The Alchemist on 11/1/2007 at 19:35
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
I don't understand why Apple is acting like this is a breakthrough product, or why the media is making a big deal about it. Blackberry has been releasing a less shiny version of the same thing for years, and it costs significantly less. I'll admit I was an Apple fanboy back in the ][ days, simply because the ridiculous pricing was balanced by having something that outperformed the competition. Now it seems their ridiculous product pricing means you a.) have something that says "Apple" on it b.) you own something that does less than what the competition offered first and for less money, but is shinier.
Well, correct me if I'm wrong, cause I'm no blackberry expert, but this is how I feel about it from the perspective of someone relatively informed:
A) It's pretty, and it has a neat UI. The way you interact with it is fun, too.
Blackberries are ugly, hulking beasts that I hate to look at let alone fumble with. I detest those huge keypads they have in the bottom with miniature little buttons on it. Ugly and hard to use.
B) Blackberries have email and web yeah, but the email only reads text afaik, I havent seen a blackberry that can load images from email but yeah that features doesnt do jack for me either. The web part though, is very interesting to me. I've seen how you browse the web on a blackberry and it's loltastic. lynx anyone? The iPhone has safari, it works just like safari on a mac. And it's smart too, they demonstrate how you can load up a page, zoom in to the area of interest, rotate the phone to landscape mode so it has more space, and pan around the website as you like. Also, clicking a link only involves pressing the area of the screen where the link is at, not fumbling with a stylus or tabbing through, which is annoying as hell. Face it a phone isnt a great place to browse so the easier the better, and nothing is easier than just pressing the link with your finger. Also, the alt tabbing is really cool. I'm pretty sure theres nothing anywhere near as functional as that on a BB. Correct me if I'm wrong. And even if I am wrong, I think apple's interface is just really sleek.
C) Video/pictures. I dont know of a BB that plays video, especially with as nice of a UI as the iPhone, and the ability to switch to landscape mode for a good widescreen display not to mention the fact that the entire phone is a screen so it's much easier to look at. The gallery thing is nice too but that I doubt I'll use much if ever so I wont bother defending it.
D) The mp3 capabilities of the phone are hot. Browsing music/selecting what to listen to seems to be pretty sleek, I hate ipods and the whole rotating touch pad area thing but touching the screen itself to browse and select is nice and easy. Not to mention the whole album panning mode/etc is pretty damn cool if not entirely impractical.
E) Built in mothafuckin google earth with satellite imagery and google search mothafucka!
It's a phone, it's not going to change the world or any shit like that. But for a phone, it's a nice fucking phone. In some places it has new features which are neat, in other places it just does the same thing a lot of other phones do, but it does it sexier. :P It's horribly expensive, so I can't buy one, but if it were cheaper I'd definitely prefer this piece of pure glossy plastic sexiness over those Blackberries.
Jason Moyer on 11/1/2007 at 20:08
Quote Posted by The Alchemist
A) It's pretty, and it has a neat UI. The way you interact with it is fun, too.
Blackberries are ugly, hulking beasts that I hate to look at let alone fumble with. I detest those huge keypads they have in the bottom with miniature little buttons on it. Ugly and hard to use.
Sorry for seeming like I'm disregarding the rest of your post, but this is exactly what I prefer most about the Blackberry. Tactile response. Being able to use something without constantly having to devote my full attention to it. Ever driven a stick-shift car? Imagine if BMW or someone replaced the gear stick or paddles with a touch-screen LCD...you'd have to devote more attention than is actually necessary in order to drive your car. Instead of feeling a paddle and clicking it or reaching down, grabbing the gear shift, and moving it into gear purely by feel, you'd have to either blindly press at the LCD until you hit the right spot or look down and divert attention from driving.
That's the way I feel about using an mp3 player/phone/organizer with a touch screen - I don't want to have to look at the screen while I'm using my phone, I want to be able to look at a phone number and dial at the same time because I'm getting tactile feedback from the phone. Same thing with using my car stereo or a competing MP3 player vs an iPod with the touch dial. I don't want to have to divert my attention from what I'm doing to select a new song or flip through songs, I want to be able to reach down, know where the button for "next song" is, feel it, and press it. While still focusing on something else.
A touch screen is nice on certain things, but not on others. To me, the lack of tactile feedback that's present on the iPod/iPhone is just an example of Apple's current "golly gee, isn't that shiny" philosophy. Form over function in something that I'm primarily interested in from a functionality standpoint.
The Alchemist on 11/1/2007 at 20:57
I can't disagree with that Jason, it's very true. I often send text messages or make calls without actually looking at the phone because you can feel it out. But sacrificing that for the other features is something I'm comfortable with I guess. My roommate for example just got himself a pda/phone thing and it's a bit obnoxious because of the stylus but when I use his phone I dont exactly miss not being able to feel my way past it. I'll think of it as a deterrent from blindly typing people messages while driving. :p
Matthew on 11/1/2007 at 21:09
It seems spiffy, but I doubt it'll offer me much that my current phone can't, as it's a fairly high-spec one itself.
Jason Moyer on 11/1/2007 at 21:37
Quote Posted by The Alchemist
But sacrificing that for the other features is something I'm comfortable with I guess.
(
http://www.blackberrypearl.com/)
I might be missing something, but I don't think the iPhone can do anything that this can't. Plus, it has a camera and an interface that I personally prefer. And it's cheaper.
The Alchemist on 11/1/2007 at 22:15
Well for one I hate the way those things look, and I hate using those keypads. More over, the browser on this thing is one of those mini browsers I bet, which I never even bother using. The iPhone has Safari just like OSX. Other than that I see this phone can do pretty much everything the iPhone can, but I still think the iPhone does it sexier. :P Don't get me wrong, I'm not hyped about the iPhone because I think it's completely revolutionary or new, I just like the way it does what it does. I was under the impression the video and google maps were unique but I see the Pearl plays video and has its own mapping system. I've played around with Blackberries before and I just didn't like the way the interfaces worked or looked though. The iPhone looks like it would be fun just to use. The Pearl is about $150 cheaper than the iPhone though. :erm:
jay pettitt on 11/1/2007 at 23:13
Hating those keypads is one thing. They were however a gigantic leap in the right direction from when virtual keyboards ruled the roost. And good god they're better than number pads too.
Browsers and phones are a sore point. But the reason you get funny browsers is because websites don't work on tiny screens. Safari on iPhone is very spinny and zoomy and and all, but my guess is it's just another annoying phone browser.
Getting rid of the stylus is nice though. Normally I prod my screen with my thumb, but every now and then there's a fiddly button (scroll bars are a good example) and I have to (verb of stylus?) style. Accepting that fiddly buttons aren't allowed is probably the thing that made me warm and gooey the mostest.
Also, what happened to to the 'find' function?
Zerker on 11/1/2007 at 23:49
If I could get the device on its own, without a camera, phone plan, and I could load custom software to play Ogg files and stuff, then I'd get one. In this capacity, it looks like it could operate as a damn fine PDA. But then again, who knows when that sort of thing could happen..
Aerothorn on 12/1/2007 at 01:11
Also, you're forced to buy 2 years of phone service right off the bat. Bullshit. Yes, this is common practice in the cell-phone industry, but it's still bullshit (screws the consumer if they end up being unhappy with the experience). If Apple wants to play better-than-the-competition they need to start breaking tradition where it matters.
Rug Burn Junky on 12/1/2007 at 02:46
Jason's absolutely dead right on the money: Tactile response. An all-software phone interface is neat in theory, but it's just a gimmick, and fucking sucks for real world use.
Not that the blackberry is that much better. The menu system is convoluted, the trackball is not precise enough, and many features just aren't thought through (with my old phones, I could hit keyboard lock from any menu by holding down one button, always knowing that my phone was safe without taking it out of my pocket. With the blackberry, I've managed to do such wonderful things as accidently call my mom and dad 20 times in an hour while out partying at a bar. Fucking Oops).
If you want an all in one phone, the best one has been around for years: Sony Ericsson's P series. Only thing it's missing is a 3G data pipe, but it does EVERYTHING that each of those phones do, and better, with a far less proprietary system than either RIM or Apple provide. I had full data browsing, bluetooth tethered to my laptop, camera, video, games, MP3's (with keypad control), full-text flip keyboard, touch screen/stylus interface, and a rocker thumbdial interface (more interface options thatn any smart phone out there), full push e-mail, along with 2GB memory, and a totally open Symbian system with tons of 3rd party apps: two years ago.
Apple and RIM are playing catch-up. And neither of them have done it yet.
