Goodbye, Blackberry

Well, I finally did it. I dumped by Blackberry phone. for the first time in, oh, 10 years, I no longer am using a Blackberry.

I mentioned earlier that I want an iPhone, but I also want to stay with T-Mobile. I was a GSM phone since I do travel out of the country periodically, and so far, my Blackberry T-Mobile phones have worked perfectly. So my only option for a GSM iPhone is AT&T.

However, my dislike for AT&T outweighs my desire for an iPhone. So instead got an Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy S II. Going from the Blackberry Bold 9700 to the Android Galaxy S II is quite a jump, especially in screen size. I'm quite familiar with the touch screen aspect of it since I've used other touch screen phones and also the iPad. But having a rather huge phone display after using the tiny Blackberry screen takes some getting used to, and I'm getting used to it rather quickly.

So far, I've been playing and exploring what it can do, and what apps/widget are available, almost every couple of hours. It's still a new toy, and I'm having fun with it.

The only drawback is, of course, the battery life. With the Blackberry, I often go for a couple of days (or even more) before I have to charge the batteries. With this Samsung, I have to do it every day, which is usually at night when I go to bed. But then again, with the Blackberry, I seldom make use of it to surf the web, or use the apps. So the use habit is different for each phone.

So I have all the Angry Birds, many card games, and a few neat stuff loaded already onto the phone. Quite happy with it so far, so much so I'm thinking that I don't miss the iPhone at all. At least for the next 2 years of my contract, I'll be staying with this one.

Not sure what the future will hold of RIM and the Blackberries. They make very good phones, rugged and dependable. But somehow, they lost touch with the progress in mobile technology and interface, and now they're playing catch up, rather than setting the trend. While other companies are also playing catch-up with Apple and making almost look-alike iPhone, they are at least trying to keep up with Apple and providing cheaper options with almost the same capabilities. I hope RIM can survive this rough patch and reinvent itself. After all, Apple at one time was on the brink of collapse before Steve Jobs came back.

Zz.