[anon(9607753)]

Most reviews, at least of smartphones, are a waste of Internet bandwidth anyway. Particularly when it comes to BlackBerry products, when they typically end something like 'overall it's a great device, but if you are really looking for yadda yadda yadda and/or you don't really need yadda yadda yadda then get something else' (ie get anything BUT a BlackBerry)

Posted via CB10

[Jerry A]

Most reviews, at least of smartphones, are a waste of Internet bandwidth anyway. Particularly when it comes to BlackBerry products, when they typically end something like 'overall it's a great device, but if you are really looking for yadda yadda yadda and/or you don't really need yadda yadda yadda then get something else' (ie get anything BUT a BlackBerry)

Posted via CB10

So, a review that tells people what a device can and can't do and whether or not it'll meet their needs is "a waste?"

Look up the definition of review...

[fschmeck]

My observations of 18-20 year-olds at my work is as follows:

Roughly half use iPhones
Most of the rest use android.
Out of about 150 I see every week, 3 have BlackBerry (2 9320's and 1 Classic), and I believe I've seen 1 Windows phone. Over the last 3 years I've seen Android's increase, IOS decrease and Windows Phone's (there used to be a handful) die when WP8 was released. This is the first time I see anyone with a BB.

Since I use a PB and Q5 I've been asked why I use a "crap berry". Of course, I've observed many of them using their phones primarily for gaming so for that BlackBerry is not the best choice.

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[anon(9607753)]

So, a review that tells people what a device can and can't do and whether or not it'll meet their needs is "a waste?"

Look up the definition of review...

No, reading reviews about BlackBerry phones (generally) is a waste. Apparently the only recommendable smartphone these days runs netflix, snapchat, and has a really big screen with no keyboard. I guess most reviewers don't get out much.

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[Jerry A]

No, reading reviews about BlackBerry phones (generally) is a waste. Apparently the only recommendable smartphone these days runs netflix, snapchat, and has a really big screen with no keyboard. I guess most reviewers don't get out much.

Posted via CB10

Or maybe they're more in touch with what their audience wants out of a smartphone.

[TgeekB]

No, reading reviews about BlackBerry phones (generally) is a waste. Apparently the only recommendable smartphone these days runs netflix, snapchat, and has a really big screen with no keyboard. I guess most reviewers don't get out much.

Posted via CB10

Which is exactly what people want. They get out plenty and understand, better than Blackberry, what people want.

[anon(9607753)]

Which is exactly what people want. They get out plenty and understand, better than Blackberry, what people want.

So why are you here? Are you people too, or something else? Most phones reviewed get a buy in simply because they do the same thing as all the others. With many products out there, mediocrity is a reason to NOT buy it. Apparently not when it comes to smartphones.

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

So why are you here? Are you people too, or something else? Most phones reviewed get a buy in simply because they do the same thing as all the others. With many products out there, mediocrity is a reason to NOT buy it. Apparently not when it comes to smartphones.

Posted via CB10

Ah, the old "why are you here" comment so frequently thrown around here. Probably been using Blackberry longer than you've been alive but now that you're running the place I'll be sure to ask first before speaking.

[anon(9607753)]

Ah, the old "why are you here" comment so frequently thrown around here. Probably been using Blackberry longer than you've been alive but now that you're running the place I'll be sure to ask first before speaking.

Ha ha, so this thread has become about reviewers being right about everything. Got it. And your 'the market has already spoken' is not tired at all, not one bit. Lol.

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

Ha ha, so this thread has become about reviewers being right about everything. Got it. And your 'the market has already spoken' is not tired at all, not one bit. Lol.

Posted via CB10

Reviewers review. They are not all right but are writing for those with an interest In the topic. I would not expect all reviews to be the same since it is a personal viewpoint. I am personally, at the moment, using a Nexus 6. If I find a review that is negative, I will not stomp my feet and call the reviewer names. I will just continue to use my device until I choose something else. I don't understand why people take this personally. We are talking about a cell phone, an inanimate object, not your mother.

[fschmeck]

The takeaway is "what their audience wants". I would guess most of the people reading reviews from these sites are not generally the people BlackBerry have targetted. Netflix, gaming, snapchat.. phones have become entertainment hubs for most. The folks who need exchange, BES, "tools not toys" I expect aren't going to gizmodo to get info about BB, any more than they would go to CNET to see if the new Salesforce release is any good.

Of course, those folks far outnumber the rest...

Posted via CB10

[donnation]

The takeaway is "what their audience wants". I would guess most of the people reading reviews from these sites are not generally the people BlackBerry have targetted. Netflix, gaming, snapchat.. phones have become entertainment hubs for most. The folks who need exchange, BES, "tools not toys" I expect aren't going to gizmodo to get info about BB, any more than they would go to CNET to see if the new Salesforce release is any good.

Of course, those folks far outnumber the rest...

Posted via CB10

Ah that's a bunch of BS. Any positive review of a Blackberry phone is hailed in here as honest and real. The slightest bit of negativity in a review and its deemed biased, or amateur. Where the reviews come from doesn't matter as long as they are positive. Some are good, some are bad, and some are just honest on what they think of a phone. But its pretty much commonplace to trash any reviewer who doesn't give a gleaming review of a Blackberry phone, no matter who the source of the review is from.

[cribble2k]

When using a VKB, you will inevitably have to look at the keyboard most of the time, instead of focusing on the text that's "almost magically" appearing behind the cursor when using a PKB...

I don't understand this point.

Even if I had to look at the keyboard, I'm looking at the screen anyway. No time or effort is lost. If you want an experience that forces you to stare at a keyboard for long periods of time, try the BB10 vkb. So much time pressing buttons, waiting for my word predictions just so I could swipe up.

SwiftKey Flow and word prediction are just way too good.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[fschmeck]

Ah that's a bunch of BS. Any positive review of a Blackberry phone is hailed in here as honest and real. The slightest bit of negativity in a review and its deemed biased, or amateur. Where the reviews come from doesn't matter as long as they are positive. Some are good, some are bad, and some are just honest on what they think of a phone. But its pretty much commonplace to trash any reviewer who doesn't give a gleaming review of a Blackberry phone, no matter who the source of the review is from.

Well, this is a fan site so I would expect negative reviews to be dismissed. But my point is that the PKB is made for a certain type of person, and for those people it is better suited to certain tasks. A professional review should take that into account. One of the reviews of the Priv in particular took the position that they don't want a PKB, therefore the phone was terrible. That is the kind of thing that frustrates fans of a product. It isn't just fanboyism or BS; when a "professional" site publishes a review that dismissive for no apparent reason other than "I don't need this", then that review should have been handled by someone else.

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

Well, this is a fan site so I would expect negative reviews to be dismissed. But my point is that the PKB is made for a certain type of person, and for those people it is better suited to certain tasks. A professional review should take that into account. One of the reviews of the Priv in particular took the position that they don't want a PKB, therefore the phone was terrible. That is the kind of thing that frustrates fans of a product. It isn't just fanboyism or BS; when a "professional" site publishes a review that dismissive for no apparent reason other than "I don't need this", then that review should have been handled by someone else.

Posted via CB10

I don't think the reviewer meant they didn't need it, but rather 99.8% of people don't.

[Ronindan]

When I used to travel with a BB, I used to pull out my work laptop and pop in a dvd to entertain myself since being stuck in an airport loses its luster after 10 minutes. Now I just download some movies on my Nexus 6p and not even use my laptop at all. I am not able to do that with a pkb BB - the smaller screen real estate gets in the way.

That is the thing with virtual keyboards - it allows smartphones to have large screens but still in a manageable/portable size. Applications (both consumer/enterprise) can take advantage of the large screen real estate. I often review company spreadsheets while in a stopover and I can easily do that just using my Nexus - especially when I am not doing edits or corrections to the spreadsheets. Back when I have a BB, I will have to take out my laptop regardless if I have to make corrections to the documents for not.

[GadgetTravel]

When I used to travel with a BB, I used to pull out my work laptop and pop in a dvd to entertain myself since being stuck in an airport loses its luster after 10 minutes. Now I just download some movies on my Nexus 6p and not even use my laptop at all. I am not able to do that with a pkb BB - the smaller screen real estate gets in the way.

That is the thing with virtual keyboards - it allows smartphones to have large screens but still in a manageable/portable size. Applications (both consumer/enterprise) can take advantage of the large screen real estate. I often review company spreadsheets while in a stopover and I can easily do that just using my Nexus - especially when I am not doing edits or corrections to the spreadsheets. Back when I have a BB, I will have to take out my laptop regardless if I have to make corrections to the documents for not.

To say nothing of software compatibility. I have the choice of native Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets on my iPhone and all but Numbers on my Nexus.

[Jerry A]

I don't think the reviewer meant they didn't need it, but rather 99.8% of people don't.

This! Reviewers write for their audience, not to make BlackBerry users feel validated in their smartphone choice.

That means reviewing devices on a different set of standards from CB membership.

Asking "what's the point" becomes a perfectly valid question when folks trust you to help them decide how to spend $700.

[anon(9607753)]

This! Reviewers write for their audience, not to make BlackBerry users feel validated in their smartphone choice.

That means reviewing devices on a different set of standards from CB membership.

Asking "what's the point" becomes a perfectly valid question when folks trust you to help them decide how to spend $700.

I think the point of why such a review is problematic is quite obvious...if the phone was designed to have a keyboard, why criticize it for having one? That is a clear cut example of a biased review. How is it reasonable that someone who drives and promotes sedans only, is in a position to tell you which pickup truck you should buy...or worse, recommend you don't buy a pickup truck at all? Most reviews of BlackBerry products are done by people who do not use them and would never buy one.

Posted via CB10

[Jerry A]

I think the point of why such a review is problematic is quite obvious...if the phone was designed to have a keyboard, why criticize it for having one? That is a clear cut example of a biased review. How is it reasonable that someone who drives and promotes sedans only, is in a position to tell you which pickup truck you should buy...or worse, recommend you don't buy a pickup truck at all? Most reviews of BlackBerry products are done by people who do not use them and would never buy one.

Posted via CB10

Questioning the utility of a keyboard isn't necessarily biased. It's a valid question. It all depends in the context and what the reviewer has to say.

That being said, can you please point me to the review you're thinking of? We may be discussing different reviews and speaking past each other.

[TgeekB]

I think the point of why such a review is problematic is quite obvious...if the phone was designed to have a keyboard, why criticize it for having one? That is a clear cut example of a biased review. How is it reasonable that someone who drives and promotes sedans only, is in a position to tell you which pickup truck you should buy...or worse, recommend you don't buy a pickup truck at all? Most reviews of BlackBerry products are done by people who do not use them and would never buy one.

Posted via CB10

If a car was developed that had 2 steering wheels, and most people did not want 2 steering wheels, it would be perfectly acceptable for a reviewer to say it was not a good car for most people. Even if 0.2% of the population wanted 2 steering wheels.

[xtremeled]

Physical keyboards on phones went from virtually 100% marketshare in 2007 to around 0.05% marketshare in 2015. If that doesn't clearly communicate how most people feel about a hardware keyboard on a smartphone, nothing will.

Sure, you love your PKB, but you are an outlier - a rare exception - not part of the mainstream. And that's okay, but you should accept the truth of that fact: in the mainstream world, PKBs on smartphones are obsolete. Most people use their phones for all kinds of things beyond banging out long emails or documents all day long, and most people who bang out documents all day long prefer to do that on a desktop/laptop with a much bigger screen and a full-size keyboard.

Thank you!!! If PKB were so great, so popular, and in demand, other manufacturers would have them.

[anon(9607753)]

I don't think the reviewer meant they didn't need it, but rather 99.8% of people don't.

You clearly missed the point. A review that is about someone trying to shove their personal tastes down your throat is not a review. It's a biased piece of crap. Which is basically what I have been saying all along.

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

You clearly missed the point. A review that is about someone trying to shove their personal tastes down your throat is not a review. It's a biased piece of crap. Which is basically what I have been saying all along.

Posted via CB10

So basically, every review should be positive? Sorry your feelings are hurt. Maybe you shouldn't read reviews. Try meditation.

[donnation]

You clearly missed the point. A review that is about someone trying to shove their personal tastes down your throat is not a review. It's a biased piece of crap. Which is basically what I have been saying all along.

Posted via CB10

Unless it's positive, which then somehow it becomes unbiased and fact based.