Hello there Neeks, this is the first of what could be a new tradition for SOMM, a CrossOver Debate. When Lasha asked me to write a column about “why the iphone sucks as a business machine” due to my devotion of the greatest little business machine in the Blackberry, I gladly accepted the challenge. For those that don’t know me, my name is Frank and I am the Chief Creative Director/Editorial Director of Sliceofmymind.com. Lasha is a great friend of mine and my “to go guy” for anything Apple and I’m his techie for anything Windows related. With the formalities behind us, let’s get straight to the topic at hand.
You can call me a tech savvy person or geek for short given that I can’t keep away from anything technological, but when Apple first announced the iPhone I wasn’t floored like the majority of geeks. I’ve always been a lover of Research in Motion’s (RIM) Blackberry and the iPhone wasn’t going to create any voids in that relationship. I knew the iPhone was going to be killer device, but when I heard some of my friends calling the iPhone a BB killer, I quickly shouted foul. The BlackBerry as a business device is leagues ahead of the iPhone. There are many reasons why the iPhone can’t tackle the Blackberry as a business phone, but I’m going to give you my top five reasons....
5. Maturity. The iPhone has a lot of growing to do if it wants to take the market and mindshare the BlackBerry holds. The BlackBerry OS is mature and outside of a few quirks, can do everything the iPhone does and more…better. When Apple leaves out simple things like copy & paste from the iPhone, you can’t expect it to beat RIM in the major business application duties like BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES).
4. Ultimate Wireless Usability. Whether you are at home, at the office or out and about, the BlackBerry is king of wireless usage. If your service provider allows it, you can use the BlackBerry with Wifi to use the web or other online activities. If you have a laptop near, you can use the BB as a tethered modem, either wirelessly or with a USB cable, with wifi or your phone’s service provider data plan.
3. Hardware Input. This is going to be a dinger. Like console gamers with a controller versus PC gamers with a mouse and keyboard, it is all about the input. If you are one of the latter, you know the mouse and keyboard beats a controller in a landslide in almost all activities and the input between the BlackBerry and iPhone is no different. A full QWERTY keyboard is going to beat the virtual keyboard of an iPhone 9 out of 10 times. Couple that with the Trackball and you have a mouse and keyboard in the palm of your hand.
2. Corporate. The BlackBerry is a business device after all and is king of the corporate world. Before the mainstream BlackBerry phones like the Curve, Pearl and now Storm, the BlackBerry was and still is the iconic phone 90% of business folk use. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server is software that allows complete wireless collaboration and messaging of major business applications like Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and more. Basically BES brings the office to you. Not only that, but you can edit a lot of application formats on your phone, like Microsoft Office docs and spreadsheets, natively.
1. E-mail. You can’t think about a BlackBerry and not think of e-mail. From e-mail filters, remote searching, full attachment viewing and HTML, the BlackBerry is the master of e-mail. I’ll say this, before getting a BlackBerry, e-mail didn’t mean much to me. Now, whenever I see that little red light blinking or hear that beeping sound, it’s like Christmas morning. It feels funny stating this, as I use to be a huge notebook user, wherever I went I had one of my notebooks with me but since the day of me buying my first BlackBerry, my notebook usage was cut in half and if you ask my girlfriend…that’s a huge improvement.
Well those are my top five reasons why the BlackBerry wins over the iPhone as a business device. I can proudly say I am a crackberry addict but I tried to write this article with as little bias as possible (I said I tried!). Feel free to argue if you’re an Apple zealot, but you know I am right regarding these reasons. I have no doubt in my mind that if Apple really wanted to steal RIM’s thunder, they probably could but as it stands now, BlackBerry is King!
Frank.
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Still love my blackberry. I might upgrade to the Storm. I think you hit the nail on the head for what makes the BB so good with your 5 choices. And I don't even really use mine for business purposes, its just my cell of choice and my connection to..well.. anything I could possibly need from a phone.
I am a little jealous of the apps available for the iPhone, but I think I can live 🙂
I agree that the iPhone is a terrible business tool. However, from my perspective, only two of the points you make really adhere to that mindset. I've worked as a consultant for years, specifically in IT at enterprise level companies - anywhere from 50 employees to 15,000. I'll elaborate:
Like you said, input and e-mail have been BlackBerry's bread and butter since the 90's. But...WiFi? Not too sure what you meant by that, the iPhone has WiFi and works just as well as any other mobile device. This kind of drags away from your point anyway, the beauty of mobile devices don't have anything to do with WiFi capability (at least from a business frame of mind). Additionally, who tethers their BlackBerry? With the rise of aircards over the last 10 years, I have yet to see anyone in a business environment rely on a phone for internet access on their laptop...unless of course they're a geek and just enjoy that sort of thing. Not to mention the majority of BlackBerry's on the market are EDGE (no thanks!). Aircards can pull down data at >200K/sec and are obviously a much more reliable internet tool if you need access on the road.
Furthermore, the iPhone *does* mesh with Microsoft Exchange; just setup ActiveSync! Like you, I would prefer the BlackBerry for that sort of thing but I truly think it's more of a comfort zone than anything...that is of course if you're leaving the QWERTY keyboard out of that specific argument :). Another question for you on that topic: Who edits spreadsheets and word docs on their BlackBerry that isn't a complete nerd? Again, this is a post about business! Remote access to a productivity suite is 99% of the time limited to your laptop, I suppose there are exceptions but they're definitely in the minority.
I'm probably writing a novel at this point but I thought I'd share the inconsistencies that I see with the iPhone from a business perspective - I promise you they are simple:
-Battery Life, BlackBerry kills every device (except bold/storm) on battery life. It lasts forever, on standby it can last over a week, seriously. Both versions of the iPhone have not made this a priority, nor have they allowed the heavy users an option to expand the battery. Terrible choice if you want to hit real business customers who are constantly traveling.
-Not cost effective, when you roll out a BlackBerry to a large group of people it is extremely cheap, relatively speaking. At the end of the day, after you paid for all your iPhone BS, you've probably spent enough money to buy 2 netbooks which are FAR MORE cost effective than a mobile device that you're only going to use for e-mail. RIM has the right idea: "we deliver emails to your phone, k?". Simplicity yields results, pretty colors on a fragile device that dies in a few hours of use is of no value to a company. I love to hear people try and argue this.
-Reliance on iTunes. This one makes me laugh every time, no over-the-air updates? Are you serious? What does Apple expect IT depts to do...roll out iTunes via AD in a locked down environment? Give me a f*cking break. Aside from that, if you DO get iTunes you have to plug in your phone and download a massive 200+MB image and P.S. you're unable to use your phone the entire time. I'd love to see how long that would take in an office with throttled bandwidth. Don't call me guys, I'm updating my iPhone!
In short, the iPhone is a fun little device for personal use. I see why people like it, I bought one and used it for about a year...but it has tons of other flaws that I won't bother mentioning here. A great phone for me personally is the G1. It's great for personal use and AMAZING for business ...specifically because I run my small entity through Google Apps so it's truly a win-win. Anyway, bye!
Hello RC,
First, my argument on the BB's WiFi capability encompass the many ways of which you can use your BB in different places/areas. Some phone service providers charge out the ass for data usage plans or their internet speeds suck ass (T-Mobile I'm looking at you), local Wifi becomes a viable option.
Another neat feature we techheads use instead of Aircards that are no longer tied to unlimited data plans is using the BB as a modem. We may not get the blazing speeds of an aircard, but we are also not being charged $50+ each month for only 5GB download. There are many ways to fool the service provider to think you're using internet on the phone when you're really using it on your Notebook.
Second, since you're in IT and have a BB, you know why it is good to have a BB. I don't use the options to edit documents and spreadsheets all the time, but for a quick edit or to quickly add something to the document instead of lugging my notebooks everywhere I go is a great feature to have "just in case".
I was going to make another option pointing out the battery of the BB versus the iphone, but I tried to pinpoint the functionality that would be more business-related than just "features" of the BB.
As for the G1, decent phone but Google needs to learn a thing or two from Apple. I have had many users of the G1 complain about problems with the phone and it being on the T-Mobile network is my major gripe with it. The OS is the most important and best thing about the G1 phone, take it away and you have just another iphone clone. We'll see what Palm has in store with their Pre, should be interested especially since they are going after the King (BB) too.
Windows mobile devices all the way bro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
haha, im a windows fan.
but I have to admit, Blackberry means business on the go.
I have used BB for almost 4 years - here is my feedback after using 3GS for 4 days.
1) iphone keyboard sucks.
2) there is no way to delete mail only on the handheld.
3) (biggest gripe) no way to check number of unread messages without logging in.
4) No new message red LED.
5) Battery life is bad - need to carry yet another cable charger (rather than use existing USB charger used for GPS,Bluetooth headset).
I do like the toy (gadget) portion on iphone - but as a business phone, it has a long way to go.
And today i was down for 3 hours without phone - after a friend thought me how to do a "hard reset" (home/sleep key reset), i got my phone back to life. My friend was no successful - she had the same problem - took it to Apple Store - they did something that wiped the entire content out...
All this within first 7 days of the phone - I think Apple's QA is going down the drain
AT&T just contacted me and said I was using too much "Off Network" time on my iPhone and if I continue to do this then they will terminate my service.
1St off, when I bought the phone in WA, with a Nation Wide contract, they did not inform me that AT&T does not have any towers in Montana, nor will they ever. Nor did they tell me I always had to be conected to an AT&T tower to use my phone for the internet.
2nd, I have had my phone with them for 5 years and only now do they have a problem with my "Off Network" charges. I live in Montana, almost ever place I go I'm bouncing off other towers. That is why I pay the additional internet fee, so I can use the internet.
AT&T states that there isn't anything for me to do, but to stop using any of Apps or internet. AT&T said that I am costing them too much money when I use the other towers and if I continue to do so, they will cancel me without notice. So now I have a $200 iPhone that is useless. I hate AT&T- you suck.
If anyone thinks that this phone/technology is not a cutting edge for a business has to be a spoon fed spoiled moron. I and any business owner who is still successful is using this level of efficient technology. Anyone that states that this device and its level of being ahead of its time is not a advantage, is a complete idiot. Or they are not sucsessful and are spending there time feeling sorry for themselves. All I have to say is how is that Hope and Change going for you.
Why does every person I see on a plane/bus/lobby using a blackberry look confused? I look at my Iphone, finish closing a deal via E-mail or sending our company video and laugh.They just do not get that I do this with no computer experience. Well, when our company prospers and they do not I guess they will get it.
@ Tom Hoenig
How about some facts to back up your claim tough guy? Your just another fanboi...