At connectsmith, have been debating the merits of the iPhone and Blackberry for the past few weeks. Since I have never owned or operated an iPhone, and Marc has never owned or operated a Blackberry, we have had some interesting arguments. As one might guess, we tend to argue based upon tribal lines, I take the Blackberry side and Marc Apple’s. We both agree that neither are perfect and I would never for a minute suggest that the Blackberry comes close to the sexiness of the iPhone. But, if you work in the corporate world the Blackberry is king. I believe so for two reasons, e-mail and the IT department.
It doesn’t really matter that the Blackberry Curve or older models aren’t as user friendly as the iPhone, the cursor roller ball against a touch screen ends the argument right there. Add screen size and superior web surfing and you will be accused of piling on. The Blackberry Storm was supposed to combat the lack of these features but it had a slow start and is already being replaced by version 2. The Blackberry Curve is still the best selling smart phone mainly due to corporate customers and promotional give-a-ways. And of course, we are not even bringing up the humongous difference in apps – I think the iPhone app store has over 60,000 apps and growing daily while the Blackberry app store is not even close to that and probably never will be. The latest reports suggest the iPhone App Store market size is $200 million per month, or 2.4 billion per year which is a nice chunk of change.
Business Week has an interesting article on how all of this might change when the other giants of technology and telecoms get into the fight and take on both Apple and RIM, the maker of the Blackberry. Microsoft and Nokia are teaming up to offer a smart phone based upon Nokia’s Symbian operating system which is a major departure for Microsoft. Motorola is trying to get back in the game with a new smart phone based upon the Android operating system backed by Google and a host of partners. Other handset manufactures are also going to come out with additional Android offerings this fall. I personally put my money on Android and Google as I am a tried and true believer of open verses closed when it comes to software development. It will take some time for the Android community to come up with enterprise ready devices and apps, but when they do, look out RIM and Apple.
To me, it still all breaks down to weather or not I can get my outlook and e-mail on my phone and if my IT department supports the device. I have never been given a choice as to my smart phone preference, they just hand you a Blackberry and say go to the website for support requests and “get out of my office”.
As long as this tend continues, the Blackberry will still be the king of the corporate world and the iPhone for the people who are Apple fans and lovers of cool sexy devices. But not for long, as there are a host of competitors in the rear view mirror catching up fast.
Blackberry, The iPhone And Can I Get My Outlook?
At connectsmith, have been debating the merits of the iPhone and Blackberry for the past few weeks. Since I have never owned or operated an iPhone, and Marc has never owned or operated a Blackberry, we have had some interesting arguments. As one might guess, we tend to argue based upon tribal lines, I take the Blackberry side and Marc Apple’s. We both agree that neither are perfect and I would never for a minute suggest that the Blackberry comes close to the sexiness of the iPhone. But, if you work in the corporate world the Blackberry is king. I believe so for two reasons, e-mail and the IT department.
It doesn’t really matter that the Blackberry Curve or older models aren’t as user friendly as the iPhone, the cursor roller ball against a touch screen ends the argument right there. Add screen size and superior web surfing and you will be accused of piling on. The Blackberry Storm was supposed to combat the lack of these features but it had a slow start and is already being replaced by version 2. The Blackberry Curve is still the best selling smart phone mainly due to corporate customers and promotional give-a-ways. And of course, we are not even bringing up the humongous difference in apps – I think the iPhone app store has over 60,000 apps and growing daily while the Blackberry app store is not even close to that and probably never will be. The latest reports suggest the iPhone App Store market size is $200 million per month, or 2.4 billion per year which is a nice chunk of change.
Business Week has an interesting article on how all of this might change when the other giants of technology and telecoms get into the fight and take on both Apple and RIM, the maker of the Blackberry. Microsoft and Nokia are teaming up to offer a smart phone based upon Nokia’s Symbian operating system which is a major departure for Microsoft. Motorola is trying to get back in the game with a new smart phone based upon the Android operating system backed by Google and a host of partners. Other handset manufactures are also going to come out with additional Android offerings this fall. I personally put my money on Android and Google as I am a tried and true believer of open verses closed when it comes to software development. It will take some time for the Android community to come up with enterprise ready devices and apps, but when they do, look out RIM and Apple.
To me, it still all breaks down to weather or not I can get my outlook and e-mail on my phone and if my IT department supports the device. I have never been given a choice as to my smart phone preference, they just hand you a Blackberry and say go to the website for support requests and “get out of my office”.
As long as this tend continues, the Blackberry will still be the king of the corporate world and the iPhone for the people who are Apple fans and lovers of cool sexy devices. But not for long, as there are a host of competitors in the rear view mirror catching up fast.