The BlackBerry is Still a Sweet Fruit in Some Places Discussion

[Andy Patrizio]

The BlackBerry phone, once so addicting, people called them "CrackBerries," has taken a mighty fall in the U.S. as it was replaced by more nimble and appealing touchscreen phones running Android and Apple's iPhone. Still, there are portions of the world that love their BlackBerries.

Read the full content of this Article: The BlackBerry is Still a Sweet Fruit in Some Places

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[Varjak]

There are still people here (North America) that love BBM and the solidity and reliability of BB. I'm not one of them; but you still see large penetration of BBs in certain circles.

[LandSurveyor]

I still see lots of people with them. I'm continually surprised at the number of young people, particularly girls, who have them. Could it be that the expense of data plans and a preference for messaging drive this?

As to touchscreens, they are great for their versatility but I could type much faster and with far fewer errors on those little keys than I can on my current Android touchscreen, even with it in landscape orientation.

And I almost never had to turn the thing off or pull the battery. It was THAT reliable.

[Hook]

I still see lots of people with them. I'm continually surprised at the number of young people, particularly girls, who have them. Could it be that the expense of data plans and a preference for messaging drive this?

As to touchscreens, they are great for their versatility but I could type much faster and with far fewer errors on those little keys than I can on my current Android touchscreen, even with it in landscape orientation.

And I almost never had to turn the thing off or pull the battery. It was THAT reliable.

Somewhere I must have missed the secret training, but I find my BlackBerry Bold (work issued) keyboard nearly unusable compared to using Swype on Android (it is especially good on my 5" screen, but works just fine on my 3.7" screen). I find I am always mashing the wrong keys and I have to back up. This inaccuracy is especially maddening when your BB locks you out every few minutes and you have to retype the password. On my Android I can easily write a couple of paragraphs. On my BB, I try to confine my answers to 5 words-- "I'll get back to you." ;-)

[LandSurveyor]

I dunno. I have what I call "dog paws": small hands with short, stubby fingers. Nevertheless, I was pretty good with my 8800. That plus the BB's word list probably corrected a lot of my more repeatable errors. And true to their ease-of-use mantra, it was easy to add any words I wanted.

Although they were totally different, I held BB devices in the same admiration as classic Palm machines.

[rkevwill]

Somewhere I must have missed the secret training, but I find my BlackBerry Bold (work issued) keyboard nearly unusable compared to using Swype on Android (it is especially good on my 5" screen, but works just fine on my 3.7" screen). I find I am always mashing the wrong keys and I have to back up. This inaccuracy is especially maddening when your BB locks you out every few minutes and you have to retype the password. On my Android I can easily write a couple of paragraphs. On my BB, I try to confine my answers to 5 words-- "I'll get back to you." ;-)

Which bold do you have? I just did some extensive testing with a 9900 (att), and found the keyboard to be much better, than my bold 9650, and I indeed loved that keyboard! I am literally hoping, that they survive and bring out a new OS next year, with great hardware. In any case, I see folks typing as fast or faster on Androids and iPhones, than I type on the BB or on screen keyboards. Re: Locking up...some of the time (I almost said most of the time) locking up of BB's is because of bad software (remember, its true multitasking), and or security software used my the corporation being badly implemented. And THATS all I know about that!

[jigwashere]

Sigh...I miss my 755p keyboard. Actually, I do find Swype to be a very good replacement to a physical keyboard. I never owned a Blackberry -- never tempted.

[rkevwill]

Sigh...I miss my 755p keyboard. Actually, I do find Swype to be a very good replacement to a physical keyboard. I never owned a Blackberry -- never tempted.

In many ways, I still think my 755p was the best handheld I ever had. We forget however, how slow that damn thing was Great keyboard though, I agree.

[Hook]

Which bold do you have? I just did some extensive testing with a 9900 (att), and found the keyboard to be much better, than my bold 9650, and I indeed loved that keyboard! I am literally hoping, that they survive and bring out a new OS next year, with great hardware. In any case, I see folks typing as fast or faster on Androids and iPhones, than I type on the BB or on screen keyboards. Re: Locking up...some of the time (I almost said most of the time) locking up of BB's is because of bad software (remember, its true multitasking), and or security software used my the corporation being badly implemented. And THATS all I know about that!

Mine's an AT&T 9700. I have pretty big hands, long fingers as well, which is probably why I like my 5" Samsung. I've never been thrilled about typing on a handheld without a BT keyboard, but Swype really works awfully well, as does speech input when I a not in public and look like an idiot talking out loud. ;-) On my 3.7" Nexus One I use Grafitti a lot, but on the Samsung it is Swype all the way.

[Drillbit]

Sold my 9630 long ago. It was neat that this CDMA phone has truly global GSM capability once unlocked. Verizon branded phone ended up working in a GSM Philippines carrier.

Daughter broke her 9930. Battery terminal connector kaput. The phone is done. This is the end of her Blackberry days, having used a 9700 and a Storm. Her circles have gone out of BBM. Her next phone was a Note.

Brother uses a 9700 now 9900 with a Galaxy S2. Sister in law has an 9900 with an iPhone 4. Sister has a 9700. She is probably the most die hard BB user of all.

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