Ben Ackerman Switches to Bold, Finds Need to Share

[Vincent Ferrari]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.benackerman.com/2009/02/05/to-boldly-go/' target='_blank'>http://www.benackerman.com/2009/02/...5/to-boldly-go/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"To better understand my gripes with the iPhone, it's important to know what I've replaced it with. It turns out, the crackberry masses with their love for all things hard keyboard that I dismissed with a smug "I can type just as fast as you on my virtual keyboard so nyah!" had it right all along. For the last 2 weeks, I've rocked a RIM BlackBerry Bold. And I've loved it. Let's just say if I didn't already keep my phone in my pants, that would be where I keep this one anyway."</em></p><p><img height="325" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1234442269.usr18053.jpg" width="220" /></p><p>This reminds me of when Cory Doctorow decided that he had to start using Ubuntu to set his content free.&nbsp; I never did get what that meant, seeing as you can produce your own content on a Mac quite easily and there's no DRM on it, but no one questioned his silliness.&nbsp; In this case, Ackerman has decided he need to tell the world he switched phones as if it's some great "pat me on the back moment."</p><p>You see, I'm not just an iPhone user.&nbsp; My second "work" phone is also a BlackBerry Bold.&nbsp; I find it impossible to take seriously anyone who says the Bold's keyboard compares to the virtual keyboard on the iPhone.&nbsp; There is no way on the planet earth that the Bold's keyboard is as good as the iPhone's.&nbsp; It just isn't.&nbsp; Period.&nbsp; I can type at least twice as fast on my iPhone, and I don't have to worry about mistakes, either; the iPhone's auto-correct is pretty damn good if you ignore it and let it do its job.&nbsp; As it is, I can't type a single sentence on my Bold without looking at the keyboard to make sure I'm hitting the right key.</p><p>It's nice that Mr. Ackerman has found happiness in the Bold, but frankly I'll take the iPhone's gigantic app catalog, huge screen, superior in every way media experience, awesome keyboard, fantastic web browser, and pretty damn solid e-mail client over my Bold any day of the week and twice on Sunday.</p>

[crimsonsky]

There is no way I could even begin to approach the typing speed or comfort on a Touch/iPhone that I can with my Curve. That's one of the things I most appreciate about the Blackberry - it's a lean, mean, messaging machine.

My Blackberry is used pretty much ONLY for messaging. The BB platform doesn't have anywhere near the variety and quality of apps available for Windows Mobile or the iTunes Apps store and for that reason, my Wing and/or my HX-2415 are my non-messaging devices of choice because of the apps I have on them that the Blackberry platform doesn't have or can't match.

I've heard other folks say they can type as quickly on the soft keyboard of an iPhone as us BB users can on our devices, but personally, I can't come anywhere near the speed. Also, the BB has some nice touches like auto-capitalisation and auto-spell correction of words in the correction dictionary (like automatically correcting "ive" to "I've" so I don't even have to capitalise or add the apostrophe - it's done automatically). Even the keyboard on my Wing doesn't match the keyboard on my Curve and I type much faster on the Curve than the Wing.

More power to those of you who can type that fast on the iPhone keyboard - I can't and believe me it wasn't for lack of trying.

I'll grant your other points, but the App store pales in comparison to Windows Mobile. Cut and paste, multitasking, notes, tasks, etc. I live by PhatNotes on my WM devices and TextMaker (where's the ability to natively edit apps on the iPhone?). The App Store has potential, but it's not there yet. Overall I consider WM to be the best overall mobile computing solution with the BB as the best messaging experience for me.

[ptyork]

I think you might be the only person I know who claims better efficiency on the iPhone keyboard than the Bold (or the Curve or the Treo). The predictive text is nice and certainly helps, but I've certainly not found it to be better than a hard keyboard. For me, it is certainly a bit worse. Especially if you use words that don't always lend themselves to autocorrection. I DO like the iPhone/iPod Touch keyboard better for some quick entry tasks since it is so easy to tap letters with one thumb, but my WPM is certainly far below what I was able to achieve with my old Treo 650.

As for the app availability, I agree! There are only THREE fart apps for the Blackberry. THREE! There are over thirty for the iPhone. Sure, I can edit office documents on the BB, copy and paste between these and my email, my PIM is fully integrated and syncs without a subscription, I can listen to streaming audio at the same time I'm surfing the web, and I can use it as a pretty decent GPS, but come on. Who needs that when my app selection is so cripplingly limited. :)

[Jason Dunn]

I find it impossible to take seriously anyone who says the Bold's keyboard compares to the virtual keyboard on the iPhone. There is no way on the planet earth that the Bold's keyboard is as good as the iPhone's.

Umm...I think you're probably in the minority in feeling that on-screen software keyboards are easier or faster to use than a hardware keyboard. I know Janak would agree with you, but I've personally always struggled with on-screen keyboards - though I profess to have very little experience with the iPhone keyboard. Maybe with enough usage I'd get good at it. Myself, I'll take a hardware keyboard any day.

[Janak Parekh]

I think you might be the only person I know who claims better efficiency on the iPhone keyboard than the Bold (or the Curve or the Treo). No, there are a few of us. ;) I carry a BB and an iPhone, and I'm at least 50% faster on the iPhone for common English words. For me, it's the fact that the physical travel takes more effort and time than just tapping the screen. Then there's the fact that the BB's email client is just a pain to use.

Especially if you use words that don't always lend themselves to autocorrection. This, I do agree with.

--janak

[Tim Williamson]

I'm a former Dash user, and I actually prefer the iPhone's soft keyboard. I'd say my WPM is at least equal on the iPhone. The advantage I see with the iPhone is I don't have to stare at the keyboard, I can just look at what I'm typing, I just tap my thumb in the general location of the letter on the keyboard, and the autocorrect figures out what I meant to type.

[Vincent Ferrari]

Umm...I think you're probably in the minority in feeling that on-screen software keyboards are easier or faster to use than a hardware keyboard.

I don't think I said that, though. I was talking specifically about the Bold compared to the iPhone. There are some excellent hardware keyboards out there, but RIM isn't making them. For all the praise they've gotten for their keyboards, I've used more than a few Windows Mobile devices whose keyboards are infinitely better than anything coming out of RIM's warehouse.

[Jason Dunn]

I don't think I said that, though. I was talking specifically about the Bold compared to the iPhone. There are some excellent hardware keyboards out there, but RIM isn't making them.

Ah, I see. I don't have more than a few minutes experience with the Bold's keyboard - it seemed OK to me, but everyone has a different opinion when it comes to keyboards...

[Macguy59]

As a one handed typist, my speed is about the same between physical and virtual keyboards for short texts. Oddly enough the slower I tap on the iPhone's virtual the more mistakes I make. Like Vincent, I seem to make fewer mistakes if I just type away as fast as I can without looking (much) at the keyboard.