Apple Iphone vs Google Android vs RIM Blackberry
I am looking for feedback from people about smart-phone choices.
I have a Blackberry Curve 8900 with the Talkspot feature now. It is pretty good, but I am seeing so many of my friends and business acquaintances moving to the Iphone. I know most of the reasons why and I was very close to making the move, but then I got confused by a technical person, whom I respect, throwing the Google Android option at me.
I would really like to hear from you all about your experiences, opinions, ideas, secrets etc, about what phone is better and why. This way, I can make sure I choose the best phone, the first time.
Here are the things that are most important to me in my new smart-phone.
- I have an Ipod (classic). I love it. I use it for all my music. I mean ALL my music. I wath videos on it. I even place a few games on it (those games that are acceptable on a non-touch-Iphone/Ipod).
- I use my blackberry for email, but not just simple email. I have 4 different emails I manage on it.
- I text quite a bit. Not crazy amounts, but quite a bit.
- I actually like the tactile QWERTY keyboard on my phone, though I do wish it had a bigger screen.
- It would be nice to have a touch screen.
- I do use the camera a bit. It is always with me, so by default, it is what I know I will have.
- I play games on my blackberry quite often.
- I do access they web with my blackberry, but it is not so good.
- I never edit a business document on it. (I am not sure that this is because I do not need to due to having a laptop or whether it is because I know that it will be a pain and not worth the time it takes to do it.)
- I do not use the map/GPS functions as I have a in car GPS, though is it a bit out of date so if a new phone made a decent turn-by-turn GPS as well as a phone, I would not complain.
- I have just started using Google apps and the online calendar/docs functions so a new smart-phone must be easy to integrate into this new “cloud” way of functioning.
- I want to use my phone more for remote banking, bill paying, seeing restaurant menus, movie schedules etc etc.
- I use bluetooth earpieces religiously.
So there you have it. Help guide me. Sell me on one of the phones in this list. The dialogue should be nothing if not educational for all of us.
either post your thoughts here, email me or tweet to me. either way, let me know what you think.
I will compile the information I get and post the results here, at a later date.
Thanks for getting involved.
Rick Cleghorn, Lead Consultant
Foghorn Business Development Services
9 Responses 
Leave a Reply 
Other Pages
I have an Iphone… I love it. It’s everything you are looking for. You may even wanna consider the ipad when it is released.
Hi Rick,
I think I am in your category at the moment as my wife (Blackberry user) may be looking at a new phone in the next few months. I see all the new features and glossy screened phones that are out now and feel there must be more to them than just the ‘touchy factor’. We utilize the phone in the same way, camera, some internet and a no to the inaccurate GPS system. (Stand alone is 10x more accurate)
Two of my friend’s wives had an iPhone for about 10 months now and they both say the same thing. They are not anywhere near as tough/rugged as there Blackberry’s. They are all guarded up now. (Wow that’s a lot of rubber…) Both are on their second phone. (Out of pocket)
My sister has an Android she says it is great, but she has never had an iPhone.
Well Rick not much help on this topic… But hey what are friends for!
Cheers,
Dave
HI Rick
Your asking the wrong person sorry.
I have a blackberry seems to work fine, have had it for three years, and still do not know how to use half the functions.
Kind of like my truck start and go but dont ask me what anything else does
Cheers
mary
Jeff emailed me this response. His points bring a whole new, interesting direction to the debate. Please note that Jeff’s comments are his opinion and neither he nor we are trying to offend anyone with the opinions found here.
“Hi Rick,
This is a timely question for me as I have just decided on a new phone that is pending release around June 1st. I am on the Bell network so I have been holding off on upgrading until they offered a phone that runs Android 2.1. Why Android you ask, and the simple answer for me is that it is the least locked down of any of the major systems out there. Up front I will say that I am a firm believer in the Open Source movement based on the idea that I am free to use the software as I see fit, It’s not that the software is free, which it mostly is, but that I am not bound by or limited by some large corporation if I decide to use the software for something that company didn’t expressly design it for. If I decide to hire someone and build upon a piece of open source software to take advantage of an opportunity in the landscape industry or to solve some problem I may have in my business that is perfectly legit. If I wish I may offer some app on the Android Market without having to jump through Apples hoop. I currently dual boot both my laptops and run Ubuntu alongside Windows if I wish. I am planning to be windows free within the next year or so.
Up to now I have had 2 phones running Winmo6 the first a HTC Touch and the second a Samsung SPH i325 with a dedicated querty keyboard. This hardware was quite good given the limitations of that generation in my limited experience. I would not buy another Microsoft phone based on the overall clunkiness of that ui as well as my own open source bias, it remains to be seen on how winmo 7 competes.
I have no experience with Blackberry other than reading an email on one handed to me so am ill equipped to comment on them other than to say my impression from researching online is that they are the leader in the larger business realm but are playing catch-up on the web/entertainment side of things which is a large part of what I use my phone for.
I also must admit to a serious bias against Apple Computer. After they killed the Newton palmtop very shortly after I purchased one and did their best to stifle the community that had sprung up around it I swore I would never buy another Apple product. The fact that they maintain such rigid control of how you may utilize a product that you have bought and paid a not insubstantial amount of money for is probably a larger disincentive to me to ever consider an Iphone. I do not own any of the Apple brand of MP3 players because I am not willing to be told how or where or on what I may play the music that I own. Over the last 40 years or so the whole obsolescence scam that the music industry has run, forcing everyone to buy music repeatedly and not figuring out a reasonable way to allow people to just enjoy it and the issue of the whole illegal download scene has led me to tend to stream music more often than I purchase it.
Yes, Apple products win on usability, often on industrial design and innovation, but that comes at some considerable cost in my opinion.
Their recent attempts to stifle competition through lawsuits against other companies based on questionable patents while they themselves perch on the shoulders of giants, and their iron fisted policies in regards to their app store and the uses for the Iphone that are disallowed far outweigh the not insignificant attraction the Iphone has. Not to sound too self righteous but business success does not automatically convey a moral equivalent, and my opinion is Apple has degenerated into a bad Microsoft. It is too bad as early on I learned to word process on the Mac and was a huge booster of the company at that time.
Anyway, enough ranting for now, I won’t even get started on carriers.
I have been researching and following the Android UI for some time now and am convinced that it is the long term winner for the business market. Though Apple has a head start, a larger number of apps and a bigger name, I also note the large sales growth of Android over the last
2 quarters, the rapid growth of the Android Market and the rapid increase and choice of handsets available or soon to be, as an inevitable landslide. Yes there are some problems; with privacy issues around Googles possession of so much of our personal information, Android not being truly open source( though more so than most others), issues around app/handset/sw version compatibility( which Apple avoids by limiting choice of both hardware and apps), and probably others I have missed.
That leaves 2 phones that I would consider at this time; the Nexus1 from Google or the HTC Legend soon to be offered thruogh Bell. Other phones are available on different carriers but at this point I don’t see any advantage to switching.
Some considerations on my choosing the Legend are; previous positive hardware experience with HTC product, local customer service such as it is through Bell, solid aluminum chassis, senseUI overlaid on top of Android, and notification from Bell that I am eligible for an upgrade, so no large cash outlay.
Some cons; slower processor than Nexus1, rumoured poor wifi connections due to aluminum chassis
Reasons I might have gone with the Nexus1; also HTC product, faster processor, phone is unlocked( less carrier BS).
Some cons; poor to non existent customer service, high initial cash outlay.
My plan is to get into Android on the cheap, test it out, see if it lives up to my expectations and watch what phones come available over the next year or so. The Legend will probably get upgraded to Android
2.2 when that comes available as the phone is a fairly recent intro( Feb2010). Being a one piece aluminum chassis I should be able to utilize this phone within my business as a second phone or as a crew phone if i don’t like it or upgrade again if some other phone candy comes along.
That being said I expect to be able to fully utilize my 3 email accounts, stream and play music, take pics, watch movies, send invoices, use GPS, send SMS and MMS, Surf the web, listen to fm radio, and oh, yeah, make phone calls and be able to manage my contacts without paying Microsoft for Outlook.
Sorry, I could go on and rant further but-must-stop-now, hope this helps.”
Thank you Jeff.
Johnny Smoke had some good insight also worth considering, including a link to an article about the battle between apple and Adobe about Flash.
“Hi Rick,
I’ve been contemplating the same thing. Apple is IMO completely overrated. Slick interface, but nothing under the hood. Poor performance, restrictive DRM policies, and awful access to the operating system. Android is poised to take the lead, especially with the failure of Apple to support Flash (see http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/05/13/adobe-takes-apple-battle-to-ad-campaign for some insight into why that may be the tipping point).
I don’t really want to have a portable device with me at all times, but if I was getting one, I’d want it to play music, take phone calls, surf the web, deal with email, take pictures, have full GPS functionality, and be on an open source applications that makes new technology accessible, not restricted. Android is the only OS currently capable of doing all those things (hardware hasn’t quite caught up though), and it can multi-task where even the behemoth iPad can’t.
Oh, and it should also have a wireless HD headcam accessory. Sorry, I was dreaming again. One day… one day.
Johnny Smoke
Bush Pilot Biking
5907 MacGregor Rd.
Peachland, BC
V0H 1X4
p/f. 250 767 2662
c. 250 826 4766
http://www.bushpilotbiking.com”
Thanks Johnny
Crystal forwarded this link with some interesting information relating to Iphone and Android users.
add it to your general knowledge base when considering one of the 3 devices.
http://bit.ly/apxTQG
Here is another link that adds to the general knowledge on this topic.
this comes from Brian Webb at BW_Creative on twitter.
http://bit.ly/9nPlo7
As a very happy Linux user, I naturally started watching the reviews etc. of the Android models. Within our computer club, we have Blackberry users, iPhone users & now some are getting the Androids. Those of us who have simply researched and not yet purchased are definitely leaning to the Androids. My personal preference is the Motorola Milestone and Telus carries those plus HTC Androids. Hope this helps a bit. If you want an ‘unlocked’ one, they are available from newegg.com for considerably cheaper than from TigerDirect.ca but neither is ‘cheap’.
Mom
Hi Rick
I currently own my fourth Blackberry (Bold). The previous one (Curve) has been changed by Bell as all employees in our company complained about the poor coverage, the very short battery expanctancy and it’s cheap plastic case (that was after a week of usage by the way !)
The previous BB cells were a little better. Still, I just can’t believe that a company as huge as RIM are still releasing such a lame software as Desktop Manager. This software has all the bugs you can expect and more. The cell phone OS keeps getting less and less user-friendly. Instead of taking the best of what they’ve created and build on it, they kept adding complex sub-menus that are confusing, time consuming and unaffective.
You might have guessed that I’m not a Blackberry fan…anymore. But, what options do you have when your company wants one product instead of another ?
All the best
Sami