I am a certified, card carrying, diehard BlackBerry Addict and I can tell you that I will buy the Apple iPhone day one even though it is on Cingular. I have never said this about any BlackBerry… not even the BlackBerry Pearl and I know that I am one of many BlackBerry users that will buy an iPhone.
RIM doesn’t have to worry about loosing me as a customer because I am a business user. I am, however, somewhat concerned about the consumer BlackBerry users that will bite the Apple. Chances are these folks won’t float two phone bills.
There is no question in my mind that Apple will acquire more new first time consumers than RIM. The bigger question is will Apple convert existing consumer BlackBerry users into iPhone users.
Will you take a bite of the Apple?
I think this is a very valid question. For a lot of people, the cost of this device is going to be just as prohibitive as a new QWERTY Blackberry (without a contract) or more. I think for a lot of consumers the selling point will be the price of the data plan that Cingular decides to couple with the iPhone. The more consumer-friendly pricing of the BIS data plans got a lot of people who were undecided about the Blackberry to take the plunge.
Since Cingular is not selling this device (at all) without a 2 year contract extension, switching carriers may be an issue for some customers. I’m a Cingular customer and I know first hand that Cingular can be pretty stringent about the credit requirements to open a post-paid account. Add a $200+ deposit to an already $500+ phone and an unknown monthly data charge and you may scare away a lot of those who are straddling the fence. Some people who get corporate discounts might be thinking that they can get some money shaved off of the cost of the iPhone, but I get the feeling that if they’re not offering it without a 2 year contract, some of the normal corporate discounts may also not apply here.
For about 2 hours yesterday I convinced myself I was getting an iPhone. When reality sunk in and I was using my 8700c, I realized that Push email is a huge issue for me and when you combine that with the iPhone only taking advantage of EDGE data speeds it was a deal breaker. If I’m going to shell out those kinds of beans at least bump my data speed up so I can really take advantage of the built in camera on the iPhone!
I think if I decide to switch to an iPhone I’m going to have to wait around for the second version. I already have a 60gb iPod, so Apple is going to have to work harder to get me into an iPhone.
No doubt they will sell quite a few. For many though it just won’t make sense. My 8800 (to come) and my Shuffle suit my needs just fine. Can you see working out with one of these? They will be cool and functional for the most part. Not sure about the keyboard. For secure, push email though, RIM is safe. Even in a corporate environment that doesn’t go for RIM, they won’t go for this due to security. WM5 is the other choice. So won’t this be a higher end consumer?
For me the iPhone is a in-between device. It does a lot of things well, but that’s not good enough for my personal use. The iPod functionality is great, and I suppose if they came out with a nice Bluetooth car charger/dock for this device, it will make your car rides a lot more enjoyable. Personally I can’t see myself working out with any iPod just because I would be too concerned with the device and not concerned enough about my workout.
I think the iPhone will succeed where Blackberry still hasn’t sunk its claws in like in the academic community among students (namely undergrads). If the keyboard is as good as people say, it could serve well for quick note taking in class, you could check your email on the go, carry around a small portion of your music collection, and run other OS X based widgets for additional productivity. If a sound recording adapter was added to the iPhone it could also be used to capture notes and meeting information as well.
I guess we’re going to have to see what market segments embrace it once it hits stores in June.
Elise,
You make a lot of very valid points. The price will be a barrier for a lot of consumers. I think that if I just used my BlackBerry for personal use and had to choose between a brand new BlackBerry 8800 on Verizon and the iPhone on Cingular, I wouldn’t be so quick to say that I am going to get one day one.
I didn’t realize that Cingular won’t even allow you to pay full price without a 2 year contract. I had envisioned many consumers buying the iPhone, but not actually using the phone functionality. From what we are hearing, the OS X, internet browsing, wifi, and wide screen format would make many consumers want this thing becasue they view it as the next iPod.
I was kinda shocked myself that there would be no non-subsidized (contract-less) price for the iPhone. I don’t recall Cingular doing this in the past for any device but here is an article that specifically states that they are requiring the 2 year contract ahead of time (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=operating_systems&articleId=9007780&taxonomyId=89&intsrc=kc_top).
I think the reason why the iPhone is not being offered without a contract is because Cingular is subsidizing a much larger portion of the cost of each iPhone than they do even of the most expensive Blackberries and smartphones they carry. Cingular may be trying to sponge off of some of the good image that Apple seems to maintain among consumers, especially before they go into another re-brand now that the big merger with AT&T and Bell South is complete.
Of course the average consumer is not going to see it that way. They’re just going to see Cingular as trying to trap them into service for two years, rather than helping them out with a device that could realistically be priced at $899 or higher. Lets not forget that within the warranty period of the phone, Cingular’s Warranty Exchange program will replace the device with a new or factory refurbished device with virtually no questions asked. This is not a major loss for the company for a regular phone or even a moderately priced smartphone, but when Cingular has to start replacing hundreds of them every month after they’ve been in the wild for a few months, it will start to hurt their pockets.
I think there are people like you have said that think this is simply the next generation iPod and they will be sorely mistaken once they try to jam a few movies onto that 4gb of storage space along with pictures, and all of the other bits and bytes a PIM throws all over a smartphone. I hope that this is, however, predictive of a forthcoming iPod with Video. The size of the screen and the form factor is sweet. If you stripped all of the phone goodness and concentrated on the media goodness (perhaps keeping the WiFi and the camera), I would definitely trade in my 60gb iPod if they could get the sucker up to 80 or 100gb to start.
I will definitely be buying one. I love my Blackberry, but RIM just does not do anything for us Apple users. Yes, they made PocketMac free for us. Woohoo, it still doesn’t let me tether on an Apple. Why are there no drivers for any Blackberrys for the Apple platform? With that being said, I feel that RIM just doesn’t feel Apple users are worth their time to write some drivers. Therefore, I will be buying an Apple iPhone and saying goodbye to my BlackBerry. I wish it wasn’t so, but I need a device that is going to be fully functional with my Mac, because I really don’t want to reboot everytime I want to tether. (Intel Dual-Booting Mac) I hope someone at RIM reads this and decides to write some drivers before the iPhone comes out.
As much as I love my blackberry, there have always been a few drawbacks to it, because I have been an apple user since day one. I bought my first apple
computer (a purple imac) when I was 10 years old.
The fact that it’s apple making the phone and I know that everything on my
computer will synch perfectly with it sounds like a dream come true. I really
have always disliked that blackberries, despite the pocketmac synch manager,
never really synchred that well with my computers.
I already know that I like apple products because they’re so user friendly, and
the iPhone can do everything a blackberry can do and more, and still better, so
I am going to go out and buy the iPhone the first day it comes out.
All my waiting around with Cingular (for 10 years) and Apple (about 10 years as
well) is finally paying off, and I’m getting the phone of my dreams.
Sorry blackberry, we had some good times, but now there are better things for
me as a mac user.
If you’re a student or someone who used public transit you definitely should get one of these. For us folk of the work force who drive to work and need our vehicle to visit clients, when the heck will you have time to play with all the features of this phone? This device by Apple, which I am not that impressed by it’s design, pretty predictable and boring in fact, will not target current Blackberry users. It’s a totally different market.
Chace, I think that you are part of the majority. So far it seems like most consumer BlackBerry users plan on sticking with their BlackBerrys.
First time smartphone buying consumers may be a different story however.
i can honestly say that i will NEVER purchase (at least this first version of) the iphone, even though I am an avid mac user. The dealbreaker for me is the battery. The ipod-esque unremovable battery has the potential for certain drawbacks, of course, this all depends on the device’s quality of workmanship. Many have experienced battery problems, be it an inability to maintain a charge, inability to charge at all, etc. If problems with the battery occur in your iphone, you are stuck without a phone for a week while the good folks at apple kindly disassemble your life and ship you back a refurbished one. Just to note, hard resets…yeah those can’t happen. And think about how much the battery in an ipod is impacted by charging over the course of two years, imagine how much more of a problem this will be for the iphone with heavier use.
I think the one of the biggest drawbacks for this new phone is the fact that it is all on the touch screen. In this day of email and text messaging, some sort of touchable keyboard is the best way to go. I have had a number of devices over the years (blackberry, treo, XV6700) and have always found a functional keyboard the best. I have most recently had the 6700 on VZW and even though it has a great keyboard underneath, the touch screen-only front in “phone mode” really gets annoying. It is constantly smudged and slow-responding (which is probably because of the horrible windows OS).
I know I will not be going for the iPhone. I currently have a 30gb and a shuffle from iPod, so I do not need another. Also, banging this thing around at the gym cannot be good for the life of it. I am personally waiting for the 8800 to come out on VZW, so hopefully I will get it in the next year or so the way they handle things. I really wish VZW and RIM would get their act together.
I too am an avid Mac user since the late 80s and am enjoying the recent performance boosts and flexibility that Intel chips offer. I always say to myself, never buy the first version of anything, however, I’m so tempted to buy the iPhone. I currently have an 8700c and while I would love to have 3G, the fact is that I haven’t experienced it yet and the Wi-Fi would satisfy. The OS X interface is wonderful.
I am alarmed by the possibility of losing the ability to have my work Exchange mail pushed to my mobile device. Cingular has the BIS now and allows for the Mail Connector app to push emails to my phone from work. Granted, at my work we have Web Mail access to Exchange Server accounts for email; I could easily access the web client I suppose. That would be extremely annoying though to do that at certain points of the day. I’ve been waiting for the new iPod so to speak since I bought my 4th Gen 30 GB iPod Photo almost two years ago.
I recently thought about how I use my 8700c and in what situations I use it in. Below, I have placed the pros and cons of each device based on my usage.
BlackBerry 8800:
Pros:
-Ability to receive work email as soon as I receive it.
-Full size keyboard
-Can browse the web
-Can install QuickPlayer and Google Maps
-Setup different ring profiles and exceptions for certain contacts
-Can swap out a battery when one runs down on capacity
Cons:
-Inability to render full HTML email (EXTREMELY ANNOYING)
-Slow EDGE web access (email is fine I suppose)
-Full size keyboard not always needed
-3rd-party apps sometime crash and I have to reset my BB
-Accessing Contacts when Calling someone is very difficult when not in Recent Calls
-Photo app is lacking when it comes to Mac sync usage
-Limited Mac support
iPhone:
Pros:
-It’s fresh and a new experience to the mobile phone
-Full HTML email in a mobile phone (FINALLY!)
-Touchscreen (of course)
-Easy to use and familiar OS X interface
Cons:
-Exchange email support is questionable
-I can’t sync my Outlook/Entourage Calendar appointments
-Keyboard function doesn’t look user-friendly and will take some getting used to
-Should be able to see the full-size keyboard on screen when in landscape mode
-EDGE Web Access
-Can’t extend battery life with additional battery
So in summary, here is what each device would have to include for me to stay with either:
Apple iPhone: Full Outlook synchronization and Exchange “push” email for my work account and a full-size keyboard in landscape mode; 3G access; extra battery or improve battery usage time.
BlackBerry (8800/8900?): Ability to view HTML emails; 3G access; longer battery life
RIM doesn’t care about mac people.