That's Right iPhone. I'm Keeping My BlackBerry Curve

It was hot outside, the media a buzz and the lines were starting to wrap around Apple's retail stores. Ah, the launch of the original iPhone. I covered the whole shebang just a year ago and I clung to my Verizon BlackBerry the whole time.

But this year will be different right? The Apple iPhone's price has been drastically lowered to $199, and its got GPS and 3G connectivity baked in now. And even better there is added support for enterprise and loads of impressive applications available through the App Store. And it comes in white!

I know all these factors should close the gap between the iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry. But, as tempted as I have been in the past year to snag an iPhone and switch teams, come launch day part-two it will still be me and my BlackBerry. Why? Because I learned a few things about the iPhone the first time around.

The iPhone design is stunning and Steve Jobs believes the iPhone to be an 'object' instead of a gadget. Nice idea but when my friend cracked her iPhone's screen earlier this year, I felt really bad for her while at the same time was thinking "I told you so." Hundreds of iPhones have cracked and have had to be replaced because of the glass screen. I am rough on my phone. I have dropped my BlackBerry on my wooden floor more times than I can count and throw it in a purse full of crap every day. The iPhone won't survive as my mobile companion.

Then there is the battery issue. When I travel I always carry a second battery with me in case I don't have the time or the place to plug in. And given what Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal is saying about the iPhone 3G's battery life, iPhone users should do the same. But they can't because it lacks a replaceable battery. Sure they can pick themselves up an external extended battery but this is nothing but a BandAid on a very large wound.

The keyboard is also a drawback, though I have gotten used to using the virtual keyboard from playing around with the phone. Nevertheless, I can type extremely fast on my BlackBerry Curve without looking down at the keys. I am not sure I could ever do that on an iPhone.

Lastly there is the fact that the iPhone is still tied to the AT&T network. I have been with Verizon for as long as I can remember and have impeccable service in both my apartment and office. Frankly I have service wherever I go. On top of that all my friends, including my boyfriend who has jokingly threatened to break up with me if I go over to AT&T, are all on Verizon. I can talk and text with them as much as I want. I can't leave my network for a "phone;" after all making quality phone calls is what phones are about.

So as much as I am in awe of the awesome Safari mobile Web browser and the new applications (and that iPhone owners will get to turn their phones into lightsabers), I will be cuddling with my BlackBerry Curve this weekend . Will you?

Comments

[Heartsleeve]

03:29 PM on 07/16/2008

I too am more enamored of my (let me count them - 5th) Blackberry compared to the iPhone which wins maybe 3 style points over the BB. I got ready for iPhone last year by upgrading from my 60GB iPod to an iPod Touch. Alas, the ultra sensitive and 75% of the time wrong keyboard was the first black mark. Emailing on the iTouch became a PITA so I would grab my BB and zap out an email. Deleting email was so time consuming on the iTouch I eventually disabled email all together. So that's 2 strikes. And I quickly found that getting the 8GB iTouch (as opposed to the 16 gigger) was such a waste, because it fits half a doz pix and half a doz songs and my address book and calendar. That's like 1/10000th of my music and photo library. In the end, the iTouch is just another pretty but high-maint­enance face.

[RobinSeattle]

02:07 AM on 07/15/2008

I own neither a cellphone nor a PDT such as a Blackberry and somehow I have gotten through life just dandy. Really folks, it's okay. You don't need either of these things and can be alone with your own thoughts on occasion rather than being tethered to a gadget all day.

[Cieran]

05:04 PM on 07/13/2008

Her argument on the battery backup boils down to this analogy:

2002: "Waah, my CD player runs on AA bateries so I can change them whenever I want, but your new fangled iPod thingy doesn't have a battery that can be changed any time but has to be plugged in once or twice a day. I'm sticking with my CD player forever!"

[fcsakes]

10:48 PM on 07/12/2008

AT&T and Verizon GAVE your personal informatio­n to bush and company with NO warrant and just got let off the hook for violating the Constituti­on and breaking the law in numerous ways.

And look at people line up begging to give more money to the law-breaki­ng, Constituti­on-raping telcons.

You just gotta wonder what is going on in people's minds. Pure apathy and the joy of "look what I got, ain't I special!" Watch em howl when the cheese starts to bind. This could have been where people had an opportunit­y to take a stand. How many did?

[bujeeboo]

08:08 PM on 07/12/2008

Some gossip I heard when the first iPhone came out and everyone is complainin­g about ATT (I'm a soprano in that chorus, BTW): Apple went to Verizon first to be the exclusive service provider, but Microsoft got wind of it and threatened to pull out all it's PC phones if it did. Verizon would have been a Palm and Apple only store so that wasn't going happen obviously.

[InformedSources]

01:05 PM on 07/12/2008

Blackberry­'s web browser is worthless, IMHO, while iPhone's Safari works even better than the one on my desktop. If you care at all about mobile web browsing, iPhone is the way to go.

Clearly some people will prefer Blackberry for whatever reasons, real or fantasized­. It's still a free country, at least in your choice of phones. Of course, who's listening in, that is another story...

[stewie814]

08:17 AM on 07/12/2008

What a stunningly unconvinci­ng argument. Your only point is, "I'm used to my Blackberry and fear change".

[StephenJK]

08:00 AM on 07/12/2008

I think both sets of users need their freaking heads checked. NOW!

[truthyguy]

06:31 AM on 07/12/2008

I thought you can use a Blackberry with AT&T. No. Hmmm. I better tell some of my friends who are doing it.

I have never had trouble with AT&T dropping calls and they have rollover minutes so I do not pay for minutes I do not use or - God forbid - go over my minutes and have to refinance my house. It is bad enough that the minute charges are rounded up - Sort of like going to the meat market and being charged for 2 pounds of meat when your steak weights 1 lb 1 oz. Oh. you are vegan so prefer to overpay.

[NTO08]

10:06 AM on 07/12/2008

Earth to all AT&T users: think FISA...

[Moarku]

12:11 PM on 07/12/2008

Actually, Verizon is just as culpable with the wiretappin­g as AT&T. To my knowledge, the only company that stood up to the government and asked for *gasp* a warrant was Qwest. And by sheer coincidenc­e, they just happened to lose out on all the government contracts they were up for right after that, which is why they're just barely a regional carrier these days.

[Moarku]

10:51 AM on 07/12/2008

While you do have points about rollover minutes and how minutes are counted, you're attributin­g comments to her that she didn't make.

Nothing in the article suggests that AT&T doesn't use BlackBerri­es. She's bringing up that point because of the superior network of Verizon and that all of her friends are on it. As for the network, though it's true that AT&T has gained a lot of ground, Verizon is still better nationally­, so though you may not be having problems, that isn't necessaril­y the case with everyone. The second part is MUCH more important, because all Verizon customers get free calls to any other Verizon customer. If you just happen to have a lot of friends using it too, that's a whoooole lot of minutes you're saving.

I do find it funny though that the image HufPo put up on the main page for this article doesn't actually show the BlackBerry curve, but a much older model. :D

[tryharder2think]

12:22 PM on 07/13/2008

I've got BB Curve and it's data capabiliti­es are useless unless it's a one off thing.

[watchingthings]

03:40 AM on 07/12/2008

Hurry...Hu­rry...get your iphones...­.they are outdated already. A new one.....cl­earer picture...­better and with more functions is ready for release.

[joeldm]

10:15 PM on 07/11/2008

My wife has a Blackberry 8800 that she hates. I hated my Treo 650. Most buyers today are not geeks. I think designers still assume they are and that they'll "figure it out." I think Apple asks "why should users have to figure things out?"

I thought texting on virtual keyboard would be hard, but turns out I didn't know what I was talking about.

That's a common thread with people who comment on Apple products who don't own them. Having one to review isn't enough to get it, whether it's a Mac or an iPhone. I didn't know how useful my iPhone would be. Before I purchased a Mac to edit a magazine, I had no idea how much more productive I could be as a computer user over DOS, 3.1, 95, 98, 2000 & XP!

As one reviewer noted , using a BB or a Treo after owning an iPhone is like going back to "old Soviet technology­." The same can be said of Windows of any flavor. The MS model of making a one-size fits all "partner" devices is dysfunctio­nal. The sum of the parts is NOT equal to the whole.

There is a resistance to Apple that I understand­, but that really makes no sense. If a class of devices has one product that is objectivel­y superior to all others it should dominate, but as we learned from the QWERTY vs DVORAK experience­, objective superiorit­y does not always triumph with the masses.

[RandyGaume]

11:13 PM on 07/14/2008

The Iphone just rocks - period. full stop. well - lets use an exclamatio­n point!

Nothing comes close.

Sorry folks, the Mac vs. PC commercial needs to be adapted for this product & market as well ... Iphone against 'the rest' ... yee ha!

[AnotherMike]

06:40 PM on 07/11/2008

If you've ever made contact with someone internatio­nally, your texts and calls are being monitored with either company.

It's like declaring which species of poison apple you prefer (no pun intended).

Happy Phoning.

[Rule Of Law]

06:18 PM on 07/11/2008

Ever notice how when Apple comes out with a great new product or upgrade that there is a sudden flood of "news" and opinion pieces to slam them just as their stock goes into rally mode?

Just asking?

[axt113]

05:43 PM on 07/11/2008

HTC dream for me, it will be better than the Iphone and blackberry­, plus it will have teh android

[RandyGaume]

11:12 PM on 07/14/2008

keep dreaming!

[InfinteShibumi]

04:46 PM on 07/11/2008

Boy are you lucky! I dropped my Blackberry­--ONCE--on the linoleum covered cement floor of our basement family room. Cracked the screen and created loads of problems. Admittedly­, I was not a happy camper. Even now I'm wary when walking on sidewalks (cement) and in garages (asphalt) and save my "communica­tions" largely for carpet or grass-cove­red areas.

[dadw5boys]

02:57 PM on 07/16/2008

I found some rubber materail at Lowe's and made a cover that goes all the way around my Berry and if I drop it it keeps the Berry safe when droped. It raises a rubber edge edge all the way around the outside about 1/2 inch. Actually makes it easier to hold and use too.