Comments on: Blackberry: Bold is Beautiful

By: robburke.NET » Finding New Cycling Routes in Toronto

robburke.NET » Finding New Cycling Routes in Toronto — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:48:07 +0000

[...] of which – I’m a Blackberry user (actually a Blackberry lover). There are great maps of Toronto cycling routes, in pdf form (here on toronto.ca) and as a [...]

By: Rob Burke

Rob Burke — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:10:29 +0000

JR – if you have the pull-out keyboard then it is definitely not the original Touch — so you should be ok! I have seen some more recent HTCs and some of them looked quite nice.

By: JR

JR — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:09:33 +0000

Thanks so much. I am not sure what version it is but from the sounds of it the Touch might be obsolete. Well, more obsolete, I should say. Maybe I’ll try a few of my own stress tests.

From what I saw of the menu it looked okay, I don’t know if it’s multitouch or not by my sister seemed pleased with the control. If not, I suppose there’s always the pull-out keyboard.

By: Rob Burke

Rob Burke — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:33:36 +0000

@JR – I had the original HTC Touch (not Touch Diamond or Touch Pro or any other variation of Touch). The processor was underpowered and this made the device frustratingly unresponsive, and most of the other problems stemmed from there. For instance, sometimes it would just refuse to answer calls, because it was spinning its “please wait” wheel as the call came in. The touchscreen only responded to a great deal of pressure, so it was useless unless you used the unwieldy stylus, and using it, my typing speed never increased beyond a crawl. Finally and most saliently, the custom HTC menus were “bolt-ons” that felt like an attempt to emulate the Apple UX, but ultimately failed to correct the user experience issues with the underlying Windows Mobile that make it suboptimal for a touchscreen interface. If your sister wants a touchscreen phone, I would strongly recommend against the original HTC Touch, and instead consider the iPhone, Blackberry Storm, or evaluate one of the newer HTC devices.

@Riccardo all of this (including your long comment written on the iPhone) is making me feel like I’ve been negatively predisposed to touchscreen keyboards by HTC, and I should find a chance to play with the iPhone landscape keyboard!!

By: JR

JR — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:20:31 +0000

Can you please explain what went wrong with the HTC? My sister just got it and has time enough to exchange it–I’m the techie in the family and I can do without another device I’ll need to support!

Thanks so much. Glad you like your Bold–I’m still with the Curve but it’s not bad.

By: Riccardo Spagni

Riccardo Spagni — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:46:57 +0000

I agree with you – which is why I find it odd that Apple are trying to position the device as a business solution. Don’t get me wrong…it plugs into Exchange beautifully, and pushes emails and calendar entries down within seconds of Exchange receiving them. Interestingly, I see Google have licensed ActiveSync to develop a sync server for Google Calendar and Contacts – which is available in beta form at the moment. If Apple were really interested in capturing the business market they would’ve supported RIM’s push tech as well as Microsoft’s. They would also have provided access to business tools like route mapping, bulk mail/messaging, spell check (not just predictive correction), copy and paste, RSS integration, better access to contact groups, and task and project tools. The iPhone is my business device only because of the space I’m in – there’s no way it’s suitable for all, even most, business types.

But oh damn is it ever pretty!

PS. This was written on my iPhone – vive le landscape keyboard!!

By: Rob Burke

Rob Burke — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:08:17 +0000

Riccardo, there’s no question that iPhones inspire loyalty of the sort I am now feeling for my Blackberry – and it fascinates me, because I still can’t get over the feeling I couldn’t type fast enough on one of those screens.

Since writing this article, I’ve had a chance to see more of a friend’s iPhone, and find some things about it to be superior to the Blackberry – the mapping, in particular. It is also unquestionably “sexy.” But it has never occurred to me that I made the ‘wrong decision’ – but don’t take that to mean I am not very impressed!

I was looking for a device from a company that understands what enterprise mobility users want, and RIM unquestionably does that. I think Apple is perhaps equally savvy for consumer mobility.

On the other (third) hand: like you, I spend my days in WPF and Silverlight, so I am just going to be generous and say that the Windows Mobile UX, borrowing its experience in part from old-school Windows itself, seems to have lost something in translation to the mobile platform.

By: Riccardo Spagni

Riccardo Spagni — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:46:54 +0000

I have to be honest, though, the iPhone has limitations, sure, but it is the most FUN I’ve had with a phone. I send around 700 text messages a month, and use it as my primary email device, and the on-screen keyboard merely takes a bit of getting used to. I find myself typing faster on the iPhone than I ever did on my traditional 9-key-T9 phones. I used to buy phones because they looked pretty, features-be-damned, but with the iPhone I get the immersive user experience along with it. As a matter of interest, I’m a senior C# R&D developer at a corporate, working predominantly with WPF, CompositeWPF, VS2010 and the like, so I’m definitely NOT an Apple fan boy. I don’t own a Mac, and I refused to buy an iPod on principle. The iPhone is my first foray into the Mac world, and I have to give them kudos for developing an interface that is truly engaging. Office 2007′s ribbon, by comparison, leaves much to be desired – having to learn a stack of new shortcuts is NOT my idea of a good time;)