Blackberry Storm – Don’t rush to your judgments
Storm
So as I was patiently waiting on my Storm to show ( don’t launch a product if you only have a 10th of the supply you need) I was surprised, and a little worried about all the negative press the device was getting. Screen freezes, device resets, an accelerometer that took like 9 days to work, etc. There were high profile, highly respected writers everywhere bashing something that most of us still hadn’t seen.
Monday my Storm finally arrived. I wanted to write about it right out of the box. I however decided to give it a day or two to run it through the ringer first. I’m glad I did.
First of all it shouldn’t have been launched when it was. Verizon jumped the gun for a couple of reasons. First off stock, you don’t launch a device with out nearly enough units to meet the demand. I’m sure the excitement wasn’t a shock to them, or at least I would hope not. Secondly if you know there is new software that is coming out in a week, why set your self up for the kind of beating that they took. Many of the complaints about the device were absolutely true, most of which have already been cleared up.
That aside, it took me a couple of days to get used to the keyboard. I was fast on my curve, real fast, but it was taking me a significant amount of time to type. After a week of use this was mainly my fault. I caught myself worrying about whether I was hitting the correct button rather than just typing. I was also cross typing – by that I mean relying on the thumb from my right hand to hit buttons I should have hit with my left. This was causing me to hit a lot of incorrect keys, because of the shape of my thumbs.
OS upgrade – If you haven’t do it now (well almost now, finish reading and then go update) – the changes with the device were huge, the accelerometer issues were resolved. Still not quite as quick as I would like, but I expect that the guys at RIM are up working on this as I’m writing now. Quite frankly I’m willing to wait. (thanks to crackberry.com for getting me the update as soon as possible – those guys rock)
- Is the device worth it – Yes.
- Is it as good as I expected it would be – Not yet. That’s an early adopter risk I was willing to take.
- Is it the I-Phone killer everyone touted it to be – probably not. (but should it be?)
Comparisons with the I-Phone
- Storm – 2 weeks old I-Phone – second generation
- it really just isn’t a good comparison – if you still feel the need, compare it to the two week old I-Phone that couldn’t even keep enough of a connection to make a call. They fixed the issues RIM will too.
- Built for different audiences
- It never crossed my mind that I would need an app to simulate a drink pouring(pour1out)(I-Phone).
- The Storm like all other blackberry devices are corporate at heart. I know they’ve been trying to shake the image but really, if you need to be connected always there is nothing better. World class messaging capabilities. I’m not saying that the I-Phone isn’t a great device, because I’m sure it is. However at the end of the day it never crossed my mind that I should buy an I-Phone, its not what I need out of a smart phone.
The only thing I can suggest is that you give the storm a bit of time to feel its way out. Blackberry(s) have always had a high learning curve and if you give them a chance its very rewarding.
Gear Set 