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Did Anybody Go From iPhone 4S To Any Blackberry Series?

Neverbepeace

Neverbepeace

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 14, 2009
797
256
New York
I notice I see a lot of thread discussing moving or coming from android devices or ios devices or even windows devices. Very rarely do you see iPhone to Blackberry lol

We all know Blackberry isn't in the greatest position right now....but their devices are not that bad (Bold 9900, 9860 ect)

Why the switch?

Since the iPhone can basically do everything a Blackberry can do and then some?. I'm assuming BBM is fading?

Share your thoughts........thanks
 
Lol no. Blackberry's juices are running dry. I expect to see them be bought by Microsoft.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A406 Safari/7534.48.3)

The devices are terrible, BBm is now a teen thing, if your older there's not much use in blackberry it's phone is cheap and slow, trackpad is crap, apps are the worst ever!!
 
I don't have a problem with blackberry. I LOVED my curve until I was introduced to the iPhone 3G. Will I ever go back to Blackberry? IF the iPhone would someday not exist, and Blackberry and Android were my only 2 options, I'd head the Blackberry way. ;)
 
went from BB to iPhone myself ... I still see a lot of companies providing BBs for their employees ... a cheaper secure email service.
 
Why in the world would anybody do such a thing?

RIM is in serious trouble. I expect them to either get bought by another company or to completely abandon the Blackberry OS and take on Android or Windows Mobile and customise it to their needs.

No sense in switching to a dying ecosystem with fewer features.
 
I have been using iphone for years, but used BB prior to that.
The BB is better as an email manager.
The lack of a camera in certain models also is a security benefit.
It is also far superior for corporate security and management from a corporate perspective.
It is not all bad, but these days a phone is much more than email and corporate security.
The iphone excels in apps, multimedia and surfing.

Obviously it depends if you are a college kid or a corporate player with sensitive information or secure areas that one enters.
 
My first smartphone was a BB Storm. Awful, awful phone. I got it because Verizon didn't have iPhones at the time, and I figured it was the next best thing (this was also before the days of Android). I was wrong. I would have rather kept my dumb phone than use the Storm, honestly.

Now I'm on a Droid 2, and while it's certainly an upgrade from the BB, it's pretty weak compared to an iPhone IMO. I'm eligible for an upgrade later this year, and I'm doing what I can to hold out for the 5.
 
sbb155 said:
It is also far superior for corporate security and management from a corporate perspective.

Obviously it depends if you are a college kid or a corporate player with sensitive information or secure areas that one enters.
Click to expand...

I have to challenge this notion that email is more secure on Blackberry. That might've been the case in an early time when Blackberry was the only encrypted game in town for wireless email, but with MS Exchange mobile device support, and other platforms like Zimbra, and web based services like GMail emulating it, encryption of email traffic to mobile devices is fairly commonplace. Configuration policies, locking and remote wipe are also available on Exchange-compatible platforms, allowing an enterprise to have the same level of control as they would a Blackberry.

And then you have VPNs. I woold trust the IPSec encrypted VPN connection on my iPhone, in which I have full control of how the traffic is routed and where, than I would the connection through Waterloo on a Blackberry.


If anything, the one thing that used to make BB the only secure game in town has now become a liability. Having to route all traffic through RIM's servers has left it a single point of failure.
 
If someone ever do it today. He/she must be going the wrong way. Period
 
falconeight said:
If they did they need counseling.
Click to expand...

All bashing and fanboyism aside:D

I can definitely understand if BB lacks a lot of features current phones have. However, that is not entirely the case. From what I gather, almost every smartphone offer the same functionality:

Phone Calls
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Text
Email
Web browser

Now, if your definitely into apps, it's a no brainer the iPhone wins. If your not into apps, what makes the iPhone the preferred one? Hype? Coolness? In with the crowed?

I'm not supporting/bashing either platform, I'm trying to figure out what about the iPhone people like besides the "It just works" slogan. Apparently, every phone "just works" for what you need it to do.

I wonder if you take the design of the iPhone 4/4S and put blackberry 7 OS on it, would people hop over to blackberry? That would sound like a hardware issue if that were to happen.

Are people not happy with the hardware with blackberry? Are apps that more important? For some reason, I think if rim was to have every app apple has in the AppStore, they would still be in the same position. Which leads me to believe it must be a hardware problem with their phones.

Like I said, looking for some good arguements instead of the typical responses of " rim is rip" or "there old and stale"
 
I used a curve before I got my first iPhone 3G. BLackberry is a nice phone but as a multimedia device it's not even on the same level as the iPhone. If I could get a hold of a Bold 9900 I would use it occasionally tho.
 
Neverbepeace said:
Now, if your definitely into apps, it's a no brainer the iPhone wins. If your not into apps, what makes the iPhone the preferred one? Hype? Coolness? In with the crowed?

I'm not supporting/bashing either platform, I'm trying to figure out what about the iPhone people like besides the "It just works" slogan. Apparently, every phone "just works" for what you need it to do.
Click to expand...

It isn't just about the apps. The iPhone was one of the first smartphones out there that offered a REAL web browser, for one. To this day, most Blackberry handhelds still lack a anything resembling a halfway-decent web browser. I could also, for the life of me, never get any blackberry I tried to sync contacts and calendars properly. So, a blackberry was far from an "it just works" proposition for me.

I do a lot more with my phone for work related tasks than just email. A lot of the things I do are increasingly web-based... And yes, some of them are handled by apps. With my iPhone, I can ssh into critical servers, monitor their status using an app that shows me a GUI representation of their health. I can poll my coworkers as to their availability and immediately send invites that update their calendars if they're free and accept the proposed meeting date. And I can now send texts from one of my iDevices, and continue it on another.

All of these are things I could not do reliably or to my satisfaction, if at all, on Blackberry.


I wonder if you take the design of the iPhone 4/4S and put blackberry 7 OS on it,
Click to expand...

If someone did that to my 4S, I would be forced to grab a large cinder block and put the poor thing out of its misery.

It's not the hardware. Or at least not all about hardware. iOS simply fits better with my workflow, in ways that don't require me to adapt to accommodate to the device's limitations.

And, it's nice to be able to play games with it on my downtime. I can't deny that, either.
 
Last edited:
Neverbepeace said:
All bashing and fanboyism aside:D

I can definitely understand if BB lacks a lot of features current phones have. However, that is not entirely the case. From what I gather, almost every smartphone offer the same functionality:

Phone Calls
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Text
Email
Web browser

Now, if your definitely into apps, it's a no brainer the iPhone wins. If your not into apps, what makes the iPhone the preferred one? Hype? Coolness? In with the crowed?

I'm not supporting/bashing either platform, I'm trying to figure out what about the iPhone people like besides the "It just works" slogan. Apparently, every phone "just works" for what you need it to do.

I wonder if you take the design of the iPhone 4/4S and put blackberry 7 OS on it, would people hop over to blackberry? That would sound like a hardware issue if that were to happen.

Are people not happy with the hardware with blackberry? Are apps that more important? For some reason, I think if rim was to have every app apple has in the AppStore, they would still be in the same position. Which leads me to believe it must be a hardware problem with their phones.

Like I said, looking for some good arguements instead of the typical responses of " rim is rip" or "there old and stale"
Click to expand...

I like what you had to say. I would add that if you are not into apps and want a functioning smartphone wp7 is the better of them.
 
i actually went from a iPhone 4, to a 9900, back to a 4, then back to 9900, and now finally, have settled on a 4s..

from my honest opinion (and from experience), blackberries provide what iPhones lacked at the time -- a social experience among all other things.

base it on age or whatnot, but BBM is the platform that brings together people of all ages and jobs and whatever. working in a law firm, out of 40 people, 33 of us were using blackberries for the email and bbm, whereas the other 7 was a mix of iPhones, android devices, etc.

the connectivity of being able to talk to someone instantly and fast, far trumps that of any text messaging client or third part application -- whatsapp was great at first, but the experience was still lacking.

email was also a main reason (as mentioned before) for the constant blackberry use, but as we can see, as more email clients and devices are being more secure, the switch a more "suitable" smartphone is in the mix.

a good chunk of new iPhone users all shifted from different devices -- but nowadays i wouldn't credit it to "hype"... i think rather, an acceptance of a device that works and caters to the needs of someones typical lifestyle. you do not need to be an avid or big time photographer to have or want the best possible camera on a phone -- some of us just want to have crisp images or even proper recording.

the connection people have to the real world and others and how they communicate boils down to preference... i still know people that hate touchscreen devices and will use blackberries for that entire purpose.


now, from experience from using blackberry 7 device... the 9900 provided features and comfortability that trumps all other blackberry devices. it was light, sturdy, and nice to look at. the touchscreen is a nice feature.. i used that more than i did the trackpad. email was incredible as well; regardless of the push features on iPhones, etc. i still vouch that blackberry had email down right. one feature i will miss dearly.

but, my biggest peeve of the entire thing, was also its biggest selling point: BBM.
ill be honest, for work purposes, bbm is nice to have, but when you're not conversing on a regular basis, you entice the idea that text messages and emails should suffice. again, it comes down to preference.
when it came down to it, i saw myself conversing to the same handful of people on a day to day basis.. which again, lead me to believe texting or even the forgotten "phone call" could cater to.


all in all.. the real time conversations is what ultimately leads people (for the most part) to get a blackberry device.. not to mention the look and feel of them. at my firm, there are still lots of people using them; it suits their lifestyle over other phones. people don't need touch screens or hundreds of camera and flashlight apps. they just need a phone that gets them through the day that can help them maintain a work ethic and lifestyle.


will i ever go back to a BB device? possibly. but right now, I'm enjoying the free-flowing iOS and handle/feel of my iPhone.
 
Blackberry is good if you don't care about anything on your smartphone other than making calls, reading/sending email/text, and the occasional usage of other things (such as apps, web browsing, pictures etc.)

Blackberry is solidly built, great keyboard, great battery life (very important for some) and just is a working man's phone.
 
salacious said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A406 Safari/7534.48.3)

The devices are terrible, BBm is now a teen thing, if your older there's not much use in blackberry it's phone is cheap and slow, trackpad is crap, apps are the worst ever!!
Click to expand...

Wow, the trackpads are still horrible? I tried a BlackBerry Pearl which has a trackball and this was the first time I wanted to throw an electronic at a wall. Horrible. I really don't know why so many people in Canada have BlackBerrys.
 
Don't count RIM out yet. They are going to release BB phones this year with QNX OS which will replace it's current OS.

From owning a BB playbook, I can tell you that QNX is very good. The OS is stable and the browser is the absolute best compared to any other mobile browser. The 2.0 update to be released this Feb will be able to load Android apps. I'm running the beta version now and have already loaded some Android apps including Amazom market place.

QNX will basically give BB phones new life. If RIM fails at this, then I would count them out for good.
 
tablo13 said:
Wow, the trackpads are still horrible? I tried a BlackBerry Pearl which has a trackball and this was the first time I wanted to throw an electronic at a wall. Horrible. I really don't know why so many people in Canada have BlackBerrys.
Click to expand...

try india and indonesia that woukl be like 90% of the population using bb
 
Neverbepeace said:
I notice I see a lot of thread discussing moving or coming from android devices or ios devices or even windows devices. Very rarely do you see iPhone to Blackberry lol

We all know Blackberry isn't in the greatest position right now....but their devices are not that bad (Bold 9900, 9860 ect)

Why the switch?

Since the iPhone can basically do everything a Blackberry can do and then some?. I'm assuming BBM is fading?

Share your thoughts........thanks
Click to expand...

BBM is still a big draw. There really isn't another solution out there that works as well in the corporate world. That, and battery life is incredible.
 
I'd like to chime in here and say this:

I now have an iPhone 4s, but before that I owned a Blackberry curve, then a Tour, then a Torch 9800.

They were all great phones, except one problem that they ALL had in common. Wait for it...

Terrible battery life. Yeah, you heard me. Sure, the battery was fantastic at first ... but like CLOCKWORK on EVERY blackberry I ever owned, after 6 months the battery started failing and the battery life was so bad at times it barely got through a couple hours, and the constant "hang ups" and restarts you had to perform on BB's was solely caused by this battery problem (which most people can't figure out.)

I gotta say though, the Torch didn't even come close to the iPhone in terms of speed, browser speed, apps, etc. Literally the only two things I miss are the social feed where everything was grouped together, and of course BBM. I used to be an avid "keyboard" guy but in less than one evening of owning the 4s I was typing on it better than my old Torch.
 
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