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Feb 16, 08 - 10:52 am Comment from: John

Actually of all the non-Apple companies out there, I kind of hope RIM does well. Their products are pretty decent and I like the company, overall. Plus competition is good for Apple since it'll keep pushing them to produce better product!

That old Balckdingleberry is junk beside the iPhone anyway.

I'm sure the millions of people all over the world that have bought a RIM product disagree with you dingleberry-boy...

Feb 16, 08 - 11:21 am Comment from: Zune Tang®

I wouldn't know anything about a Blackberry, and I certainly don't care for an I-Phone. I use a Motorola Q because it has a full keyboard and it has Windows Mobile which supports my library of WMA files ripped in Windows Media Player. I was just rocking UFO's 'Lights Out' album just the other day. 'Misty Green and Blue' anyone?

Will somebody do these Canucks a favor and clue them in to the fact the I-Phone has only one button so it's pretty much useless. I'd hate to see them drive to the states, pay too much for Apple's good-for-eye-candy-only interface when they could be using a Windows Mobile phone. They're cheaper.

Your potential. Our passion.™

Feb 16, 08 - 11:34 am Comment from: qka

The BlackBerry mobile communications device is hard to beat in the corporate world, where it got its start

I was recently reading that the BlackBerry actually got its start as a consumer device, and that enough people smuggling it into corporations through the back door forced IT to support it.

Revisionist history reporters!

This is simply stupid. Anyone who predicts one or the other will win out with the other dying simply misunderstands the industry.

Globally about 1.2 billion phones are sold annually right now of which approximately 120-130 million are "smartphones". The smartphone segment is growing about 25-30% per year as more folks upgrade from voice only, text message devices to full fledged email, web, media capable devices.

Apple plans to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008 (<10% mkt share) and BB will sell 18-20 million devices (about 15% mkt share). So you have a growing pie AND very low mkt share for each - lots of room for growth which bodes well for BOTH iPhone that is awesome for web and media and BB which simply delivers a superior core communications product with media and web very mediocre.

I'm sure all the iFanatics will say some snide remark about the recent outage. This was due to an upgrade and the outage occurred for 3 hours. Remember RIM runs their own network that peers into about 400 cellular networks to deliver information instantly to the user devices. Over the past 9 years since BB has run the network there have been very, very few blackouts and every time they get the network up an running within hours. How many times has ATT experienced issues with their networks and there have been temporary service outages? It simply happens. RIM only gets the big press because of the intense use of their product.

iPhone no doubt is the coolest phone ever but people have different needs and the BB can coexist and serve different end users. I love my iPhone, but for my needs day to day I need my BB. When iPhone gets a true push, guaranteed delivery of emails queued at the network level (and not in the email server with a prompted sync), I'll use the iPhone. Until then it's iPhone for play and BB every other day. Now if you want to make some money go ahead and pick up shares in both companies. You'll be psyched in 2 years when these stocks have doubled or tripled. WORD!

Feb 16, 08 - 12:17 pm Comment from: ballonknot

@crazylegs

Apple plans to sell 10 million iPhones by the END of 2008, not IN 2008.

Get your facts straight.

As far as the recent BB outage. Considering all crackberry users always mention how much better it is because of instantaneous email, it is a big deal.

Feb 16, 08 - 12:20 pm Comment from: Crabs

You know, it's strage, people are always saying how huge Blackberry is amongst coprorate users, but never mention its massive impact with consumers. They are everywhere! And I don't mean with IT guys, or high-powered business men, I mean with 18-25 year old college students, or people recently out of college.

How do I know?

Well, I'm a 19 year old college student, and just with friends who come over to my house once a week or so, probably 10 people, I'd say 7 or 8 of them have a Blackberry. I was talking to my friend's boyfriend about it the other day, because he has one (and he's not part of that group of 10) and he said that almost everyone he knows has one.

Again, these are not people in the corporate world. These are consumers.

And I love the iPhone, if I could, I'd buy one, but between school and work and friends, I know 2 people with an iPhone.

Maybe I'm in an unusually Blackberry saturated market, I dunno. I wouldn't think Ogden, Utah would be a huge booming place for a corporate device, seeing as there might be one corporation based in Ogden, but I highly doubt it.

So I think the iPhone has a lot more ground to gain than people really realize. And I think people need to stop crying for corporate adoption, and maybe look a little into consumers as well.

@ballonknot

Believe it or not, you're wrong. You can go back and hear it in the keynote from last January. The statement is very clear. 1% of the 1 billion piece market in 2008 or 10 million. The "in 2008" is unmistakeable.

Full Disclosure: I was in your party for quite a while until I decided to go and watch the video for myself. Since then it's been stated clearly a number of other times. 10 million in 2008.

Thanks Zune Tang. I almost did the unthinkable.

Nope Shogun. In the Jan 2007 Keynote, Steve Jobs said they wanted to sell 10 million by the END of 2008.

Feb 16, 08 - 01:36 pm Comment from: Cubert

My brother thought that the Crackberry was the $#!T until he tried an iPhone for the first time.

Hey Shogun. I was wrong. He did say "in" 2008. It's at 1:17 in the iPhone video.

Feb 16, 08 - 01:42 pm Comment from: Macintosh

My girlfriend has a Blackberry that her work provided for her. Using the Internet and email is horrible, and nearly pointless.

No comparison to the iPhone at all.

Feb 16, 08 - 01:42 pm Comment from: Cubert

And, "RIM Job" joke in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.........

Feb 16, 08 - 01:51 pm Comment from: Hg Wells

Crabs, thanks for your insight. I do think you will be seeing things change at some point down the road though. I think everyone will see some strong moves by Apple as it introduces versions 2 and 3 of the iPhone. Holding so many patents, it will be tough for others to move forward as aggressively as Apple will be able to move.

Feb 16, 08 - 01:53 pm Comment from: GmanMac

@Crabs
on a two year buy the iPhone is cheaper than a $99 Blackberry Pearl. The unlimited data plan for blackberry is an extra $35.00 per month. For an iPhone it's only 20.00.

Blackberry 35@ 24 extra per data plan is 840 + 99.00 $950

iPhone 399 24 @ 20 = 879

As soon as the college age market figures that out look for the iPhone to take off in that market.

Feb 16, 08 - 02:24 pm Comment from: TheConfuzed1

@crazylegs--

Preach it brotha.

For the record, my portfolio is very well rounded, with diversified investments.

My 401k has within it, AAPL, RIM, and yes, even MSFT.

I didn't ask for the MSFT though, it was just part of the package.

Quote by zune tang: I was just rocking UFO's 'Lights Out' album just the other day. 'Misty Green and Blue' anyone?

Are you dating yourself by mentioning that you like UFO?

It's such a travesty to listen to my albums in wma format when you should be listening in Apple Lossless.
I guess it's your loss. Maybe you should go listen to I'm a loser from the album No Heavy Petting.

RIM, BlackBerry, Job

There's got to be a sick joke in there somewhere.

Feb 16, 08 - 07:02 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

Michael Freakin' Schenker! OMFG! Duuuuude. You ROCK! You rock me like a hurricane! I can't believe Michael Freakin' Schenker actually responded to one of my posts! It's almost as good as Apple finally selling computers with Windows or Ballmer responding to one of my posts. That would be awesome. Did I say you rock me like a hurricane?

Dating myself? Hardly. I also like newer bands like Molly Hatchet, Foghat, and Toto.

Your potential. Our passion.™

Feb 16, 08 - 07:59 pm Comment from: Ampar

Mac Maniac: I think the rim jokes are pretty well licked by now.

Strangely enough, the Blackberry's text like interface is far more usable than the Windows mobile UI despite the BB not having a pointing device (stylus).

I used (or rather tried to use) a Windows mobile Treo for 3 months but every little thing I wanted to do was a complex task requiring both dexterity and concentration. I ended up using only a small fraction of the available features (e.g. taking a picture requires going through so many menus that whatever you wanted to shoot was long gone when you go to the picture mode, and then clicking on the button to take the picture would tilt the phone or require two hands.).

When I got a Blackberry to replace the Treo, I felt like being in heaven.

Then, a friend of mine let me play with his iPod Touch just to browse the net and look through eMail. This was just a glimpse of the iPhone features but the difference with the blackberry was as big as the difference between the BB and the Treo.

The iPhone will be a big threat to RIM, no doubt about it. But neither RIM nor Apple are the kind to stand still (unlike the copy cats at MS) so that will be a very interesting competition to watch. Both companies base their product design on user workflows and that makes all the difference in usability. So far Windows mobile has not shown any signs of being adjusted to real life workflows, it only stacks up features upon features as if the check list in comparison sheets was the only measure of a phone's value.

Feb 16, 08 - 08:52 pm Comment from: Ampar

I've used a Blackberry. It's 1990s technology. Evolve or die.

Feb 16, 08 - 08:54 pm Comment from: feral

RIM's blackberry stinks.

Feb 16, 08 - 09:10 pm Comment from: Ampar

Ballmer is waiting on tongue touch technology. Sick freak.

Feb 16, 08 - 09:34 pm Comment from: ken1w

Trackballs and trackwheels? Those are just mobile phone analogs for a mouse. The touch interface is obviously the way to go for a hand-held device. It's interesting that the company that popularized the mouse as an input device is the first one to break-away from that method for mobile devices. The problem for the industry is that Apple's competition is haphazardly adding touch screen interfaces to phones without making it logical or intuitive, just to have a touchscreen. But under the main screen with touch buttons, most of the other mobile OS functions are still driven by miniature versions of the mouse and keyboard, complete with drop-down menus.

Feb 16, 08 - 10:20 pm Comment from: Ampar

ken1w: I love your explanations, but please try the return carriage from old (
return key).

It's a bitch to read a solid block of text. Thanks.

Feb 17, 08 - 12:08 am Comment from: ken1w

@ Ampar

> It's a bitch to read a solid block of text. Thanks.

I guess Steve Jobs was right. People just don't read books anymore.

Feb 17, 08 - 12:58 am Comment from: Crazylegs

You guys all are missing the point. Who cares if it's 10 mln in 2008 or by end of 08. It just doesn't matter much which one. The point is that the market for these devices is plenty large and growing. BOTH BB and iPhone will have success and growth. There are many that swear by their BB and many that swear by their iphone. Choose what you like and use it - just buy a new device every two years or less. then go out and buy rimm and aapl and wait a few years.

Zune Tang®

That was GOLD.

One of you're best yet, while I admittedly find you tiresome at times, that was hilariously pernicious.

More in this style please.

Feb 17, 08 - 06:39 am Comment from: Ampar

ken1w: I guess it's hard to kindle a flame for reading from an LCD?

Feb 17, 08 - 07:11 am Comment from: -hh

As a corporate BB user, I've been somewhat tempted to upgrade my personal cellphone ... its currently still a Startac (!) ... but the basic reality is that there's little need to carry two phones around on my hip, and since the BB needs to go with me nearly 24/7, I'm more inclined to drop my personal cellphone because I'm paying for it and hardly using it.

Question now is...how does a personal iPhone fit into such a picture? Currently, I'm simply saving the "volume" with an iPod nano.


-hh

I think the rim jokes are pretty well licked by now.

RIM needs to get their collective tongues out of their asses.


It's a bitch to read a solid block of text.

It is, a few years back here on MDN I was scolded by everyone for putting a carriage returns between sentances to break up paragraphs to make them easier to read.

But I persisted anyway and now nearly everyone is doing it.

By the way I also invented sex. ;p

Feb 17, 08 - 06:30 pm Comment from: Ampar

"By the way I also invented sex. ;p"

Damn, you're good.

there's no way I'll get rid of my BB8800 for an iPhone - at least not in its current state. I like my iPod Touch though.

Feb 17, 08 - 08:04 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

Does Mac Maniac have a blog? She is really fascinating.

Your potential. Our passion.™