a sense of whether that email from work is urgent or just someone emailing a dumb cartoon without needing to unlock the phone and read it.
    richardat likes this.
    09-27-12 03:46 PM
  19. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    The line between communication and "other things" is increasingly blurred.

    Words with Friends is a game, but it's also a communication app, and that's part of why it's successful. Since July, I've been mainly using an Android phone. I had no interest in WWF, and only a vague idea that it's some kind of Scrabble game. A friend sent me an email inviting me to play, so I got the app. I soon found that other friends were inviting me to play. Soon I had about eight games going, and chats going on in each one. Most of these games were with people that I didn't have much online contact with before, but the game "broke the ice", so to speak.

    Some will dismiss this as frivolous, but the fact remains that this game functions as a kind of social medium, and I think this is one reason why so many people are playing it. There are plenty of other examples, but I chose this one because I've recently experienced it.

    Communication is the core function, but it's important not to take too narrow a view of what counts as communication. People want to communicate in lots of different ways, some of them playful. Apple and Android get this. I'm certain that RIM gets it too. It's just a question of whether they get enough ducks lined up for launch. They will be judged more on what's there than on what may be coming soon.
    Very well put. My wife and I, for example, do some of our best remote brainstorming over a game of Wordfeud via chat.

    In my profession, communication is key. I have noticed a tangible shift over time in the way I communicate with people, and it has become increasingly non-verbal.
    richardat likes this.
    09-27-12 04:21 PM
  20. richardat's Avatar
    Actually, you *assumed* that BB does it better than the iPhone or Android.

    Push email is now the norm. They all do it. They manage it in different ways, but I can now get the same email on all three devices at the same time. Trust me, I'm enough of a geek to have tested it. So it is not a matter of better/worse rather than a matter of preference. I am one of the few people who prefers truncated email...I don't like huge emails coming to my device...so I ignore mail on my iPhone and on my Skyrocket.
    .
    I remember you saying this in another thread and was going to ask you about it. You mentioned a huge attachment in another thread....my iphone doesn't download huge attachments, it tells me it's there, and that it isn't downloaded, and I have to click on it to do the full download.
    09-27-12 05:29 PM
  21. richardat's Avatar
    Q, I couldn't agree more. This goes along with what a friend of mine said about BlackBerry "BlackBerrys are designed as data generators, other smartphones are designed as data consumers". Wow, I never thought about BB's that way! It's how I use my BB! Yeah, I think it's a little blurrier than that, but a good observation.
    I find that curious. I don't see that at all. Specifically, how does your BB generate data as opposed to other smartphones?

    I often say something similar about tablets and notebooks, but I don't see the difference in smartphones.
    09-27-12 05:30 PM
  22. YorkieRay's Avatar
    I was in a Vodafone store last week enquiring about the iPhone 5. One of my concerns was data usage and the assistant told me that the iPhone regularly downloads and updates, which may lead to higher data usage. This seems to account for much of John Battelle's "yellow goo" on his iPhone.
    It also possibly explains why Apple does not allow the user to expand the memory themselves. In Battelle's blog it looks like he has a 32GB iPhone 4 but 17GB was taken up with this "yellow goo". Some files were duplicated multiple times and he needed extra software and many hours to clear it down to less than 1GB. The average iPhone owner would not bother with all of this and would probably just buy a new iPhone, because there is no option of fitting a bigger SD card, resulting in even bigger profits for Apple.
    I also saw an example of Apple's arrogance on iMore yestarday. Phill Schiller, who I think was the guy that launched iPhone 5, said that it is "normal" for the black iPhone 5's aluminium case to pick up dents and scratches. These complaints of defects are on a phone that is less than a week old and some are already there on phones fresh out of the box, but the response from Apple to their customers is that this is "normal".
    09-27-12 05:37 PM
  23. sleepngbear's Avatar
    As Scotty said in one of them Star Trek movies: the more you tax the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.

    Just my opinion ... at some point, somebody is going to try to cram so much functionality into a little hand-held device that it isn't going to be very good at any of it. It happens with kitchen appliances, it happens with power tools. We may already have reached that point -- i.e., smart phones that aren't very good at making phone calls.

    A smart phone is never going to completely replace a desktop or laptop computer; it can't, because there are too many things those devices can do that simply cannot be done on a hand-held device. So my personal preference, since (at least in my opinion) desktops/laptops are here to stay, give me the devices that do what they're designed to do exceedingly well, and not one thing that does all kinds things half-assed. And yes, that goes for BB10 as well. No matter what else it can do that will make my life wonderful and a big bowl of cherries, it had first and foremost better as good a communications device as its predecessors, or I'll be just as happy to stick with its predecessors. Anything else beyond that is gravy.
    09-27-12 06:02 PM
  24. killa4luv's Avatar
    Actually, you *assumed* that BB does it better than the iPhone or Android.

    Push email is now the norm. They all do it. They manage it in different ways, but I can now get the same email on all three devices at the same time. Trust me, I'm enough of a geek to have tested it. So it is not a matter of better/worse rather than a matter of preference. I am one of the few people who prefers truncated email...I don't like huge emails coming to my device...so I ignore mail on my iPhone and on my Skyrocket.

    The iPhone calendar app works fine for me on a personal level. I keep work/personal separate and so the granularity of the BB calendar is not something I need to make/keep a mani/pedi appointment. Or a doctor's or vet's visit.

    As far as calls - yes, it is easier to just hit "P" and have the phone call "Paul" but then again....that one second to swipe to unlock, hit the icon, hit the Favourites and hit dial are not going to break me.

    What I'm saying is this...it's all preference. There are days I don't want to carry my BB but I have to because family and loved ones across the pond are on BBM and some refuse to put any instant messenger client on their phones. There are days when I cannot manage my day without my BB. And I would never give it up for the sake of the others. But BB is not the only viable form of communication. And because we are consuming data first and because we now routinely do our banking, calorie counting, exercise progress, book trains, etc from our phones, there can no longer be that communications first, everything else second that got RIM into trouble. A phone today MUST do them all concurrently and MUST do them all well. Whether the consumer CHOOSES to use those features that's another matter entirely, but they MUST be there from the get-go.

    I'm not looking for BB to overtake the iPhone or Android. I'm looking for it to remain a viable third choice because its loss would have devastating professional and personal effects on how I manage my day. To remain viable it must evolve for today's consumption of data AND continue to be the superior communication device that got it its former glory.
    On iphone you cannot attach multiple files from the email compose screen. This is a basic function of crafting an email. I was SHOCKED, when I read this on the Verge's iphone 5 review. They outlined some other basic communication related functions as well. I agree with your premise tho.
    09-27-12 07:40 PM
  25. berryaddictnoza's Avatar
    I find that curious. I don't see that at all. Specifically, how does your BB generate data as opposed to other smartphones?

    I often say something similar about tablets and notebooks, but I don't see the difference in smartphones.
    I think my friend I quoted sees a traditional QWERTY BlackBerry with it's dedicated keyboard and small screen as optimized for entering alpha-numeric data, as opposed to full screen smartphones optimized for viewing data. Like I said, I don't think it's so cut and dried as that as some people can type on a virtual keyboard just fine (I haven't got there yet).

    OP, sorry for my part of the thread wandering from the iPhone issue at hand.
    09-27-12 07:44 PM
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