I know that this is about the 1912th time that we’ve talked about the iPhone vs. the BlackBerry since the announcement of the iPhone SDK came out, however, big time websites keep bringing it up and since I love a good argument, we will do the same.
I do, however, want to take a bit of a different perspective this time around. I am not so much concerned with if the iPhone will squash the BlackBerry or the visa versa. What is really interesting is that every article about smartphones lately seems to be only about the BlackBerry, the iPhone, or both.
It is almost as if you don’t, in some form or fashion, have fruit in your name, you aren’t even worth adding to the debate. Have the iPhone and the BlackBerry separated themselves so far from the rest of the pack that the others aren’t even worth mentioning?
For all of you BlackBerry users that were worried RIM was going to close up shop because they couldn’t possibly compete once the iPhone SDK becomes available, don’t fret. Apple has decided to allow BlackBerrys to be sold at least through the rest of the year by locking down their SDK tighter than Verizon could ever lock down a mobile device.
That is an awful lot of sarcasm, I know, but I couldn’t resist. Two days ago we found out that the iPhone SDK was going to add some pretty cool features and functionality to the iPhone and many people were already claiming that Apple had somehow won the war for smartphone supremacy in the enterprise. Today we find out that the iPhone SDK has some pretty serious limitations, namely no background processes for third party apps, that will give the iPhone less teeth in the enterprise than many other BlackBerry killers that never panned out.
I’ve said it before and I’ll it again. The iPhone very well may end up on top by the time it is all said and done. That day, however, certainly isn’t today, won’t be tomorrow, and probably won’t be anytime in the near, foreseeable future.
I am sure that everyone is going to be talking about the iPhone SDK for some time to come and and certainly the doom and gloomers that think that the BlackBerry is about to go the way of the Palm Pilot. I know, for a fact, however, that many a BlackBerry user is just as hooked on their BlackBerry as much as iPod users or hooked on their iPods and they simply won’t switch because they love the things so much.
There is no way that RIMarkable could have survived for 4 years if the BlackBerry didn’t have an awfully strong following and I just don’t see tens of millions of BlackBerry users dumping there devices simply because you will be able to get email from Exchange pushed to the iPhone 4-6 months or so from now.
Initially this post was going to be a top 10 list why most BlackBerry users won’t be switching any time soon, however, I couldn’t narrow the list down. So many RIMarkable readers send me emails every day about why the BlackBerry is for them that even if I could narrow the list down, it just wouldn’t seem right to do so.
That being said, I’ve decided to pose the question to the BlackBerry faithful.
Why won’t you dump your BlackBerry for an iPhone?
I know that some BlackBerry users will switch. Some BlackBerry users already have. To quote from a Heath Ledger movie, however, many BlackBerry users feel that the iPhone has “been weighed, the iPhone been measured, and the iPhone has been found wanting.”
I was just reading a Times Online article talking about the how the iPhone has jumped to third in the global smartphone market behind Nokia and Research in Motion worldwide and a firm second behind RIM in the U.S.
In a little over six months, Apple’s iPhone has moved up to the number 2 spot in smartphone sales. I know that this is not new news, but, for some reason, this article got me to thinking about just how bad Windows Mobile really must be.
I know a lot of people don’t like Microsoft, however, unlike Palm, the company, generally, isn’t poorly run. How does a company with the resources of Microsoft allow their product to limp along like Windows Mobile has, not just recently, but for years?
I know that Microsoft has been known to miss a market or think there is market when there really isn’t, however, they know and have known that smartphones are going get bigger and bigger over time and that it is a space which they should be dominating.
Apple is Apple, but, still… How does Apple jump to second in just over six months when Microsoft has been in the game for well over 10 years?
Opinion Research Corporation did a study that has revealed that smartphones, excluding the BlackBerry and the iPhone, were the most returned gadget during the holiday season.
21%, just over one fifth, of all smartphones purchased that weren’t named BlackBerry or iPhone went back to the store, primarily because people just couldn’t set the darn things up.
Sometimes it’s pretty cool to be in the same category as the iPhone.
[Source]
I’ve always thought that Apple, from the very beginning, intended for the iPhone to contend in the corporate world for smart phone dominance, however, I figured it would be on a 2.0 or maybe even a 3.0 version of the device. It would, however, seem, that AT&T thinks that the iPhone 1.0 is ready for the enterprise right now.
AT&T is now offering the iPhone to business customers.
The plan breakdown, lifted directly from Engadget, is as follows:
- 2 year commitment, voice service, and data plan required
- $45 per month for unlimited data, visual voice mail, and 200 SMSes; $55 ups the SMS limit to 1,500; $65 for unlimited everything
- An extra $25 per month nabs a 20MB monthly data plan good for 29 countries, $60 per month ups the limit to 50MB
- Activate by 31 March and qualified accounts will receive a service credit of $25 per month good through 31 December, 2008
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Simon found an interesting article about how SAP is releasing the next mobile version of their business management software for the iPhone before they do so for the BlackBerry.
You can read the article over on Reuters, and it is true, SAP software for the iPhone will be available a few weeks before it will be for the BlackBerry and other mobile devices, like the Treo. Maybe I am just being short sighted, however, I still just don’t see the iPhone as we know it as a serious business platform.
I have to wonder if SAP is just catching some of the Buzz surrounding the iPhone by creating a portal optimized for the Safari Browser found on the iPhone and making a big announcement about it. If that was the plan, it is definitely working.
Research in Motion co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis didn’t actually say that the iPhone keyboard sucks, however, he did say, “The iPhone has severe limitations when it comes to effortless typing.”
“Big Mike” does bring up a valid point, but, so would anyone who came back at him with, “What about the BlackBerry 8800?”, but I digress.
Lazaridis, did, however, tell European reporters that “Apple undeniably accelerated the drive to smart phones. It educated the consumer to the benefits of these types of phones. We saw our sales go up with AT&T after the iPhone came out.”
So, Lazaridis isn’t really impressed with the iPhone, however, he is grateful to Steve Jobs for hyping the thing up as much as he did.
[Source]
You guys know that I love the BlackBerry cannot wait to get my new BlackBerry Pearl from Verizon, however, I will give credit where credit is due. Time Magazine named the Apple iPhone Invention of the Year and I honestly think that it was a good choice.
Time lists many of the same faults with the iPhone that we’ve listed here on RIMarkable. It’s too big, the keyboard isn’t designed for serious texting, it has no enterprise email support, and, the biggie for me, is supported by AT&T only.
All that being said, the iPhone is a heck of a device and is changing the mobile industry as we know it for the better.
[Source]
