As RIM's market share has fallen, while that of iPhone and Android phones has risen, much ink has been spilled on the subject. However, a recent spate of articles has really gone overboard on this subject, a prime example being
The BlackBerry as Black Sheep which appeared recently in the New York Times.
According to this article:
"... The BlackBerry was once proudly carried by the high-powered and the elite, but those who still hold one today say the device has become a magnet for mockery and derision from those with iPhones and the latest Android phones...
BlackBerry outcasts say that, increasingly, they suffer from shame and public humiliation as they watch their counterparts mingle on social networking apps that are not available to them, take higher-resolution photos, and effortlessly navigate streets — and the Internet — with better GPS and faster browsing. More indignity comes in having to outsource tasks like getting directions, booking travel, making restaurant reservations and looking up sports scores to their exasperated iPhone and Android-carting partners, friends and colleagues..."
And in support of this proposition they have rounded up a cast of the clueless:
"... “I’m ashamed of it,” said Ms. Crosby, a Los Angeles sales representative
who said she had stopped pulling out her BlackBerry at cocktail parties
and conferences... I want to take a bat to it,” Ms. Crosby said, after waiting for her
phone’s browser to load for the third minute, only to watch the battery
die. “You can’t do anything with it. You’re supposed to, but it’s all a
big lie...
“BlackBerry users are like Myspace users,” sneers Craig Robert Smith, a
Los Angeles musician. “They probably still chat on AOL Instant
Messenger.” ...
Ryan Hutto, a director at a San Francisco health information company,
said he frequently depended on others, often his wife, for music
playlists, navigation and sports scores. “After two or three questions,
people start to get irritated,” Mr. Hutto said. His wife, Shannon Hutto, says with a sigh: “Anytime we go anywhere, I
always have to pull up the map. If we’re searching for a restaurant, I
pull up the Yelp app. If we need a reservation, I pull up OpenTable. I
kind of feel like his personal assistant....
Reading the comments on the NYT articles, you "learn" a huge list of deficiencies attributed to the BlackBerry: "social networking apps not available; poor-resolution photos, no GPS"; "internet access is slow and limited"; "the blackberry apps are a joke. for the iphone I have apps for my
banking, credit cards, weather, news, magazines, gmail, ted talks,
spotify, health, kindle/books, twitter etc etc!!"; "the blackberry screen is useless!"; "on-screen typing superior to the dedicated keyboard"; and so on...
Apparently BlackBerry users also are "technophobes"; "stuck in the past"; "dinosaurs"; etc.
Um well, this blogger is not sure what these folks are talking about. No social media? Poor web? No compass? No mapping and GPS? No good reading programs? No apps? Lousy photos? Well, this blogger must be imagining that his BlackBerry Torch II can do all this (and more):
OK, so this blogger will admit to being a "dinosaur", but "technophobe"??
Come on! Clearly not, given the collection below:
To each their own! " This blogger doesn't understand the apparent need that those using one platform seem to have, to denigrate the users of another. As such, he will refrain from crowing that his BB apps have never unexpectedly stopped working with a "The process android.process.acore has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again." message; or point out all the occasions when his wife's iPhone and iPad have been less than stellar!
The YMMV acronym applies to smartphone selection, and the NYT article is rather foolish. This blogger tends to agree with the person who commented that when he saw this article he thought he was reading
The Onion.
