IPhone vs. Blackberry/Palm OS

Question

I really like the iPhone. I’ve had my phone for 3 weeks now, and it is just so friendly and intuitive to use. The high res screen shows the icon and the text of the button you want. That makes it so easy and fast to launch an application. Beats the Blackberry hands down on the organizational structure and ease of use. It’s the first device that does the things I need it to do as a personal and business organizer in an easy and bright-colored way, including notes, whole-page Web browsing; contacts, email, alarm and timer, Google Maps, camera, calendar, SMS testing, phone, and…iPod. I love the two finger feature of pressing, flicking and pinching, instead of tapping, tapping, and clicking nested menus, as is typical on Palm and Windows devices. Blackberry began to solve this problem with the scroll wheel. On the iPhone, every action seems to have been thought of my Apple software engineers – from beautifully scrolling through contacts and email, to nicely flying emails into a folder for filing. The phone is beautiful and easy to use. The form factor is great: beats the old Newton 2000. To be sure, there are a few features other phones have that are left out of the iPhone, but they are not deal breakers for me. The integration of the component parts is seamless and transparent. It’s just a joy to use. And, it works great on my Mac. I’m not sure about Windows users. It seems that a lot of Windows users are testing the iPhone and complaining that the iPhone doesn’t do this like a Blackjack, or a Blackberry. Well, what it does do to me is by far and away the best, most elegant implementation on a Mac of useful features, I am very pleased with it.
+ Phone – Contacts are so easy to scroll to, or just pressing a letter on the alphabet makes the 300 or so contacts I have a joy to flow through. Since there is no hard keyboard taking up screen space, the keypad comes on full screen. It is so easy to see the numbers.
+Visual Voicemail –I really enjoy and find useful having all my voice mails there for me to just press and listen to. And I can more accurately remember who has called me. Wonderful personal business tool! I don’t nor have ever used wireless sync on a Blackberry over Exchange Server, so I can’t comment on that, although, it sounds like a nice feature to use in a large business.
+Mail – The best email reader I’ve ever used on a phone. Nice big fonts, 0-5 line preview. I have mine set on 3 lines. Nice clear, bold titles. Inline graphic and html viewing is superb! Plus, you can pinch and view graphics larger. Nice and easy to use. Imap mail seems to work best for me, as it is easy to file emails. No push except for Yahoo email, but that is actually fine as I was annoyed by push email. At night next to my bed the phone would vibrate whenever I received an email, and sometimes it would wake me up. I don’t need to know I’ve gotten an email at 4:00am.
+Auto correct in typing – this makes typing actually faster than it was on my Blackberry. Regional sensing recognition means I don’t have to actually type each word exactly; the iPhone predictive text operates pretty good, well enough that I just type a word and press the space bar…and almost every word I type completes accurately.
+Web browsing – Safari works great, much better than the Blackberry’s text only pages. To be fair, I could get some graphics on the BB browser, but it took so darn long to load over Edge, that I just gave up on Web browsing. The iPhone uses Wifi, so I can navigate real Web pages sitting on the couch. Nice! I actually use it over Edge, and I’m impressed with the whole Web page view. Also, my bookmarks are synced with my computer bookmarks, so I can make an iPhone set on my laptop, and use that as a set of links to navigate on the iPhone. Easy.
+iPod – Podcasts, songs, and videos – I use this iPod more than every other one I’ve owned for the simple reason that there is a phone attached to the iPod, so when a call comes in, I just press the answer button on the headset. With a blackberry, I’ve got to pull out the earbuds from my iPod, than either put the headset on for the phone, or the Bluetooth headset, and then answer the bloody thing. The iPhone allows me the freedom to listen to music or podcasts and answer the phone, and the music or podcast slowly fades away, and brings the caller’s voice up. Very nice and easy to use. Plus, I’ve watched a couple of TV shows, Star Trek for example, and they looks so good in widescreen. Nice touch.
+Stocks – so fast and easy to see up to date stock quotes.
+Google Maps – works just like on the Blackberry, but nice touches added like the pins that come flying in. Functionality is the same as on the Blackberry, but with touch screen access, it might be easier. It’s taking me a while to get used to the touch screen for everything as opposed to using a scroll wheel on the BB.
+SMS Texting – Just like iChat. I like the color-coded bubbles, and being able to see the entire set of conversations I’ve had with each phone number.
+Calendar – easy to read and syncs accurately with my Mac using iCal. The one drawback is no to-do lists! That’s the first serious shortcoming. I have to enter in a to-do as an appointment, and if I do not do it on Tues at 9am, then I have to edit it to see it on another day. That is a drawback.
+Photos – excellent, easy to use, and elegant scrolling through photos. Syncs perfectly with my Mac and iPhoto. I know exactly what photos are going to be on the phone. Again, pinching and flicking is so intuitive, easy, and enjoyable to use.
+Camera – easy to take pictures. Syncs easy with iPhoto. You need a lot of light for photos to come out nice and sharp. So it’s not a great camera, but functional with poses and enough light.
+Notes – I will say that with no note sync to the computer, this is a serious drawback.
+Battery life appears good. I get about 2-3 days, the same as on my Blackberry. But I’m also listening to Podcasts of Science Friday and On Point from WBUR in Boston. Great shows.
+Alarm and Timer – I use the timer feature to conduct meetings. The sounds are so pleasant to wake to. I’ve got it set on Harp, and it is nice and soft to wake to or end a meeting. Again, enjoyable to use is a key feature for me.
I use the iPhone much more than my Blackberry due to ease of sync with my Mac. I connect to iTunes, and my podcasts, music, photos, calendars and contacts sync automatically. Accurately. I wish there were to-do lists and note sync. That’s about the only two drawbacks I have. Palm and Blackberry didn’t have the best software for Mac synchronization. If you’re a Windows user, I can’t comment on syncing, and I’ve never owned a Windows Mobile device. If you’re a Mac user, the syncing is superb. You know that iCal and iPhoto will be synced accurately.
Brad

Answer 1

I have had the Blackberry for a number of years, and was even a featured user with it. But the iphone is a step up.
PDF files in the iphone can be read but not with blackberry.
I have not seen if the powerpoints can be read, will try that next -- although there may be some third party software.
Brought the iphone to Anchorage, Alaska, and the only reason I used my powerbook was when I wanted to type something. Next trip I don't think I need the laptop at all -- and that will save my shoulder from an early rotator cuff surgery.
The weather on iphone is much better and easier than Blackberry.
I would like push email, however. You can turn off notification.
Voicemail is a dream. Easy to see, to use and works very well.
Photos are easy, and fun -- and only wish they had a flash.
The Clock allows multiple time zones.
It would be nice if the weather icon showed the temperature in a selected city, on the home page.
Calendar is the easiest calendar I have used. I wish it would push through the internet -- then it would be almost perfect.
What would be more perfect-- faster data stream-- EVDO instead of Edge. The only downfall. But browsing on iphone is so much easier than blackberry.
So, take the Airport Express and a cable and the iphone will work perfectly in a hotel room.
Next -- powerpoint or keynote slides.