What's Better: BlackBerry or iPhone?

So I see this member’s question on TickerHound yesterday:

“BlackBerry or the iPhone?”

In the details of the question he goes on to reference a blog post by the New York based venture capitalist, Fred Wilson, where he openly asks for feedback on what people think of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone versus RIM's (RIMM) BlackBerry. There’s some great insight in Fred’s post (and the comments to it) so I recommend you read it.

But I thought I’d share some of my own thoughts on the iPhone vs. BlackBerry issue here:

The iPhone is unequivocally the most beautifully designed mobile phone I’ve ever seen. The web browsing experience is like nothing I’ve ever used on a handheld device and through the flawless marketing effort on the part of Apple and AT&T (T) it has already become somewhat of a status symbol in the geek-chic crowd.

But for those of you who have used one for any period of time, you’ve obviously noticed some of the flaws in this “flawless” product.

1. Sending a text message or an email becomes an exercise in finger tip precision and dexterity. Basically, you must have the most narrow and most accurate thumbs in the world to try and type a message longer than 2 words on this phone. For business users or active text’rs (read: teenagers), this is certainly NOT the phone to have.
2. I’ve dropped my BrickBerry more times than I can count and it’s still tickin’ – it’s like the little energizer bunny. The same can NOT be said of the iPhone. From what I’ve seen, heard and personally witnessed a strong breeze causes this phone’s screen to shatter. In fact if you check out Fred Wilson’s blog post, you’ll see what his daughter’s phone looked like, post-drop.
3. Even though there are “hacks” out there, you’re still locked into using AT&T/Cingular as a carrier. While the service is good, I’m always one for having more options. The fact that I can use my BlackBerry with my T-Mobile account, and be able to keep the phone if I decide to switch carriers (or if my company switches carriers) makes me very comfortable.

And I’m obviously not the only one who feels this way – it’s a sentiment I’ve heard from many of my peers for quite some time now. The most reliable text and e-mail friendly phone on the market today is the BlackBerry…no contest!

But the story isn’t that quite cut and dry…

There’s a rumor going around that Apple has a new version of the iPhone coming out on June 9th. Apple’s a popular company in tech circles, and therefore the rumor-mill is usually in full effect whenever Mr. Jobs gets up to speak. Most of the time the hype falls far short of the real announcement, but this time I think the rumors are going to turn out to be true.

I think on June 9th we’ll get the announcement that Apple is launching a 3G enabled iPhone. Essentially what that means is that the iPhone will now let its subscribers download data faster than ever before.

However, given the serious flaws the company has with the phone design, I’m not sure what impact (if any) this will have on subscriber numbers. Especially when we take RIM’s announcement into account…

Last week, RIM announced the upcoming BlackBerry Bold phone – the first 3G phone from the CrackBerry maker. I’m personally looking forward to this one and it seems like the rest of the market’s feeling the same – the stock is up 6.35% as I write this article.

But that isn’t to say Apple won’t see some serious benefits via its 3G initiatives. I just don’t think those benefits will be solely in the form of an increase in iPhone subscribers. I think Apple could see a serious increase in iTunes sales as well.

Picture this: when you hear a good song and want it on your iPod immediately, all you’ll have to do is login to iTunes with your 3G phone and you’ll be listening to the song in seconds.

So if Apple’s strategy is to secure more iTunes purchases, I think the company is still executing its marketing efforts flawlessly. If the company really wants to compete with RIM, however, they’ll really need to do something about the phone’s design. Touch screens are “cool,” but certainly not functional.

Regardless of who gets the most subscribers, I think both announcements will be great for RIM’s and Apple’s stock prices.

Comments

[Apple Heavy]

Which is better Beta or VHS, PC or Mac, Blue Ray or HD?
The real question is which will people want and which will people buy?

And. point #2 is absurd.

[Not acrackberryaddict]

Quite obvious to the casual reader the direction of the author's bias. He has been a blackberry user so long he forgot that most humans possess ten fingers.

[MarkSchwartz]

This article has no credibility as the bias towards the Blackberry is overwhelming. Every mention of the IPhone is negative. I don't have one, but everyone I know that does....loves them!

[hunglyka]

People, do not believe this bull about it being hard to type on the iPhone. Absolutely not true. Many people claim to type faster than the BlackBerry because you don't have to physically depress each key. And I have dropped my iPhone face-down on the concrete twice without scratching the screen (just some nicks on the stainless steel rim).

[Bart Lee]

I switched from a Blackberry to an iPhone and I've never regretted it. Typing on it takes all of a week to get accustomed to. While I could probably type a little faster on the Blackberry, the iPhone's intuitive interface and incredible web browser make it far more useful on a daily basis. I don't think I could go back to a tiny screen again anyway. Oh, by the way, I've dropped mine directly onto concrete without a case. All that happened was a small dent on the corner. The glass screen is scratch free nearly a year later.

[davesmall]

What a pile of crap you've put up here in this article.

Take a look at a photo of the new Blackberry Bold. Notice that it is big and thick (read: clunky). The screen covers only a small portion of the phone. It is mostly covered with buttons. That sucks.

With the iPhone you get almost all usable screen. That rocks.

Your comments about the Blackberry's keyboard being better than the iPhone's couldn't be more wrong. When I purchased my iPhone I was concerned about this issues. So I went to an AT&T store where I typed the same paragraph on an iPhone and on a Blackberry. The speed and number of mistakes were about the same. Both phones have a tiny keyboard which means no touch typing like a regular keyboard. It's one or two finger typing at best. The keys are so close together that mistakes are inevitable. With Blackberry you can feel the key so your brain receives feedback that you did hit a key (but which one?). With iPhone the touchpad keyboard enlarges the character just before your finger makes contact. You get visual feedback letting you know that you've touched the correct (or incorrect) key.

There is obviously an acclimation and learning process to get any sort of accuracy and speed typing on either of these tiny keyboards. With the iPhone you must train yourself to focus on those enlarging characters. I think index fingers work better than thumbs because thumbs are too big for tiny keyboards. Someone who is up to speed typing on a Blackberry is going to be slow and mistake prone when switching to an iPhone. Someone who is up to speed typing on an iPhone would be similarly slow and mistake prone when switching to a Blackberry (though I can't imagine anyone making that switch).

There are also a few iPhone typing techniques which greatly increase speed and aren't obvious to the novice user. Suppose you want to type a password like sam3jones. A novice would type the letters sam, push the mode key to change to numbers, type the 3, push the mode key again to switch back to alpha characters, and then type the letters jones. But the speedier way is to type sam, then hold your finger down on the mode key and slide to select the 3 character. Release your finger and your iPhone goes back to alpha mode. The same hold and slide technique works with the caps key.

[wagonjumper]

"Author", your fingers are 2 thick. Ever thought of a manicure?

[dvd]

Some valid points but author concludes, "touch screens... are certainly not functional". I rarely trust the herd mentality, but there's good reason vendors are rushing iPhone knock-offs to market. Touch screens are the ONLY reasonable solution for packing ever-increasing functions into a handheld device. Chicklet keyboards are for kids and midgets (sorry, vertically challenged).

[User 126618]

clearly Home Scratch Wayne has not used an iPhone... Appears he just took his check from RIM and wrote whatever unfounded rumors he could cobble together to make a story. I have owned both products..enjoyed both products but the iPhone is by far the better phone. And with a 3G version coming with 3rd party Apps to take advantage of the superior mobile OS, accelerometer, and the global positioning technology...you be crazy not o choose an iPhone over a blackberry.

Get a paycheck while you can Wayne....

[RandyG]

"Touch screens are “cool,” but certainly not functional." If that is true then why is RIM working on one for their phones?

[DavidBressler]

Regardless of bias... I think there are a couple of interesting items not touched on:
1. Blackberry browser is quite useless. 3G will mean it will be useless faster, unless they improve it.
2. Why did it take so long for RIM to come out with a 3G phone?
3. Why has it taken so long for them to put together a fund to create apps? Or, at least focus on the development community in a way that encourages interesting applications.
4. Why does it take about 5 minutes for my curve to start?
5. Why can't my phone tell me how many voicemails I have? And, before you suggest I look at caller ID - in NY, in and out of the subways, there is no correlation between missed-calls and voicemails?

Disclosure, I'm a Blackberry user who occasionally misses my Windows Mobile device. Am waiting for an iPhone that my company allows to get email and will switch in a second. I fully expect the iPhone to be frustrating in many ways my BB is not.

[sbjforever]

For email-heavy users it seems existing touchscreen text typing technology isn't ready for prime time, especially for long fingernail and/or thick fingered people - probably half the population. But then neither are some of those teeny keyboards. However, the better designed ones, like on the Blackberry, seemingly are adequate for the application.

It is strongly rumored that the 3G iPhone touch screen will be more keyboard centric - touch becomes more like press. This had better be so if the iPhone is to become a serious player with heavy email business folks. It is to the degree that touch approaches press (both in feel and sound) that will determine the success of the technology for typing text over the long term.

[User 192542]

I have an iPhone and it is, by far and away, the best cell phone experience I've ever had. As far as the delicacy of the phone, I'd have to disagree with this article. I dropped mine from about six feet up onto asphalt and put a pretty good size dent in the side casing, just shy of the glass screen. I was sure it was going to be shattered when I picked it up off the ground. But it wasn't and the phone works just as well as ever.

[2sense]

The author also neglected other likely improvements with the new iPhone: the new iPhone 2.0 software, and more importantly, the results of more than 100,000 software development kits out there in the hands of folks aiming to bring new 3rd party software to the iPhone.

[MBE]

I don't have an iPhone but I do have an iPod Touch, and I love it. I was a little leary about typing on a touchscreen at first, but I have found that I can type much faster, and more accurately, than on my Treo. The "keys" are larger, the font is larger, and it really becomes very easy to type with. Just my two cents.

[WayneMulligan]

The one thing I will certainly say for Apple is they sure have passionate customers :)

Good job defending the brand you love guys...but truth be told, I used the iPhone for quite some time before writing this, and spoke to dozens of people who all, just like you, defended the iPhone but conceded that the keyboard on a BlackBerry is much more friendly for the email/text heavy user.

Does the iPhone have a better web browsing experience? Sure it does. But that's not what I, nor many business users, use their mobile phone for throughout the majority of the day. Most of the time we're checking messages and making calls. That's not to say the trend won't shift in the coming years, but that's where we are now due to this country's antiquated mobile networks. Thankfully companies like Apple and RIM are pushing for 3G and an enhanced mobile experience.

I think the most interesting thing I personally can take away from having written this article is the passion with which Apple customers will defend Apple products...very impressive Mr. Jobs.

-Wayne

[FreeRange]

Agree with most of the comments here - this article is BS. I've dropped mine several times and only have a small dent in one corner. Also, typing is quite fast and easy, and only gets easier over time, just like originally learning type on a computer - duh!!!!!

And then the author says the following related to the upcoming 3G iPhone: "However, given the serious flaws the company has with the phone design, I’m not sure what impact (if any) this will have on subscriber numbers." Are you fricking kidding me - the incompetence of this author is unbelievable... is he really talking about the iPhone which has the highest user satisfaction levels of any phone out there????

[Rich Brulato]

I had a blackberry for years and switched to the iPhone last July and couldn't be more pleased. It is the greatest handheld device ever invented for adults. If you are worried about texting speed, you must be a teenager. Adults like the iPhone for its design,functionality,a... browser. If the next generation 3G phone is released in June, I will happily upgrade since I have made far more money on AAPL stock than the cost of a new phone.

[Apple Heavy]

My post on another blog for Wayne to ponder...

1. RIM was the only real game in town until a year ago and corporate uses didn’t have any other viable option. PALM was clearly no match for RIM.
2. Many Blackberry users WILL switch to the iPhone once it is available more pervasively.
Availability only on the AT&T network in the US has held back the iPhone from more widespread adoption.
3. Enterprise customers want to have their email behind their own firewall, and nowhere else.
4. Yes, there is room for both companies in the smart phone market place, but who is the stronger innovator?
5. Yesterday’s “good news” was most likely a PR move by RIM in an attempt to pre-empt the launch on the new iPhone, because no firm ship date or pricing was provided.
We will see what the results are when both of the new products are available in the market place, despite the so called "flaws" of the iPhone.

[peter02l]

There is no question the Blackberry is a better phone for tossing at people. Many celebrities will keep their Blackberry for that reason alone.

[interdyne]

Wow this article was terrible. Does RIMM pay you directly or just in product? How much has Apple's stock gone up due to the iPhone 6.35%? I don't think so. Point #2 is simply wrong. It would help if you actually knew anyone who owned or used an iPhone.

[WayneMulligan]

Hey Apple Heavy,

Would love to read your blog - what's the address?

-Wayne

[Azazello]

There is no war between RIM and Apple, just bickering among opinionated bozos. Marketshare is a non-issue, neither is Chicklet keyboards vs. first-generation touch-screen debates. Follow your own dreams!

[wil]

RE: Apple users passion

Every non-Apple users' discussion of Apple begins with uninformed, demeaning remarks; forcing Apple users to respond. It's an unending battle against misrepresentation.

Imagine if people who didn't know you were to prejudge you in their mind over information that was false, and soon you had a tarnished reputation based on propagated misrepresentations. You would certainly have a fight ahead of you in trying to correct the perception, particularly if you were offended by it.

BTW, the technology to mimic blackberrys is here; the last barrier to displacing the blackberry in enterprise is convincing those with budgets. How long will a device with 75% coverage of static keys live in the coming marketplace? The answer will also yield to you how many years the "superior" keyboard has left in its life. IT can giveth; IT can taketh away.

[jmmx]

@ Wayne

You say :
"The one thing I will certainly say for Apple is they sure have passionate customers :) "

The question is then - are they passionate because they are swooned by Mr. Jobs' marketing, or because [perish the thought] they actually are thrilled by the product?

The fact mentioned by FreeRange above that iPhone has by far the highest user satisfaction levels seems to indicate the later. People really love the iPhones because it satisfies their needs, perhaps even exceeds their expectations. This is why they are so passionate. It is not due to some marketing hypnotism - Apple delivers on the user experience. (most likely because they CARE about it!)

I appreciate that everyone has their personal preferences, and for tose who really prefer the little buttons and do not mind the smaller screen, keep your xBerry , enjoy it. It is great that their are a variety of devices for different people.

But when all is said and done, iPhone is going to win because, as the leaders in innovation, they will always be ahead of the competition, they will continue to produce products that will ASTOUND the end users.

IMHO

[jmmx]

OOPS

Read "latter" in paragraph 3

[jmmx]

(sorry for the plethora of typos above)

Another thought:
What RIMM will never have is the MacOS X. Developers for the iPhone will be able to use some of the same code for both the iPhone and on Mac platform. This is an incredible advantage in terms of (1) engineering effort and (2) unity of interface.

Additionally, iPhone has the absolutely incredible SDK development environment. Non-programmers cannot truly appreciate this. Like being asked to create the coolest dune-buggy ever. In one case you are given a pair of pliers and a rusty old screwdriver, in the other, a garage outfitted with complete Snap-On tool kit.

Finally - the iPhone apps will also run on the iPod Touch, another X million users. In fact, there may well be applications for which the Touch is a sufficient platform. Consider a warehouse inventory program - who needs a mobile phone on the device?

jmmx the dystypsic

[dithers]

OK.

The article was not researched, and is biased towards Blackberry.
These things happen - proper analysis based on research and testing it aint, but thats normal in the world of cheap blogs.

BUT then the 'author' decides to weigh in on the comments and tell us that we are all in the thrall of Steve Jobs!
Thats simply insulting, and considering the stance of the writer, is hypocritical.

There are many posts here from users of both products and the overwhelming 'bias' is towards Apple.

Point 2 is idiotic - anecdotal crap such as 'my friends brothers great-aunt dropped her iphone and it smashed into a thousand pieces killing 19 people' isnt effective unless you are talking to 85 year old women gossiping over coffee.

I love the comments from the 'text/email heavy' 'business' users. LOL! High comedy!
What a bunch of sad nitwits!
If 'business' users had their way, we would accept terrible products at grossly inflated prices that never changed or improved.

Sorry 'business' guys you are NOT the leaders or innovators that you think you are, and I doubt your typing skills are anything more than average.

Typing on a small keyboard has natural limitations that can NOT be fixed unless you have a full-sized keyboard or simply call instead of email or text.
Because of this, spelling and grammatical errors are forgiven and as long as the sense of the message is there; its good enough.

NO-ONE is writing complex emails, or their yearly report on a tiny keyboard - so quit with the lies.

The iPhone keyboard is at least as good as the blackberry one, but the other facilities of the iPhone make it a clear winner, unless you are unable to admit the facts.

Oh, and BTW, I have dropped my iPhone on at least 10 occasions, work in a tough environment (Marine), and it still keeps ticking. Use it to read emails from customers, and generally reply with 4 lines or less. If more explanation of a work contract is needed, I go crazy and PHONE them. Imagine that.

Met a guy in Sbux the other day with a huge dent across the back of his iPhone - it had stopped a puck at an NHL game! True story. It had not missed a beat. Starbucks, Ladner, BC, Canada. Yes we both had 'pirate' iPhones, as the idiot 'business' people at Rogers havent had the sense to get the iPhone yet.

Reason for all the anti-article comments here - article is simply inaccurate and based around the authors bias.
Try harder, Mr. Author.

[jon n]

the keyboard on an iphone is inferior to that of a blackberry. you can argue by how much.
what you can't argue with is how much better the iphone is by every other measure. figuring out the basic settings on a crackberry requires a comp sci degree. most people i know don't know how to change their signatures on the damn thing. and wtf is a "service book" anyway?
also, #2 is complete bs. first of all, you drop your device, all bets are off. second, i've dropped my iphone scads of times and there is not a ding nor a scratch, let alone a functionality problem.
finally, the writer totally overlooks that the iPhone is and will be a "platform" for media to come. RIMs been in the market for years, but all they've established is an array of products (and i'm not knocking them, they've had some great products, but no single product as ever resonated as so innovative and head of it's time to the extent the iphone has, nor will it ever by a "platform").

[yag]

What I do not get is why this is only a 2 horse race. I have not used either the iPhone or a Rimm device, but I love my HTC Windows Mobile 6 phone with the slide out keyboard. The beauty of Windows is that there is so much software out there you can get whatever you want. My current on-screen keyboard looks and functions exactly like the iPhone keyboard. When I have more typing to do, I slide out the hardware keyboard and I have bigger buttons than the cramped rimm keyboards. I just do not get why no one ever talks about these other great PDA/touchscreen phones.
Disclaimer: I have owned rimm stock since the 1990s and Apple for about 3 or 4 years.

[jmmx]

@dithers

Hey - if you see the guy with the hockey-pucked iPhone, tell him he should try to sell it ack to Apple. They might want it for publicity purposes.

[Dr. Dan]

Hmmm. It's tough to write in support of the iPhone after so many rude, vulgar and obnoxious people already did - kinda makes me want to take the opposing view, though that's a losing argument. I wonder how some of these iPhone lovers do in personal relationships when someone says something they disagree with. "Liar" and "stooge" seem to fall from their lips at the drop of a hat. Glad they're not my co-workers.

Still, there are real points to make, and one is this: Whether the chicklet keyboard is better than the touchscreen is an arguable point. However, from what I've seen the touchscreen is good *enough* after some practice for most users to be happy with it - it wasn't even in the top three complaints on satisfaction surveys. There are so many other advantages the iPhone has over current BlackBerry products that there will be inevitable market share loss to Apple, in my opinon. With the developer's kit out, it's only a matter of time before someone has a small chicklet iPhone keyboard for those occasions when you want to type faster and longer. I've used my Palm Bluetooth keyboard along with my TX to get "good enough" results instead of lugging a laptop around - once, an admiring crowd gathered as I used them in an Apple store while waiting for the Genius bar!

Personally, though, I want a phone to just be a phone. But I'll be buying an iPod Touch as soon as my TX dies.

[Jay2710]

You know what you should realize is iPhone users are defending false information you are putting out there about the product they use. It has nothing to do with loyalty, it's the "Microsoft" users like yourself that feel like you owe Bill Gates something. But by Apple bashing just makes you look like an idiot. Next time you want to compare two products you must go at it with an open mind and not already decision made before you start writing. By the way where is all of your support, I don't see anyone backing your statements.

[Apple Heavy]

"Would love to read your blog - what's the address? "

I said my post on another blog, not "my blog"

if I had a blog it would be based on facts and reasonable and logical conjecture.

[Thinkingahead]

I own both companies. I recently added RIMM because the one big iPhone + is the browser, and I'm betting that the Bold browser will be much improved. If so, it makes it that much harder to dislodge crackberry users from their beloved units. Blackberrys are all about email - including composing email -- and the blackberry is a better product for that use. But I think AAPL was smart to patent the squeeze-expand feature (and other variants) that rely on two fingers using the touch screen together. This is a natural and ingenious method of spanning and expanding the human to machine interface. Like I said, both are good products and great stocks.

But I sure don't have my identity mixed up with some company that doesn't know or care about me. So if either or both vanish tomorrow, I'll get along fine anyway.

[bobthenoob]

Hello, my name is Bob and I'm addicted to my iPhone.

[Stan_the_man]

I tried a blackberry a few months ago and then gave it back and bought an iphone. I hated the blackberry, love the iphone. I am able to type long e-mails. I bought a $25 hard shell case for it and have dropped it once from 4 feet with no damage. Using Safari instead of the blackberry's mobile web browser is like driving a workable car as opposed to an old russian Lada. I wish it was faster but at least I can access the internet while sitting in a doctor's office, etc. The touchscreen is excellent and the many other features are great. When all the new Apple applications come out iphone will be all that people talk about. Wonder who makes the chips in thee?

[blah-blah]

It's almost like the authors go out of their way to engage the AAPL fanatic crowd with cringe-worthy articles like this.

Why torture the rest of us? Some of us have an open mind, like good value for our money and choice. Not everyone cares to read how much AAPL fanatics love their phone for the sole reason that it's made by Apple so it must be perfect and the best thing ever no matter what the cost.

[reagan]

Truth be said, iPhone is a staus symbol all over the world & the Blackberry is not. iPhone sales will be off the charts for the next several years. RIMM is a very good company. AAPL is a much better company in several different ways. Who knows how high this stock will go to in the next 5 years? Mac sales still have a long ways to go.....

[rd4sndk]

Too much attention is given to business class and the key board for mobile use. My disappointment with the BB bold is it missed having sufficient memory, the OS was inferior and the LCD is not competitive with the iphone. However, this is a good start and I suspect RIMM will have additional releases that will be more competitive. The bold is not the answer to the iphone let alone the 3G version.

Lastly, its clear that Apple is not building iphones to compete with RIMM or any other cell phone OEM. What is clear to me that Apple is building an interconnected multimedia ecosystem. The iphone is one of two devices that will spear head this interconnectivity multimedia rich experience--the ipod-touch and to a lesser degree the iTV products. Follow the announcements and you'll see that browsing the web, viewing TV, viewing motion picture releases, listening to music, and reviewing pictures are all coming together in the ipod-touch and iphone. The PC, laptop, DVD,phone, TV and jukebox are morphing into smaller mobile devices and Apple is leading the way. All other discussion is superpulous. Now ask yourself why would you buy any other product than the Apple mobile platforms when you can get all of this in one product as opposed to just business class email.

[Brewer]

iPhone is a far better device. Apple users are constantly derided by those who put them down. MSFT started this a long time ago.

Truth is that it is the Apple users who have experienced both computer platforms and they are defending their choice. If this causes you cognitive dissonance since you just 'know' that Windows is all you need or RIM is all you need, etc... then you clearly don't get it.

The world is your burrito. Check out all there is to offer, don't listen so much to what 'business' users think they know. Most of them are following each other like lemmings.

iPhone is a far better phone, is a game changer. Apple truly did start the computer revolution, had a modern computer 10 years before microsoft came out with a bad copy of it (20 years before MSFTs was actually usable) and they just have taught the world how a cell phone should work in the age of the internet.

If you don't get this, don't worry, you kids will.

[Jon T]

I would love to know how it is possible for him to determine that the iPhone is less robust than the Blackberry. All the evidence out there suggests that iPhones have survived all sorts of calamities, and been none the worse for wear.

Wayne, please go back into your hole if you can't offer more rational analysis than this rubbish.

[Apple Heavy]

Now that I have reviewed the comments, I'd say, even the iTouch could soon be better than the Blackberry, once (free ad sponsored) wifi becomes ubiquitous in the not too distant future.

[Brewer]

About your ridiculous point #2. I know other posters have mentioned this, but what I would like to point out is that that was the first thing the PC users tried use to ridicule it. It didn't work. This video is quite hillarious, the guy tries and TRIES to destroy it. No dice.

Don't believe me? Watch this video from PC WORLD no less:

youtube.com/watch?v=cz...

[Uncle Miltie]

Hi Wayne,

Here at my house, I have an iPhone, my wife has a CrackBerry. Here is our general impression of the two devices:

1) The blackberry is better for her e-mail and texting habits. Her fingernails make it easier for her to text on the crackberry - but not by much. I can text on my iPhone nearly as fast as she can on her crackberry, and I definitely have fat fingers.

2) As of today, my iPhone won't connect to my corporate Exchange server, but her blackberry will. It's already been announced that that will change by the end of June when iPhone software 2.0 is released - and all current iPhones will get that upgrade.

3) The iPhone is superior in every other function. Period. It's not even close. Whether it's internet, music or multimedia, the iPhone makes the blackberry look like it's still in the stone age.

4) Once you have the internet at hand as easily as you do on an iPhone, you will be AMAZED at how much more useful the iPhone is. There are things you had never even considered doing before that you can now do easily. Get a map to your next appointment, complete with traffic info? done. Check the weather forecast? simple. Search for info on a client from the web? piece of cake. Read the Times? fast. It really is a game changer.

5) I have no case on my iPhone, and it's hit the pavement several times with only minor scratching of the metal band.

6) you claim to have used an iPhone for a while in the comments, yet you seem to not understand how significant the mobile web is. To me, that's shocking.

The advantages of the iPhone so outweigh the blackberries lone advantage, that my wife will be switching the minute she can get the iPhone on her enterprise system. Simple as that.

Enjoy your blackberry. Just remember that iPhone is not all about Apple PR hype. It really is a game changer...

[Lucmee]

Wayne...
C'mon man... You should have at least researched your story before leaping in front of the locomotive that is Apple users offended by inaccurate drivel... Why do we see this over and over? Some uninformed hack will try to make a name for himself by denigrating a product that the market has proven to be a winner by repeating tired and unfounded old wives tales likely put out by the desperate competition. And ends up getting his head handed to him by what history has proven time and time again to be the most passionate and well informed (about their product) users in the world... What reasonably informed person doesn't know that the iPhone has the highest satisfaction ratings out there?... Do you think that anyone paying >$300 for their unit and getting delicate junk is not screaming blue bloody murder? And your pseudo - quasi -pretentious use of the so, so last year's "Brickberry" and "Crackberry" mark you as a poser who is in it for the show of it... Anyone who's used an iPhone for more than 48 hours and doesn't get the implications of the web experience on handset computing is suffering from a true deficit of cognitive function.... How many IT folks out there are getting steamrolled into finding a way to make the iPhone work for enterprise because the bigwigs at the top are finding it the right thing to make them more productive? Nothing against earning your pay man... But at least give your corporate masters their money's worth.

[br8thw8]

I am a current iPhone owner. I have had both a RIMM and HTC (Windows Mobile) phone in the past. The iPhone is by far my favorite device. You will be amazed once you realize all that you can do with the phone. Plus, just a little sidenote about typing on the touchscreen. At first I was a bit leery on typing on the touchscreen since all my other phones had keys, and some were better than others. But when I realized that the iPhone was "smart" about typing by using a "zone" around the key that you actually hit and taking to account all the surrounding letters, and then knows what word you really meant to type and pops it in for you. So since I know this I just start typing with little regard to hitting the exact key that I want since I know that my iPhone will "know" which key I meant. So I can blaze through and let the iPhone plug in the correct word 95% of the time. All I have to do is just "get close" to the key that I wanted. Bet you can type a whole lot faster if you just trust in the iPhone!

[TriangleJuice]

Ok, first I'll admit that I'm a die-hard Mac user, ever since Mac OS X was released.
But I'll try to give my honest and hopefully objective opinion:

1. iPhone won't be locked for long anymore.

2. Keyboard: you;ve got a point there, although I have to say that it indeed did take me about a week to type as fast on it as on any other device (including my old Sony Ericsson numeric keyboard with dictionary).

3. I've dropped my iPhone twice and there's now one scratch on the back. Screen is intact, but I can imagine that one could drop his Blackberry more often without breaking it.

4. If you're not a business person, the iPhone's email app is as functional as that of the Blackberry's, only more user friendly. When iPhone OS X 2.0 gets released (note: a free update for all existing iPhone owners), the email experience will in every way be better on the iPhone.

5. Given the fact that all (smart) phone makers have been lying down on their *ss*s the past years and they all suddenly woke up (by coincidence) at the same time gives me enough reason to believe that there was a serious reason for that to happen. That coincidental time was January 2007 when the iPhone was announced.

6. (and most important): Face it, there's a smart phone war going on, so let's all benefit from it by buying stock: AAPL and RIMM.
My two cents: I will be selling the latter first.

[.crazylegs.]

The Apple fanatics are funny. No question the iPhone is the most advanced mobile platform out there and it will only get better. However, what the layperson and emotional fanatic alike don"t understand is how important physics is in designing these devices. As a longtime AAPL shareholder, the new 3G phone makes me nervous in the sense that 3G chips draw tons of power. Add to that a large high quality screen and the resource intensive nature of the activesync protocol and battery life could be a significant limiting factor to a great end user experience for "power" users. I can't imagine getting over 100 emails, making phone calls, listening to music, and surfing the web would allow the new iPhone to get through one day. Time will tell though.

RIM is a company that wants to control every aspect of their devices so they actually write their own software stacks to get the modem/radios working as efficiently as possible. This is manifested in the relative long battery life of BBs. I have heard there were some battery issues with the BB Bold in pre-production models so imagine that device using RIM's much more efficient transmission technology with a smaller screen and compare that to the 3G iPhone and it makes me wonder.

Now, addressing all these vitriolic reactions to this article, this is one guy's opinion. Why all the slamming? It's not like this guy is some sort of expert. I guess all the Apple fanatics are so sensitive because we have suffered through many years of having a superior product (Mac) yet little to show in terms of mkt share. At least this is changing now, but it's in bad taste and pretty wimpy to hide behind some screen handle and make offensive comments. I wish this site required registration before allowing comments. This would limit the idiotic posts.

[ezduzit]

rimm should thank apple for forcing cell phones to the real world. having verizon or palm or nokia or even rimm set the standards is a joke.

the touch screen will become ubiquitous and the keyboard will disappear like the floppy disk. apple will maintain its position because of safari. as of now, no company can come close to it or even conceive of a way to compete with it. sort of like the mac computers and ipods.

[Lucmee]

Hey J. Laze
Didn't you have to register to comment... I did? Just by posting this article ...Wayne put himself out there as at least an authority if not an expert... He deserves everything he gets if he insists on producing uneducated spew... You're right in stating that Apple enthusiasts are a bit sensitive to people slamming the obviously superior product line... But your calling passionate people idiotic also pushes a certain level of decency.