From BlackBerry to the IPhone 4

Yes.  It finally happened.  With both excitement and reluctance, I walked into the Apple Store on 5th Avenue one week ago, I put my BlackBerry Bold to rest and purchased a new Iphone 4.  Even though the phone had been out for almost 2 weeks, the place was booming with customers, with the wait something like 4 hours long!  Lucky for me my friend works at the store and hooked me up, and within 15 minutes, I had my Iphone up and running.  

So why the switch?  Well, I've had a BlackBerry for several years now.  I started with the Curve, and for the last 2 years I have had the Bold.  Even despite having used AT&T for my BlackBerry, I refused to give in to the Iphone craze.... At first at least.  Slowly everyone around me made the switch, and kept nagging me to get into the Iphone mix.  I held strong with my BlackBerry for years, defending it along with a few loyal BlackBerry owners.  I tried to plead my case when I would be probed on why I hadn't made the switch yet, citing features such as the BB Messenger, better battery life, keys, and the Email format.  But even the BB to Iphone converts claimed that the benefits of the Iphone outweigh its shortcomings, and that in the end, they were happy with the switch.  So after years of peer pressure,  personal interest, all the hype associated with the new iphone, and probably one of the biggest factors--that my Bold started misbehaving and freezing on me and doing weird things (probably because I dropped it so much)-- I pulled the trigger.

So now, as a longterm BlackBerry user who has just made the switch to the IPhone, the following is my initial impression, likes, and dislikes when comparing the IPhone to the BlackBerry...

Dislkes:

So what do I not like or what do I miss about my BB?

1. Blackberry Messenger (BBM) - I think all BB users can attest to how great BBM is.  It is fast, it is easy, its a great way to msg other BB users.  Better than text, as it works almost like a chat room. You can do group chat, send media, and it is super fast.  Also, you can msg with friends and family abroad at realtime speed, and for no extra cost. Its only fault was telling others when you read their msg (so you couldn't hide from them), but overall it was a great feature.  Of course it only works between other blackberry users, so If you don't have any friends with a BB , it is useless.  

2. The Keypad - So my backberry had push button keys, whereas the Iphone has touchscreen pad.  I guess this is partly personal preference, but I definitely prefer the keys (at least 1 week into the Iphone).  It was much faster, easier, and more user friendly.  I also find I make a lot more errors with the touch pad (because obviously you cannot feel the keys!)  I also have big fingers, so that could play a role.  My speed of texting and emailing on the blackberry was amazing, now I am slow and I make a lot of errors on the Iphone.  Also, the autocorrect feature on the Iphone I am not used to.  Us BB users like to shorthand words, and the Iphone autocorrect will totally screw you up if you try that.  The benefit of the touchscreen is it is less bulky, and takes up much less room, so gives a sleeker design. I find using the horizantal format is a tad easier, but overall for me, I miss my keys.

3. Email - So the email setups are very different in the two, and I guess there are pros and cons.  The blackberry is certainly designed to be email friendly.  The messages arrive lightning fast, they are downloaded to your blackberry so you can easily find them at anytime, even when offline, and you can compose emails easily even when offline like on the subway or something.  The downside is it doesn't support HTML emails very well.  The IPhone email setup is such that it will communicate with the server everytime you want to check email.  So the msgs are not downloaded to the phone.  Therefore everytime you must wait for it to update, and you need a data connection (mobile or WIFI) to do so. So if you are offline, you canot see any of your emails, even the old ones.  You also cannot compose emails when you have no connection.  Also, I often get a lot of messages that are missed or improperly received when it attempts to download,  and overall it is pretty slow when compared to the BB.  The bonus is that the mssages come in full HTML, and it organizes them by thread and conversations, which is nice (the BB doesnt do that)

5. SMS - I don't like the fact that there is no timestamps on the BBM text messaging.  IT is nice that the format is easily setup by conversations, so everytime you try to msg a contact, you'll see the full history, but how hard is it to timestamp every message?? I find this very annoying.

4. Battery - The battery on the Blackberry was much longer lasting, hands down.  Even when using 3G. 

I'm sure there are other things, but those are what I can think of so far...

So.. What do I like about the IPhone?

Likes:

1. IPod - Obviously the Iphone doubles as an Ipod.  The BB media setup was pretty crappy.  And the Iphone hooks up with ITunes so it is easy, and it is fast, and it is user friendly.  You can also access the Itunes store on the Iphone at anytime, so it is great.

2. Web Browsing - Hands down much better on the Iphone.  It was clearly designed to be HTML and web browser friendly.  Mobile sites or regular HTML sites, it is very user friendly and fast.  The displays are great, and media online such as Youtube or Facebook photos etc. are fantastic.

3. Networking - Although both have 3G, the Iphone's WIFI setup process is much easier, and user friendly.  It has you up and running in no time, whereas with the blackberry it was not as easy to set up, and I often had problems with hit.

4. Camera - The camera on the iphone is much better, as is the video. Both make it easy to share pics and videos, but Iphone's quality is better.  The new one even has a camera on the face side, so you can easily take self pics as well!

5. Syncing - The syncing process is again way better with the Iphone.  I have a MAC, so it may be a little different syncing BB's with a MAC.  But even when I had my PC, I remember it being a little more annoying, and I know this because I barely synced my blackberry.  i'm sort of lazy, and the Iphone makes my life easy. I plug it in, and it syncs.  If i need to make changes, ITunes makes it very easy to do so.

6. Apps - Of course the huge deal with the Iphone is the apps.  And they are pretty awesome.  You can find an app for anything. Some are free, some you pay for, but it is easy to find one and install one, you can do it within 2 minutes.  That is what makes the Iphone what it is, the ability to find any sort of add-on possible, from entertainment, to business, to travel, to medical, you name it.  And it is very user friendly. ANd surprisingly, no matter how many you add, it doesn't slow down your phone. (At least not yet...)  

7. New Features...  The Iphone 4 has some newer things, like Facetime video chat.  I don't know how practical that is, but it is pretty cool and I'm sure you can find a use for it.  The negative is that you need a WIFI connection as well as a phone signal for it to work..

...

I could probably go on, and as I use it more I'm sure more things will come to mind. But Even though there are a small number of things I listed under the dislikes section, they are high-yield and important features that I find have affected me so far.  The keypad is a big deal (I mean I text and send emails like a madman, so it has def slowed me down significantly).  The email setup has been annoying as well.  And lets be honest, those are key features for a phone. The web browsing is a big plus for the Iphone though, even though I use it less often on a day to day basis than texting and emails.

That being said, the bells and whistles of the IPhone are hard to resist, and make it a lot of fun and useful on many levels.  So I can definitely see for a strictly business standpoint, Blackberry must be the winner, simply because of the Email and Texting and Keypad ease and speed.  However, The breath of features and expandability of the Iphone give it a lot of pull and make it hard to resist.  Perhaps after some time I will adjust myself to the typing and Email format of the Iphone, and this learning curve may dramatically shift my views.  Though even despite these shortcomings, It would be hard to take back the Blackberry so quickly if given the option.  The IPhone is just to damn cool.

Comments

[T]

here's a hint: download whatsapp from the app store...it sorta simulates bb messenger. only problem is, you gotta get all your friends with iphones to download it too. but it's free text messaging and even has backgrounds that are like bb messenger!

[iphone unlock]

Great article, very unbiased. I know Perry vs. iPhone stuff has gotten hot in the past, considering I work for IBM I always will be forced to use Perry time where Perry vs. iPhone really relevant.

[Salvatiry Carlino]

Two years of using a BB is a long time, and it's okay if you replaced it with new one. Anyhow, you can still go back to using your BB if you really miss it! =)

[iPhone]

Congrats on the upgrade. The only thing i hate about iPhones or any other touch screen cell is that i can't dial a number when i'm driving. Before, i knew where the keys were and i was able to dial a number without looking at the phone.