In the last 9 months, I've done the full tour of mobile phone operating systems and carriers. And now, with a new job that requires a Blackberry, I'm back just about exactly where I started. My full tour of smartphones has included:
- An iPhone4 on AT&T, which was amazing in a number of different ways. Slim, beautiful, and solidly crafted, the iPhone 4 was easily the nicest phone I've ever owned from a physical design standpoint. Layer on top of that the single best operating system and app environment on the market and you get something truly great.
- A Motorola Droid 2 Global. Ugh. Awful. Android works well, but lacks the polish of the iOS. Motorola's Droid 2 Global was large, plasticky, and the battery lasted even less than the iPhone - much less than the iPhone.
- A Motorola Defy. Nice. Rugged Android with good battery life. Sluggish, however, due to a weak CPU.
- A Nexus S. Fast with a great display, but still unable to shake the plastic feel. Nothing quite gets you back to the iPhone experience. And crippled by T-Mobile's network.
And, finally, a return to the Blackberry. This time a Torch 9800 on AT&T. The Torch is no bigger than most of the other phones, but has a keyboard that makes it easy to pound out messages on. Returning to the Blackberry has reminded me of it's charms, namely:
- Fast typing. Email is the heart of my business. That means typing out messages.
- Fast everything. The Blackberry OS is one of the snappier and more responsive operating systems.
- Best-In-Class PIM functionality. The core PIM functions on a Blackberry, which represent 90% of the smart in smartphone for business users remain the best in the business.
RIM's recent financials show that the company is losing the marketshare battle to Apple and Google. And while I'm required to use the Blackberry now, I know my employer is moving towards a more open choice. Will I go back to the iPhone? Well see how the iPhone 5 looks if and when we're allowed to choose.
 |
| Back to the keyboard. Photo by sk8geek |
No comments:
Post a Comment