Category Archives: Gadgets

I enjoy reading Gruber for my regular dose of pro-Apple world views  (and he’s a good writer to boot)¹.  However, I don’t quite agree with his analysis in his recent piece called “Blackberry vs. iPhone“.  In the post he argues that really the only reason that someone, once the iPhone gains its “enterprise features” (read: Microsoft Exchange sync support) this summer, would choose a Blackberry over an iPhone is their odd prediction to preferring a hardware keyboard².

As I’ve written about before, I’m an avid Blackberry user.  That said, as Gruber notes, the iPhone is simply the best browsing device out there on the market.  Arguably better than any that were even dreamed up prior (even in the various wireless conferences I used to have to trot to in a previous life).  It is this fact that has had me wringing my hands over if I should try to hop to it over my current “bulletproof” Blackberry 8800.

So, what prevents me from jumping without consideration?  The following list:

1. Hardware Keyboard
2. Battery Life
3. Copy/Cut and Paste

The Keys to Fast Email

First, of course the “hardware keyboard”.  Yup, Gruber is right, this is pretty damn important to hardcore mobile email users.  I’m talking about those of us that get a hundred emails we need to respond to a day, those that actually need a rock solid email solution on their person always.  I get the impression from his post that this is a bit of a foreign concept for him.  It seems that while having email on the phone and being able to use it is nice, it’s not a life changing event for Gruber and many iPhone enthusiasts I’ve met.  For some of us it is.  The hardware keyboard made by RIM (vs. other vendors of crap that runs things like Symbian and Windows Mobile) is second to none for those of us in that situation.  Combine that with the RIM “smart text” that inserts apostrophes where you expect, and capitalizes as you hope, etc. and you have a tuned device that one can really knock out substantive emails on.

However, I’m willing to reconsider.  I’m willing to even take a chance on a $500 device on the claim that after a week(s) of use it gets much better.  That, while not ever as good as a hardware keyboard (this from former Blackberry users out there now on iPhones), even a former Blackberry user can see clear to using it as their main device.

No Time to Charge

Second is “battery life”.  This is where RIM’s years of wireless engineering and messaging expertise shows.  In contrast to the ActiveSync based solution that Windows Mobile (and soon iPhone) solutions use to sync, RIM uses their own over the air connection methods to ship data to/from the phone.  They can do this because they have that often criticized NOC in between the device and the enterprise servers. 

ActiveSync (AS), on the other hand, has the device open up a full HTTP connection and leave that connection open.  This is a little costly, but what’s more costly is that devices go in and out of coverage – all the time.  That means an AS based sync solution needs to reestablish the TCP/IP connection to the messaging server multiple times a day.  This alone is a huge amount of network chatter.  Layer in the various ACK/NACK behaviors at the TCP layers and you start to get a lot of back and forth that was never really optimized for the wireless world.  What does all this network chatter mean?  Lost battery life.

My 8800 gets 6 days without a charge.  This is while it’s going in and out of coverage.  While it is push email sync’ing 24 hours a day (with around 50 mails in and 10 mails out per day).  While I’m sending around 20 SMS messages a day.  While I’m browsing the mobile versions of Google, NY Times, and others multiple times a day.  While the device is set to vibrate mode for all incoming messages and phone rings.

Anyone who’s used another device, including an iPhone, realizes this is a big deal.  That type of battery life simply “does not happen” on any other device in the market.  For a guy like myself, who travels every week, the ability to not worry about when my major link to the world – that’s always with me – will stop working is huge.

Out of the “big three” issues I have remaining with going to the iPhone, I’d rate this one the highest for myself.  It makes me fret to think about having to plug in my phone every night again.  Worse, if I truly embrace the unified device concept of the iPhone, I’ll be sharing my battery capacity for my main communicator with my audio playback device.

My Scenario: I fly cross country every few days.  During these flights I listen to my iPod the entire time, then get off the plane, and need my smartphone to do email, text and voice all day for me until I’m hitting the sack (e.g. about 12-14 hrs after my 5 hr flight arrives). 

My Question: If it’s only one device that does both these functions, and that device already has tight battery life compared to a Blackberry, will I make it a full day?

In Search of a Clipboard

Finally, copy and paste, or “clipboard” support.  I’ve already griped about the lack of this on earlier iterations of the Windows Mobile platform (the smartphone sub-platform, specifically).  I cannot imagine why this wasn’t included in a new modern phone platform like the iPhone in v1.  I’m sure there was a reason, however, I can’t think of it.

Many will argue that clipboard support isn’t that important.  While I will concede that I don’t need it every day, when I do need it, it’s hugely valuable.  The number of times I needed to write something (often a number or date) on a sheet of scrap paper in order to read it off of one app on my phone, and then re-enter it into another app (say, read out of a mail message and write in a contact’s address book entry) was much greater than zero while I used my Windows Mobile phones.  It’s not something I want to go back to.

Could I live with out it?  Yes.  Should I have to (and this is the crux of the issue, there is no good reason to cut this functionality)?  No.

Making the Call

So, as the countdown to WWDC 2008, with its predicted announcement of “iPhone 2″ to come, enters its final weeks I have been asking myself if I will be willing to compromised on any or all of the issues above.  As I say, I really want to like the iPhone.  With the official release of the SDK, I’m sure there will be even cooler offerings running on the platform to come (and the ever expanding mobile web offering for the iPhone are alone an argument for moving to it). 

Well maybe Steve Jobs and crew could knock down at least one of the three with v2?  That would probably be enough for me to justify taking the plunge.

1 I actually love Mac’s and the entire small ISV ecosystem that the platform encourages.  So, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Mac basher, but Gruber can be a little all-pro Apple (to give him his due, some critical Apple pieces show up – most notably his commentaries on how Apple breaks its own HIG’s all the time).

2 I In his defense, he admits that he’s just posting to ponder what may be, but I take some issues with his base arguments.

My friend Omar is fond of pointing out the inconsistencies of Mac Fanboy arguments.  Their predilection for broadcasting in favor of their beloved OS/machine platform; how they’re prone to highlighting the great things that Apple does; how they tend to gloss over or (better yet) provide apologies for the things that Apple falls short on.

I fear that I may have become the equivalent for the Blackberry (and I fear that Omar may have the same opinion <grin>).  I certainly have become a strong “net promoter” (marketing lingo for someone who uses your product/service and would recommend it to a friend).  In the six months since I’ve returned to owning a Blackberry, I’ve also gotten my wife to buy one and more than a few friends to strongly consider it. 

Also, just the past weekend I also convinced my father to pick one up.  After years (and I do mean years, and generations) of Windows Mobile phones that barely worked, he had come to expect that the price for smartphone functionality and flexibility was poor reliability and complicated UI’s.  After his first couple days of Blackberry use, I asked him how it was going (for the record he picked up the new BB 8830 from AT&T).

New phone is fantastic.  Still learning but works so much better than anything I  have ever had in so many ways. 

Now, my father is the first person to complain loudly when technology doesn’t do what he expects and wants.  This does not mean that he won’t use it, he’s an extremely early adopter (often to his detriment, let’s just say the Vista upgrade was not seamless).   So, what I’m saying is, he uses technology frequently, and this is rare praise from him.

All’s Not Perfect

I, of course, still love my 8800.  However, in the interest of not glossing over shortcomings (perhaps avoiding total fanboy-dom) there is a piece of the puzzle that continues to frustrate.  Simply, the tethered sync program (to sync between your PC and the device when you don’t have a BES in the equation) is a miserable piece of junk.

It’s a poor product that provides few configurations or options.  However, that’s not the really evil problem.  The really evil problem, for me, is that it doesn’t work.  Almost since I started using it, I’ve had an on-again/off-again problem with the sync just bombing out and ending with the PC application crashing.

The specific problem seems to be some types of calendar events in my Outlook can get into a state that the sync engine just doesn’t play nicely with.  If I avoid syncing the calendar events, all is well.  Further, if I just wait the sync window of the calendar will pass over the offending events and will start syncing correctly again (for awhile anyway).  Finally, if I reset the sync relationship, it usually will let the initial post-reset sync work, but subsequent may or may not.

So, what does all this mean?  Well, as a technology guy, I’m still trying to piece together and debug what is happening (and if I figure it out, will no doubt post on it).  However, as an end user, it means that BB sync for non-corporate types kinda sucks.

Unfortunately, I’m not terribly surprised.  I’ve been around devices and sync protocols/technologies as a job for going on 7 years now.  Blackberry’s desktop sync conduit technology is not their own.  Instead, it’s licensed by a shop called Pumatech.  And as folks “in the know” know: Pumatech sucks.

Of course, there is no Pumatech technology in Blackberry’s bread and butter products (sync between their devices and Exchange).  No no, that’s all built in house by RIM.  The outsourcing of the desktop solution comes as a result of non-corporate users not being the original sweet spot for RIM products. 

Such non-BES customers have always been second class citizens for RIM.  However, the reality is that if RIM wants to continue to see growing market share (and a growing stock price) then their users cannot be assumed to be mostly corporate. 

RIM clearly does recognize this at some level.  It is being reflected in their new device designs (they look much cooler – no longer the boxy volvo of smartphones – and they now have consumer focused features like cameras and media playback) and their marketing.  However, it seems clear to me that they have not yet dealt with this at a software level.  If RIM truly cares about this market, they are going to have to bring their desktop software solution totally in house.

Lack of Will or Lack of Ability?

I worry that RIM doesn’t “get it” on this front.  In a past life/startup, I used meet and work with many folks at RIM.  The tenor of the place all those years ago was that they were amazing gizmo makers, top flight telecom protocol guys, and competent enterprise server makers.   What they absolutely were not were user-focused desktop software guys. 

In the “actions speak louder than words” department, RIM seems to still be this type of engineering shop.  They have made no efforts to pressure improvements on Pumatech (or to bring desktop sync in house).  Further, their new picture, video, audio solutions are similarly worrying.  The features are very consumer oriented, but the choice of licensing and outsourcing this desktop sync UI and product set to Roxio smacks a bit of “here we go again”.

I would love to see RIM grab ownership of this stuff and apply the same discipline and precision they have to device creation.  If they want to play in the world of iPhones, with a full integrated end-to-end user focused software stack, they’re going to have to.