A co-worker just walked into my office and said, “I just killed my phone at lunch. I left it on the roof of my car and pulled off. It got all busted up, so, I need to replace it immediately.” I asked them what phone did they just destroy and they said, “a BlackBerry Bold”. I asked them if they were on Verizon and they said, “Yeah!”
It was then that my shoulders dropped and I let out a sigh before asking, “Do you want to stick with the BlackBerry?” My co-worker said, “I really don’t care. I just want something better than that phone I just busted up that can actually do some cool stuff like play Netflix and games and stuff. And I want to get one with a bigger screen like that one with the keyboard that slides out but not so big that it feels more like a TV than a phone.”
To make a long story short, I just recommended, for the first time to a co-worker, that they don’t even look at a BlackBerry and go straight to the iPhone 4, Droid 2, or Droid Pro. My co-worker said, “There is no new BlackBerry that I should check out?” I said, “Not unless you buy the same BlackBerry Bold 9650 that you’ve had for over a year and are OK with it not doing the cool stuff that you just said you wanted your new phone to do.”
This is pretty sad RIM. I would love to recommend the BlackBerry to colleagues and friends just as I have done for years. You, however, must put new phones out that do things that people want to be able to do on smartphones these days, something, unfortunately, you haven’t really done for years…
RIM, you’ve got to get new phones out. Give us a date. Give us some hope…
You should suggest the HTC Trophy running Windows Phone. I just upgraded to Mango and Boy I don’t miss Android.
Um, wouldn’t the Torch have been the logical suggestion? I’m not sure on the Netflix bit, but it did meet his criteria of bigger screen and slideout keyboard.
They are on Verizon, so, the Torch isn’t an option…
That’s another problem that’s easy to forget about – even if you saw your buddy’s 9700 or 9800 and wanted to go get one, there’s a pretty good chance that exact model isn’t even available on your carrier. Yes, there would probably be similar options (9700 vs. 9650), but there’s something to be said for the fact that an iPhone 4 is an iPhone 4, and it’s now on the two largest carriers.
haha looser. I had a problem with my BB phone a few months ago , after having it for years. Telus sold me a demo BOLD 9700 for a few dollars and told me to buy one of the NEW BB when they come out. Now that is what a good carrier will do for you.
I cannot believe I would ever not recommend a Blackberry either but not only has that time come, but because of how poor our Blackberry Torches have been (software issues, not hardware), we are forced to move-on from our Blackberries. I have had pretty much every new Blackberry model they have introduced since 2004, but I can only hold out so long. Android or webOS are looking intriguing…
And there lies Blackberry’s current problem in a nutshell. People are ready for new phones and there isn’t a new flagship device to recommend. Never mind anything else about what any other platforms are doing. The mere fact they have NADA is a problem. That 9900 and 9830 (for this case) need to be in stores pronto.
…And you made the proper recommendation! The mere fact that there’s like 100 different form factors running Android and the few ones that resemble a Bold or Tour (such as the Droid Pro) are basically novelty acts. People don’t want that. They want the big beautiful touch screen that they can surf the web with. It’s a travesty that Motorola Droid basically “beat” RIM to the market with a big screen smartphone featuring a hidden QWERTY. Even the Torch can’t REALLY compete with the original Droid that came out in 2009. It’s seems like all the “follow the flock” consumers want iPhones, while the “tech savvy” smartphone users are running Android. There is no U.S. market for BlackBerry, other than the residual market of people who got BB’s for work, or are just grandfathered into them and haven’t changed yet. RIM has no interest in innovating – all their new products just combine features of the old ones (like the “Bold Touch”) while not being better than hardly ANY of the alternatives. It’s really pretty sad, because I do like the company and have loved being a 9700 owner, but I can’t sign up for the SAME thing for another 2 years!
That is why I currently, don’t have a Blackberry. My upgrade came up, there was nothing new and better out, and nothing that much better on the visible horizon worth waiting for. I ended up going with Android and getting 4G on Verizon, which I’m happy with, but do miss my Blackberry often. Unfortunately, RIM just isn’t offering up anything to keep up. The Playbook is a great piece of hardware, but they need to do something with their phones before they’re too far behind.
I recently was talking to some higher ups in my company as they’re looking at moving towards mobile development within the company, and found myself in evaluating the differences, having to note how RIM is starting to lag behind in the hardware and power, outside of the tablet realm.
That is why I currently, don’t have a Blackberry. My upgrade came up, there was nothing new and better out, and nothing that much better on the visible horizon worth waiting for. I ended up going with Android and getting 4G on Verizon, which I’m happy with, but do miss my Blackberry often. Unfortunately, RIM just isn’t offering up anything to keep up. The Playbook is a great piece of hardware, but they need to do something with their phones before they’re too far behind.
I recently was talking to some higher ups in my company as they’re looking at moving towards mobile development within the company, and found myself in evaluating the differences, having to note how RIM is starting to lag behind in the hardware and power, outside of the tablet realm.