Infoworld, from Yahoo has a great article putting the new iPhone software in an iPhone 3G (not the new G s) up against BlackBerry’s closest, most competitive version, the BlackBerry Bold.
I highly recommend the article, which is a re-do of a comparison done last May using iPhone 2.x OS.
Author Galen Gruman spent a month with both phones, using email, the phone, browser, etc and comparing the similar features on each phone, including the touch-tap keyboard to the thumb stroke. He evaluated everything from basic PDA functions to phone performance to location-based services to 3rd party app availability.
Results? You should really read the whole article, but if you want to save time, Mr. Gruman wrote:
I was shocked to discover how bad an e-mail client the BlackBerry is compared to the iPhone. And the BlackBerry is terrible at the rest of what the iPhone excels at: being a phone, a Web browser, an applications platform, and a media presenter. With its Windows 3-like UI, tiny screen, patched-together information structure, and two-handed operation, the BlackBerry is a Pinto in an era of Priuses.
He then goes on to describe point-by-point why he feels that iPhones are a far better choice. He notes that both are AT&T network only, and he has comments about that as well.
The touch screen on the iPhone makes typing a task that takes some time to get used to, and some people are just faster typing on the BlackBerry’s buttons, and they can use keyboard shortcuts, which the iPhone can’t. None the less, the iPhone user interface comes out way ahead of the BB.
Conclusions:
Where the BlackBerry wins
There are three considerations that might legitimately lead a company to choose a BlackBerry as its mobile platform, despite all its inferiorities.One is security. Although Apple provides more iPhone security capabilities than most people realize, it still doesn’t have the depth of messaging and device security that the BlackBerry does. Organizations running BlackBerrys can trust that both the data in transit and the data stored on the devices is secure. If a BlackBerry is lost, IT can wipe all of its data and render it useless over the air. You can remote-wipe and incapacitate an iPhone, but only via Exchange. The BlackBerry can have updates and policies pushed to it wirelessly, as well as confirm and log such updates so that you can demonstrate regulatory compliance; by contrast, although the Apple Configuration Utility provides BlackBerry-like security and policy capabilities, you can’t force users to install them or even know whether they have done so. And forget about pushing automatic policy updates.
Of course, most organizations don’t actually need that level of security, nor do they apply it to other devices such as laptops and employees’ home access. But if you follow defense or health-care industry security practices, the iPhone isn’t up to snuff yet, not even with third-party add-ons.
Another is use of an e-mail platform other than Exchange 2007. Apple has tied itself closely to Exchange 2007, for user management, information integration, and even security (Exchange is the only way to blank a lost or stolen iPhone, for example). If you use Notes or GroupWise, your iPhones must be managed as Web clients.
The third is the lack of keyboard. All the BlackBerry users I know love their physical QWERTY keyboard. Yes, the touch keyboard works just fine for non-touch-typists like me, but different people work well with different UI methods. So Apple should allow the development of a plug-in or Bluetooth keyboard to satisfy that need. It could even make a model that has it built in — as long as the screen is not shortened to make room (call it the iPhone Tall).
Apple could easily close all three gaps if it chooses. RIM will have a much harder time addressing the BlackBerry’s fundamental deficits. Its iPhone-copying attempts so far — the BlackBerry Storm and App World — reveal that RIM fundamentally doesn’t get it and is well on its way to becoming the Lotus Notes of mobile.
The fourth reason to choose a BlackBerry is because you really don’t want employees to use the Web or apps from a mobile device. If that’s your agenda, the BlackBerry will ensure you succeed.
Where the iPhone wins
For everyone else, the BlackBerry is yesterday’s mobile messenger, way past its prime and heading toward retirement. The iPhone is light-years ahead of the BlackBerry on almost every count. RIM should be ashamed.
In amost every way, the iPhone came off far superior. Read the article and see what I mean!
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Hay, Trying to view your blog on an iphone and am having hassles. I can’t get the images to load right. Just wanted you to know, Cheers!
GEEZ!I did a really long response to your article but my internet crapped out and I lost it all! Oh well, just wanted to say that it was a great article! Awesome!
I sure wish you hadn’t lost the response… I’d love to read it. Glad you liked the article, tho, and thanks for the comment
I just set up a plugin for my blog that should make it much easier to read on mobile devices. It works great on my iPhone.
Thanks for this post! But, I had a difficult time viewing your post in Internet Explorer 8. Just wanted to bring that to your attention! Best regards.