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BlackBerry Storm Downgraded to BlackBerry Depression

nytimes.com — The first sign of trouble for the new BlackBerry Storm was the concept: a touchscreen BlackBerry.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 27, 2008

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  • NathanielJ, on 11/27/2008, -7/+143"A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel."

    So... you mean like an iPod Touch?
  • alavoy, on 11/26/2008, -8/+102iPods DON'T have scroll wheels.
  • OverThere, on 11/26/2008, -4/+75I have used one and I have to 100% agree with this review. Got one, within 3 days I had returned it and reactivated my Curve. It's just not ready yet.
  • undergrace, on 11/27/2008, -10/+62I have one of these for my job and I actually like it!

    It was pretty hard to learn the keyboard at first, especially because the natural inclination is to type with your thumbs, which often leads to mis-types; however after practicing a bit (and changing some settings) my fingers have started to learn where they need to go to hit the right place. My main issue now is that because I'm a girl I have fairly long fingernails so that gives me trouble - but it's manageable. I think the Storm is easier to use than my old BlackBerry - those little keys gave me just as much trouble as the touch screen. Also they have pretty good pre-loaded dictionaries so the "suggested" text is almost always accurate. If you mis-type a word, it underlines it for you and you can click it and it pulls up all the suggestions. I can see how it could be annoying for people that are very email-heavy, but for moderate uses I think it works just fine.

    I don't know why I just took the time to write all that - I've been on Digg long enough to know that most people bury anecdotes or unpopular opinions... oh well.
  • oneSaint, on 11/26/2008, -3/+52"A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel."
    At least an iPod without a scroll wheel can be an iPod shuffle or an iPhone.

    *I own RIM stocks... :(
  • SickofSects, on 11/27/2008, -5/+39What amazes me is that it is now nearly 2 YEARS, since the iPhone was made public (January 2007), and the responses to it even after this while are not even as good, when they really should be better in terms of the experience. Have you seen the scrolling on the storm? It scrolls (stutters) like it needs oiling. (And, yes, the storm is a response to the iPhone. qwerty hardware keyboard was RIMM's USP before that). After all, Apple has already demonstrated the concept and created the market where CONSUMERS would see value in and pay for these powerful phones. To pre-empt those who would say there were other phones before iPhone that did all that and more: before the iPhone, if you would try to convince a consumer that they should try browsing the web on their mobile phone, they would look at you as if you were crazy. Now iPhone owners reach for their iPhone to browse just as easily as they reach for their laptops.. it simply doesn't feel like a chore. It's much easier now for other companies to try to exploit this market and simply jump in. They don't have to sell a new concept to millions of skeptics.

    I think the competitors are simply going "Oh touchscreens are the rage now! We've got to make a touchscreen". It's NOT the touchscreen that the iPhone is about. Touchscreen just happened to be the best choice if you want a huge screen that people would want to browse and watch videos and play games on.

    As for the Storm on Verizon, $4 per month extra for visual voicemail! Can't access data when you are on a call (voice + data simultaneously is impossible due to a limitation of VZ's CDMA). 500 MB fair-use limit per month! Super Monkey Ball alone is 100 MB. No wi-fi, so stuff like the remote app, which talks to other appliances in your home through wi-fi, vnc, multi-player games against others on the internet are all out. I don't know what RIMM was thinking.
  • mikemarino, on 11/27/2008, -1/+31That was one hell of a short storm.
  • undergrace, on 11/27/2008, -0/+28So if I added that I'm 25 and single, would that improve my score?

    Oh, and I'm kind of afraid of the response this next statement will cause... but I'm incredibly attracted to nerdy tech guys...
  • tjallen, on 11/27/2008, -4/+28Has everyone already forgotten how bad the 3G iPhone was when it first released? I bought one, and the lag/crashing/dropped calls were horrible. Thankfully, they've mostly fixed all those problems. Good luck to all the Blackberry Storm users. Hopefully they'll get you an update soon.
  • jonahan52, on 11/27/2008, -0/+21Just saying you're a girl on digg will get you up voted.
  • NathanielJ, on 11/27/2008, -2/+22...why? That's exactly what the complaints about the Storm are; they just took the old software and threw a touchscreen over it, so it's not even remotely intuitive (versus the iPhone, which was built from the ground up to be a touchscreen device).
  • stevelawrence, on 11/27/2008, -3/+21And since the iPod Touch is only the best iPod ever made, this sentence basically reads "A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like the best iPod ever made." Nice endorsement!
  • roguewriter, on 11/27/2008, -6/+20Given RIM's history on software, I'm betting the bugs in the Storm's release are directly attributable to Verizon's crippling of the device.
  • themonkman, on 11/27/2008, -3/+16Not to argue, but I type on my iPhone with my only my thumbs, and I wouldn't doubt that I can do at least 20 words per minute on it. I can usually type fairly sloppily and the software gets my words right 90% of the time.
  • mongo22, on 11/27/2008, -1/+14I'm in the middle of a contract and plus the wife doesn't want to switch. Actually I don't either, I like Verizon's coverage & everyone I know always has dropped calls with the iPhone thanks to At&t.
  • eltardo, on 11/27/2008, -9/+22David Pogue is an Apple fanboy, of course he's going to hate all things not iPhone.

    Don't get me wrong, I think the Storm will be a dud... I'm just saying consider the source.
  • inactive, on 11/27/2008, -5/+17Really? In the 10 minutes i played with a pearl i was ready to throw it out the window. The stupid ball is clunky, difficult and unresponsive. The buttons were stupid tiny. Navigating the phone was like eating a rusty SOS pad. I pretty much hated it.
  • elliott9, on 11/27/2008, -0/+12i didn't need to log into anything.
  • NathanielJ, on 11/27/2008, -0/+12Do you know what "tactile" means?
  • gllopc, on 11/27/2008, -0/+12The BlackBerry Drizzle?
  • tech42er, on 11/27/2008, -0/+11Try a Centro. You'll kill yourself.
  • semperfidoordi, on 11/27/2008, -0/+11Me too :(

    Thats the first thing I thought when I saw this post.
  • superkendall, on 11/27/2008, -0/+11The crazy feature firmware cannot solve is lack of WiFi. I can't believe they ever thought that would fly. No matter how they improve the overall phone, that makes the phone a niche product (as people that want a Blackberry would mostly buy other models)
  • ATL, on 06/20/2009, -3/+13necklace you mean?
  • djfreex, on 11/27/2008, -1/+11Gotta applaud Apple. They come with the new concepts first... Sell it at a premium... Lock everything... People blame them and criticize them all day long but still wait in the lines to buy their products. Then competitors try to copy cat them and fail miserably.

    I remember when Iphone first come out, RIM was openly criticizing Iphone for not having a keyboard and not having any chance in the corporate market for that matter. Look where we are now.
  • inactive, on 11/27/2008, -1/+11Figured this was coming because of the way Verizon is advertising it. When a commercial features the stupid clicking sound rather than tools and utility features, there is something wrong.
  • seanc6610, on 11/27/2008, -0/+10clear your cookies and try again
  • Giga, on 11/27/2008, -0/+10Or an iPod Touch.
  • Fubeman, on 11/27/2008, -3/+13Yeah. I have 2 friends who were beta testing these. Their opinions? Get an iPhone or G1 instead. They also could not understand RIM's choice in the way that the keyboard was configured and also felt that this one was not designed by the same people who did something as nice as the Blackberry Pearl. Felt more like a cheap imitation on some issues and that things were rushed.
  • AndrewDB, on 11/27/2008, -2/+11Bejayel just mentioned the soul reasons I'm getting rid of my Blackberry Pearl next month.

    The 8100 pearl is a clunky piece of junk cell phone.
  • Cglass, on 11/27/2008, -4/+13I'm a girl on digg.
  • gllopc, on 11/27/2008, -0/+9Why aren't you able to type on an touchscreen keyboard, but millions of iPhone users can?
  • inactive, on 11/27/2008, -11/+20Storm's a piece, go iPhone or G1.
  • Johnagain, on 11/27/2008, -1/+9Verizon is by far the most reliable where I live, and virtually everyone I call on it is on Verizon (free verizon to verizon minutes) It is a little more expensive, but for me, it's the best solution. I truly hope the next rev of CrackBerry is better, I will be forced to get one at work sometime next year, and I really don't want headaches.
  • jmnormand, on 11/27/2008, -0/+8I would kill for my 8830 to have a touch screen. The keyboard is great for typing but the ball is slow for navigating. bringing the two together would have made perfect sense for blackberry.
  • mazurkfsflip8, on 11/27/2008, -22/+30oh its by David Pogue...

    now i get it.
  • HookmasterCH47, on 11/27/2008, -1/+9I'm pretty sure he also compared it to the G1...
  • Cglass, on 11/27/2008, -1/+9=P okay so maybe I'm not
  • Galaxylander, on 11/27/2008, -0/+8With the iPhone's insane auto correction I find typing long emails and text messages a breeze, don't the other phones have an equivalent? I actually can type about 60 wpm on it. Steadily.
  • migshark, on 11/27/2008, -0/+8A squall.
  • cthellis, on 11/27/2008, -1/+9In the U.S., sure. Their overall numbers, however, are not as luminous, and BlackBerry is not at all positioned to do in Europe and Asia what they've done out here.

    They'll retain a business stronghold for a while, but they don't have the overall consumer press, which is where the iPhone is specifically marketing, and is overall a much larger market.

    They can't afford to fall behind right now, but they're going to have a hard time putting speedbumps in front of the iPhone's growth, and they're completely losing ground on the installable applications, which people are now learning to look for, and they don't have a system that businesses prefer very much either ( http://blog.cosential.com/?p=156 ), so...

    At one point Palm was in the position RIM is in now, and it's not like other contenders can't out-innovate, out-design, and out-produce RIM out of their current stronghold as well.
  • undergrace, on 11/27/2008, -1/+9A girl named Curtis?
  • znicket, on 11/27/2008, -4/+12It must be hard being an iPhone hater these days. So much anticipation for the G1 - only to see the final product as a Fisher Price toy with a nice screen. Then the hopes were pinned on the Blackberry Storm - the next iPhone killer. Those hopes were dashed as well and the iPhone still stands as the pinnacle of usable smart phones 2 years after being released. Must be disheartening.
  • meridianknight, on 11/27/2008, -3/+10Dugg for taking the time to write that. Been thinking of getting the Storm and the more opinions, the better. . . especially from people using it everyday.
  • MScrip, on 11/27/2008, -1/+8Yippee! T-Mobile...
  • MScrip, on 11/27/2008, -2/+9Exactly...

    Didn't the iPhone just become the best selling phone in America?

    "the leader in market research for the wireless industry, Apple's iPhone 3G surpassed the Motorola RAZR as the leading handset purchased by adult consumers in the U.S. in the third quarter (Q3) of 2008. RAZR had been ranked by NPD as the top-selling consumer handset for the past 12 quarters."
  • byronm, on 11/27/2008, -3/+10Last time i checked RIM is still beating apple. RIM has a HUGE corporoate/government adoption rate
  • SickofSects, on 11/27/2008, -4/+11Last time you checked must have been a while ago. Last quarter a total od 6.9 M iPhones were sold, compared to a TOTAL of 6.1 M blackberrys (including all models, sold to all buyers, including corporations).
  • tech42er, on 11/27/2008, -0/+6Completely agree. I had AT&T and while I got a signal in Manhattan, I kept dropping calls. Haven't had a problem with Verizon in the city or the suburbs and I love my Curve!
  • thedragon4453, on 11/27/2008, -0/+6Same. I used to use a Treo, and the iPhones soft keyboard rocks compared to that. My wife uses a Pearl, and I can't seem to get that as easily as I have with the iPhone. I am pretty confident that 20-40 wpm on the iPhone isn't that tough.

    But, since this is about the Storm, the big thing they are pushing is the button press feeling. Unfortunately though, I just don't see how that helps the tactile feedback thing. The problem with soft keyboards is not being able to feel keys more than not feeling the click. My informal trial was pretty disappointing with the way they were pushing the tactility of the device.
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