The world has gone iPhone-crazy… maybe deservedly so, they are lovely devices with a gorgeous user interface. Personally I don’t agree with the ‘one device to do everything’ mantra – you could spend hours watching movies and listening to music and then you want to make an important call… oh, your battery is dead. For me it’s a phone (a BlackBerry 8800) for business and the Archos 605 for entertainment.
RIM’s big value proposition for the BlackBerry is that it’s a mature solution for the corporate market. With the best will in the world you can’t say that about the iPhone yet. The BlackBerry offers robust security and the right tools to build business applications. It’s mature, tried and tested. Determined not to be dealt a blow by the iPhone’s “I don’t care I want one” pulling-power, RIM have announced the 9500 (also known as the Storm). Again, a poorly-kept secret, but who cares. I want one. Not in the same way that I have an Archos 605, want a new Archos 5 but not so much that I’ll go and get one… I really want a 9500. I will proudly whip it out in front of any customer and show Lotus solutions, but also how lovely RIM’s new device is.
So go and get one. Surely a justifiable business expense.
If you are out there promoting the Lotus brand and this device is the best selling tool for the job, then you should have one and Lotus should pony up the readies.
You always have the latest software to show customers so why shouldn’t you impress them with the latest gadget that supports it.
Alternatively, call those nice people at RIM and explain why you must have one…… I’m sure they’ll oblige 😉
To buy a BlackBerry Bold without a sim (i.e. without a contract) is £350, so this will be the same or more (most likely more). Without going into details, there is no way that I would be able to expense this.
So call RIM. After all, their devices are aimed squarely at the business market and who better to promote their latest and greatest but the people who sell the best software for it.
Once again, you are at the mercy of the Bean Counters who have no idea what it takes to be effective in your position.
I bet the RIM guys don’t go out with an 8800 in their pocket.
It does indeed look like a badly-needed update to the BlackBerry line.
For all the vaunted “maturity” of the RIM product range, I do have a couple of beefs about these devices though:
1. As phones, they’re pretty pants (at least, the BlackBerries I’ve tried) — call quality and network stability isn’t all that good.
2. The newer handheld OSs tend to be somewhat — how can I put it — crashy 🙂
Good Day Mr Adams,
Nice to see you recognizing our products and the value that they offer. Now in your esteemed position I am pretty confident that Vodafone or even one of my colleagues might be able to accommodate you with a seed device. drop me a note and I will see what I can do.
Now it sounds like Mr Ben Poole might be using a very old BlackBerry as the voice quality on the Curve, Perl, 8800 and the Bold is pretty good in my opinion. Network stability…mmmmm interesting. Call your provider?
Time to upgrade old chap.
Cheers
Sean – Down under 🙂
I am using a BlackBerry Pearl, which is 12 months old. I am told this was one of the first BlackBerries that actually make for decent phones. Well if that’s the case, they still have a lot of work to do. Maybe I was just spoiled by using Nokias up until I got the Pearl. I’ve also tried a couple of decent Curves, and call quality was about the same. If you’re in a quiet environment, it’s fine. Get any background noise going, and it goes to pot. Maybe they need to get better mics.
I’m not permitted to upgrade yet, and my network is Vodafone in the South-East of England — signal strength etc. is fine, the Pearl just chooses to drop out a lot.
@6 – I’ve had an 8800 for about 16 months and I’ve not noticed any issues with the sound in situations with background noise, or problems with drop-out. The only crash problems I’ve experienced were with older versions of the Sametime client but haven’t had any crashes since Sametime 8 was installed.
A new record with the Peal this week: three freezes, two dropped calls before they’d even started, and two “ghost” notifications (the phone wobbles & flashes red, but no message, call or calendar event).
I guess I must have a lemon. Albeit a slow-blooming one 🙂
I have to admit that upgrading the 8800 to OS 4.5 didn’t go too well. Having deleted the old OS during stage 1, it didn’t bother going onto stage 2… adding the new OS. Result: one BlackBerry out of action. Problems didn’t stop there, as the BlackBerry Desktop refused to recognise the device was attached at the crucial moment (the part where it puts the new OS on). After some perseverance it’s all fine and OS 4.5 has some nice new touches and UI improvements.