MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Nov 26, 08 - 01:30 pm Comment from: Wandering joe

That take really stung mdn!!

Nov 26, 08 - 01:30 pm Comment from: Darkness

"Vista got better reviews". Cold, MDN, very cold...

"... to see this article you have to be a registered member of the New York Times"

The funny thing about this is the absolutely fawning review of the Storm by that bastion of intellectual honesty, Gary Krackow of TheStreet.com. I think he's the only person who likes the thing.

Nov 26, 08 - 01:37 pm Comment from: Wade

"But wait, there's less." Gotta love ya, Dave.

Nov 26, 08 - 01:39 pm Comment from: Crazylegs

last sentence -

"The company says that it’s hard at work on a bug-fix software update."

so they know it sucks today. too bad vz rushed rim as it is hurting both of them. better off delaying a few weeks, taking the heat, and delivering a decent product.

So what do you do when when after sampling a delicious looking fruit you discover that it tastes like crap and smells like crap?

Wait for a genetically engineered fruit of the same kind?

Once bitten, twice shy! PTL Ball Silly, Pull The Plug!

PTP I meant in that last line! Fingers before brain.

Nov 26, 08 - 02:00 pm Comment from: HMCIV

@MDN Take

The truth hurts!

I love this from the article.
"BlackBerry without a physical keyboard.

Hello? Isn’t the thumb keyboard the defining feature of a BlackBerry? A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel. A Prius with terrible mileage. Cracker Jack without a prize inside."

Cracker Jack hasn't had a real prize inside for years (and no a sticker doesn't count), and the iPod touch doesn't have a scroll wheel yet it is one of the best iPods ever!

Nov 26, 08 - 02:09 pm Comment from: Winston

Send that thing back to the Island of Misfit Toys where it belongs.

Nov 26, 08 - 02:16 pm Comment from: Grigori

Mossberg gave the most postive review I've seen so far ( http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20081119/blackberrys-storm-presses-into-the-touch-phone-fray/ ) though it's hardly glowing.

Nov 26, 08 - 02:16 pm Comment from: Gunboat Smith

Maybe RIM should take a cue from Microsoft and throw $300 million in advertising at it.

David liked the Bold, and Walt seems to like the Storm.

Golly, the iPhone was just perfect when it first came out, too.

@Gunboat Smith,

Between RIM and Verizon, I wouldn't be surprised if the Storm already has a $300 million campaign underway. The commercials are everywhere.

Nov 26, 08 - 02:36 pm Comment from: Derek in Milan

Actually, dude, the iphone was perfect when it came out. It blew the cell phone world apart.

Remember, this is a product by an Industry Leader, to try to take back some of the losses they are suffering from customers choosing the iPhone.

This isnt their first attempt at a cell phone. This is the Blackberry guys panicking like rookies.

Had it too easy for way too long, eh RIM?

How many other complacent and lazy companies can you name?

Ford
GM
GE
Chrysler
Microsoft
.......

RIM's name for Storm is appropriate for the phone when you storm back in to the store and demand your money back.

To all the naysayers out there, I just want to say that I love the Storm. And the G1 too. Never touched or seen either one, and, based on the reviews, wouldn't dream of buying one, but I love them just the same. Competition will only drive the iPhone to get better. Heck, I'll even pre-love the MS Zune-phone disaster-in-waiting, for the same reason!

cynical observer,

Rosemary Hattersley and Mark Hattersley of MacWorld UK give the Storm a quite glowing review, which can also be read on the U.S. MacWorld website.

They particularly praise its e-mail capabilities!

Nov 26, 08 - 02:56 pm Comment from: Shado Control

And was supposed to be THE iPhone killer?

Storm in a teacup

JD: Golly, the iPhone was just perfect when it first came out, too.

No, but it got the essentials so right that people were willing to wait for improvements around the edges.

From all appearances RIM fails miserably even at basic usability. And that is hard or impossible to remedy after the fact. Too bad they don't seem to understand the difference.

Don't think you can review a product objectively with you head dunked in a bucket of apple kool-aid.

Apparently RIM management read Steve Jobs praise of RIM as a 'good company that makes good products' and has set about to destroy his credibility completely. Devilishly clever meta-marketing.

@ping

Actually, I have a Storm. Its essentials are just fine, and RIM is going to make it better. I don't know what device Pogue is going on about, but it's not the Storm. Walt Mossberg agrees with me.

Well JD most reviewers, at least those of note, do seem to know precisely what device he is going on about, and unfortunately for 'Rimmers' it IS the Storm. Don't think they have been on the Apple coolaid eddie either. So just maybe that big sever centre over at RIM Towers is sending positive but very subjective messages to the gullable. Are they telling you to believe in crops circles too by any chance? Not sure either how it can actually improve that much with a limited operating system and only basic touch capability. There is only so far you can go with yesterdays technology I'm afraid.

This is one of the reasons why we are developing for the iPhone and not the Blackberry. http://blog.cosential.com/?p=156

People who compare the iPhone situation to the Storm have got to be kidding.

The iPhone was the first, it was the originator and spent its initial time in an empty field all by itself with nothing to compare.

The Storm is arriving in a sea of iClones that are starting to get good. Some of them, like the Samsung Omnia on Verizon, are being released right alongside it this year. There's virtually no comparison between the two introductions.

Apple had plenty of room for error since everyone followed in their shoes. RIM doesn't. Either you float above the iClones or sink with them.

All the site needs is cookies activated. The membership requirement is fiction.

@spyinthesky

Is Mossberg drinking the RIM koolaid too?

What is it with you people that if Steve didn't personally bless it, it's evil of the most vile sort? Not everyone can use an iPhone, not everyone wants to. Get over yourselves, the iPhone is just an f-ing phone and it's not perfect. The 3G dropped half its calls before Apple finally delivered software that made the thing work, and that was after the launch fiasco that left half of them bricks on day one. The original iPhone was, well, not so hot either until a few downloads later, let's be honest.

My G4 PowerBook went back with the display problem that most of them had. My white G4 MacBook was replaced because the WiFi stopped working, the way a huge percentage of them did. Now I have a new aluminum MacBook with no FireWire and a clicky trackpad that reminds me a whole lot of my Storm. And don't even get me started on the mess that is Mobile Me, the dumbest name for a product in the history of computing except for, perhaps, Lisa.

Please don't pretend it's all good here in the orchard, it ain't so.

@ Jeremy
And anytime you find it in a Google search, the log on isn't required.

Nov 26, 08 - 05:45 pm Comment from: Superior Being

Like the Obamatards, the RIMtards are having a collective meltdown as they are confronted with the fact that the blank slate upon which they have projected all of their hopes and dreams turns out to be a run-of-the-mill, or worse, product.

As Obama packs his staff with has-beens and never-weres from previous administrations, signifying zero change whatsoever, the Obamatards are disillusioned, just as the RIMtards are with the "Storm."

Some 'tards cast their votes for an empty vessel they can fill with all their hopes and dreams - for convenient one-stop smashing - blindly chasing the foolish, very Liberal fantasy of "change." Voting for change undefined is lunacy.

Some 'tards cling to their antiquated CrackBerry devices, watching their beloved get obliterated by iPhone's vast superiority, and project upon Storm's rickety, poorly-executed, limited click-screen all sorts of similar fantasies.

Some "double 'tards" even did both: Voted for Obama and lined up to buy a Storm sight unseen, too. Fools.

Welcome to reality.

At least the RIMtards only blew their money on a piece of antiquated junk disguised as the future instead of voting one into the U.S. Presidency.

Nov 26, 08 - 05:46 pm Comment from: BiZarRo BaLlmEr

Ouch Pogue, but funny

@ everyone

Tried searching on Google and every other thing, cookies turned on etc. but this article is just NOT available without the log on.

I just don't know what newspaper companies think they are doing in this day and age with these stupid log-on requirements. They do no good and just stop people from using their sites.

yikes that was a harsh review

Nov 26, 08 - 06:20 pm Comment from: Fred Mertz

Jeremy,

Here:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/26/technology/ptpogue27.php

I really want the Storm to succeed, mainly because I'm stuck on Verizon due to the free IN calling. It looks like it has potential. If it wasn't for IN calling, I'd be on an iPhone now.

I played with a Storm in the store for a bit, and it wasn't too bad, just a bit sluggish on repainting the screen and flipping. I'm hoping they can fix that with some software tuning.

Doesn't matter right now, anyhow. I won't buy it until they can support syncing to Mac, for which RIM says they're trying to get something out early next year.

Samsung is releasing a touchscreen but... no... *sob*... I just won't do another Windows Mobile device :(

Nov 26, 08 - 06:58 pm Comment from: Cubert

Winston reappears!!!

I bet you are just as glad as I am that the Haunted House is finally over!

Now, if they could just pick up the trash on the eastern side of ESP where I live. Walking my dog is a nightmare. All she does is try to eat trash - and I don't mean Paris Hilton.

Well, time to take Molly out for a walk and battle the trash.

BlackEyeBerry !!! enough said

It should be called the Blackberry Sturm und Drang...

My favorite part...

"But wait, there’s less. Both of my review Storms had more bugs than a summer picnic. Freezes, abrupt reboots, nonresponsive controls, cosmetic glitches."

"... (And goodness knows, it’s easy to start up. Just enter a Gmail address ...) "

Nov 27, 08 - 08:21 am Comment from: MobileAdmin

Happy Thanksgiving to MDN readers.

I have to say Pogue is known as being very Pro-Apple (isn't he friends with Jobs?) and it's amusing these reviews and feedback are after a short time or a few minutes of using the Storm. Why don't you actually use the device for a couple weeks and get used to it.

RIM will address the issues with Storm (as did Apple with the numerous updates iPhone has had) so at the end of the day both devices will still sell a boatload. Storm will make sales just by the fact it's on Verizon Wireless which last I looked was still the #1 rated carrier in the States.

Most of Pogues review as well a number of other reviews are doing a disservice and either reviewing it as a standard Blackberry or how it's different then iPhone. I wish people who review things do so on their own merit and while yes recognize the strengths of competing devices judge the device on it's own.

Most of the issues can be addressed with a software update. This market is so huge it will come down to personal preference and for now at least Blackberry provides options for users. Apple is one form factor, one carrier.

@JD

"the iPhone is just an f-ing phone"

No it isn't, where have you been? anyone that has used one realizes that iPhone is a platform. The phone function is one of many uses you can put it to.

WTF?

@Superior Being

Great analogy. Especially regarding Obama and RIM. The dissent is gradually beginning. The "Elite Media" is beginning to scratch their collective heads as if they never saw his sophomoric arrogance.

@MobileAdmin

Which phone do you use?

what genius greenlit this thing without wifi? i mean, seriously - isn't that pretty much a deal-breaker? until we have wi-max or some other truly 3g wide-area network, it's just got to have wifi.

Nov 27, 08 - 09:33 am Comment from: MobileAdmin

At the moment I use a combination - the Blackberry Bold for work email / applications. A edge iPhone (jailbroken) for nights / weekends for music / web / games.

I also have various HTC WM models and a new Palm as users still order them and I have to support them.

Nov 27, 08 - 09:46 am Comment from: Arnold Ziffel

Yeah, we want the Bushtards back! Bring back torture. Bring back "Bring 'em on!" Bring back "Mission Accomplished."

Puh.

macca: what genius greenlit this thing without wifi? i mean, seriously - isn't that pretty much a deal-breaker? until we have wi-max or some other truly 3g wide-area network, it's just got to have wifi.

RIM has left the Storm to the network providers for branding and feature specification. And the providers just don't want WiFi in there, so RIM left it out.

Apple precluded such provider interference right from the start, which made the iPhone a very different beast. But especially as long as manufacturers keep kowtowing to the providers, the results will be the mediocrity we know.

Denny: The "Elite Media" is beginning to scratch their collective heads as if they never saw his sophomoric arrogance.

The word you were apparently looking for is competence. But I can understand that by now you're having a hard time recognizing it on sight...!

Nov 27, 08 - 10:18 am Comment from: Arnold Ziffel

@ping,

Yeah, like who would ever want an expert in Constitutional law running the country?

After 8 long years of Cheney-Bush doing their best to turn the Constitution into a piece of used toilet paper, it feels great to have grown-ups back in charge.