iPhone’s Limitations Help Redefine The Term “Switcher”

Posted on 14 September 2009 by


Firefox.png

There is a new kind of switcher on the rise these days, and whiles its numbers are limited, they are nonetheless notable. No, we aren’t talking about people who make the move from Windows to Mac; we are talking about people who dropped one device for the iPhone, but now find themselves making the move back again- most of the time to a Blackberry it seems.

The latest victim to succumb to this switcher-mania is CNET’s Adam Richardson.

Richardson moved from a Blackberry to the iPhone six months ago, but now finds himself back with a Blackberry Bold. He offers a well-reasoned piece explaining his likes and dislikes and his reasons for the move. Mostly it comes down to this…

The iPhone is really good at the stuff I do 10% of the time, but pretty poor at the stuff I do 90% of the time.

His biggest issues? General usability is limited, due to the touchscreen keyboard and lack of shortcuts. Email is, he writes, a pain, and using the calendar takes too many steps, while the phone on the iPhone is mediocre at best. So Richardson is back to using a Blackberry, and I suspect pretty happy with the decision.

Personally I am glad to have gone with the two-device solution. While I don’t love carrying two difference handhelds, the fact is this- The iPhone is great at the things it is great at, and the Bold is great at the things it is great at. Most significant is the fact that the two areas of strength don’t tend to overlap. In other words, since both are strong in their own way, when thinking about which of the two devices I would keep if I could choose only one it would be…

This post was written by:

- who has written 2794 posts on Gear Diary.

Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. +Dan Cohen

Contact the author


  • http://www.s-consult.com/index.php Wayne Schulz

    I spent the day in New York City yesterday and the service there sucked. I had a data signal about 1/2 the time.

    If I were in a major city I’d probably jump ship for Sprint due to their more reasonable plans which include data/text/voice all for one price.

    While I agree the iPhone sucks for email and other business type stuff — it does really well at everything else. I can’t imagine not being with one.

  • Christopher Gavula

    Adam Richardson’s story has been getting a lot of play lately and I have one question:

    If the iPhone is only really good at what he does 10% of the time, and the BB is good for what he needs 90% of the time, then why did he switch in the first place? That just tells me that he isn’t very good at assessing his own needs.

    I wonder if this isn’t the case for a lot of “switchers” – they simply fail to truly recognize what their own needs are until AFTER they’ve made the switch.

    I’m more inclined to agree with you Dan, that for many of us, multiple devices are how we get 100% (or nearly) of our mobile computing/communications needs met.

    For me it’s actually kind of the opposite – the iPhone does what I need about 90% of the time, but if something did what I needed 100% of the time I’d switch in a heartbeat!

  • Dan Cohen

    Chris- I do think that a lot of the time it is hard to assess your real needs until you actually use a device. I know that very often I like the IDEA of a device far more than the reality of USING the device.

    For me the BB is quite useful for specific tasks. It is a better phone for me, is more integrated with Google Voice (although not as integrated as an Android device), is wicked good for messaging and is better for voice to text with Jott and Vlingo. Those are primarily work-hour things. When it comes to apps though, it is not nearly as good, has far to little memory and locks up if you load more than a few.

    The iPhone, on the other hand, is revolutionary and is far more of a pocket computer with camera and 3G than a smartphone.

    So if I did a split I would probably put it at 30/70 or so…