Seriously, who would buy a Blackberry?

[qoncept]

After switching from my previous Blackberry Curve to the Droid, I can't imagine why anyone would get any Blackberry anymore, unless it's issued by work. I understand the great Exchange support in Blackberry, so it has it's market, but it's certainly not anyone else.

There experience isn't even close. Blackberry can't touch Android on quality apps (especially free), the hardware is slow, the browser is garbage, and the experience just isn't anywhere near as good. About the only thing I miss about my Curve is the keyboard, which was a lot better.

 

[JhankG]

Considering that RIM has a greater overall market share than even the iPhone, I think they are doing pretty well for themselves. I had a Curve before the Droid and although it is by no means a multimedia device, it just works as a phone. I can't knock a BlackBerry.

 

[Lynx]

Ive owned a number of blackberries prior to the Droid, and the only thing I miss from the BB is the keyboard. I had the Tour and I loved the keyboard. Other than that ill take Android OS over BB OS any day of the week.

 

[640k]

personally, i never understood the market presence of personal use BB devices in a non corporate envrionment, short of users who have used them at their job and would like one for personal use.

i've found them unfriendly, difficult to maneuver and ugly overall.

with that said, some corporations basically force people into using BBs as part of their job. similar to MS products.s

 

[rothfest]

Corporate. As of today they are more secure, manageable and the lack of features causes less support issues. Alos, the sheer number of BES installations and the cost will keep corps rfom making the jump until there are security features in Android simiar to the BB.

There should reall be a backend app and an android called "corporate" which allows corporations to set policies on the devices, remote wipe/kill, etc. all from a single interface... like BES.

 

[qoncept]

640k basically said what I feel. The Curve was my first smart phone and I was much more happy with it than I expected, but the Droid, for personal use, is just leaps and bounds more pleasant to use.

The Droid is my personal phone but work is the reason I wanted a smart phone to begin with. Work quit handing out Blackberrys because of the economy right around the time I was hired, but I really wanted a calendar. I thought for a while about buying a PDA (I'd been a free-with-contract phone guy until my Curve) but this just made so much more sense.

 

[LordKastle]

I bet there has been an influx in BB sales to the average consumer and a drop in the "corporate" consumer. For almost a year now Blackberry's have had deal after deal, some free, some half off, and it has been non-stop since a little after January. (and on every carrier)

Blackberry really dropped the ball this past year. They had an opportunity to seize the cell industry by the throat by rivaling anything Apple or Android came out with and they failed. Like I said in a previous post, it is very disappointing because Blackberry has always had a solid product line. It may be a bigger failure than the Windows Mobile genre of phones because WinMobile lost out for being complacent and arrogant for years...Blackberry knew what they had to do and they still came up extremely short.

 

[bamfsig45]

Just upgraded my wife from the 8330 to the 8530. She likes blackberry and Im not one to argue with her. It makes her happy, you shouldnt force your opinion onto others.

 

[Elysian]

My best friend's gf just went from a MyTouch 3G to a Blackberry... Stupidest thing I've ever heard of. She's incredibly happy with it, which just blows my mind, considering I've owned or used quite a few Blackberry's and I'd never go back. Hell, I'd go back to my Pre before I went to another Blackberry! She doesn't understand how gimped of a phone they actually are, especially from the web browser perspective.

 

[coolkidd]

I just hope that Blackberry is strong enough to stay in business in these days.... I do not want them to become like Palm.

To stay in business, they need to cater to everyone and not just in corporate.

 

[brianr0131]

I just hope that Blackberry is strong enough to stay in business in these days.... I do not want them to become like Palm.

To stay in business, they need to cater to everyone and not just in corporate.

This is a misconception IMO. When you try to cater to everyone, things become too fragmented. They need to do what they do, and be the best at it. And, for the most part they are.

The corporate market will always be a huge area for them. They also attract comsumers who want things a little more simple.

I think the Android OS is catering to a much younger crowd for the most part. I happen to be a mid 30s business user (and personal) and I would NEVER go back to BB, but I understand I am a part of a small group in the grand scheme of things.

Smartphones themselves are growing exponentially, but keep in mind that while Android is growing at a fast rate as well, there are a lot of dumb phone converts too. It'ss not like every (or even most) Android user came from a BB.

RIM will be fine. They have some nice things coming in the future and they are, for the most part, a very well run company.

 

[qoncept]

Actually, I'd say to stay in business, it's probably RIM's best bet to cut their losses in the personal sector and concentrate on corporate. It's what they know.

Edit: Brian beat me to it. But I think you're mistaken about the age of users. Check out this poll. http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-polls/9365-whats-your-age.html Hardly scientific of course, but it surprised the hell out of me.

 

[DroidFan]

My boyfriend bought a BB just after I got the Droid. He continually plays with my Droid over his BB as 1/2 the time, he can't get a signal nor the download/web speed that I get even off the 3G (he has ATT... so much for the TV ads.... go figure!)...

While he doesn't want to give up the BB, because of work, he's realizing more and more how inferior his is compared to the Droid... *shrug* Live and learn!

 

[hookbill]

I just hope that Blackberry is strong enough to stay in business in these days.... I do not want them to become like Palm.

To stay in business, they need to cater to everyone and not just in corporate.

This is a misconception IMO. When you try to cater to everyone, things become too fragmented. They need to do what they do, and be the best at it. And, for the most part they are.

The corporate market will always be a huge area for them. They also attract comsumers who want things a little more simple.

I think the Android OS is catering to a much younger crowd for the most part. I happen to be a mid 30s business user (and personal) and I would NEVER go back to BB, but I understand I am a part of a small group in the grand scheme of things.

Smartphones themselves are growing exponentially, but keep in mind that while Android is growing at a fast rate as well, there are a lot of dumb phone converts too. It'ss not like every (or even most) Android user came from a BB.

RIM will be fine. They have some nice things coming in the future and they are, for the most part, a very well run company.

Heh Heh You're right. But you may be surprised at how many of us "older" people are buying a Droid. Take a look here.

 

[DraconWolfX]

Isn't the latest network outage like the 3rd in the past 30 days? I'm so happy I switched to Android. Not only was the Storm a shoddy device but I was annoyed with all the network outages.