I gave mine back
Written: Feb 11 '05 (Updated Apr 12 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wireless connectivity to email and calendar
Cons: An ergonomic disaster area; awkward user interface; poor GSM reception
The Bottom Line: A great concept, poorly executed.
Be patient - a better device has to be forthcoming.
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| sundogg99's Full Review: RIM BlackBerry 7290 Smartphone |
Everyone who's anyone has one, it seems.
These days, if someone refuses to meet your eyes in a business meeting, it's probably not because he’s uncomfortable, embarrassed, or lying. More likely, he’s ignoring you entirely and engrossed in scanning emails on his BlackBerry. Never mind that these devices are awkward, unwieldy, and expensive: they represent the state of the art (such as it is) in digital convergence, at least in regards to business communications. Therefore, the devices are highly desirable and are rapidly becoming indispensable for all manner of go-go entrepreneurial types.
They also suck, in many important ways. Before you sign up for one of these devices, consider carefully what it is you’re trying to gain.
The concept of convergence has been around for a few years in the electronic world. It's the idea behind Tivo, the best time-shifting device since the VCR was invented back in the 1970s. However, it's worth noting that convergence is also the mother of such ill-conceived inventions as the combination copier/printer/fax machine, Web TV, and, of course, the infamous Web-enabled refrigerator. Got yours yet? Me neither.
Convergence is the concept that created the BlackBerry, which is arguably the hottest business tool since the cell phone. At first glance, the BlackBerry is a brilliant and undeniably attractive idea: a pocket-sized device that allows the user to wirelessly retrieve and respond to emails in real time. But wait... there's more! It's also a cell phone! A web browser! A personal calendar/alarm clock/calculator/ blender! Okay, I lied about the blender. Still, the BlackBerry offers users a formidable array of handy applications, all in a device about the size and weight of a deck of cards.
And therein lies the rub. The ergonomics of the BlackBerry device are, in a word, deplorable. It's a passable email reader, but it's a lousy typing device. It's a terrible web browser. And it's the worst phone since the tin-can-and-string.
All of our execs have these things, and there are lots of telltale signs that the devices are in full play around here: inarticulate (or, to be precise, more inarticulate) emails, cryptically brief and full of bizarre typos; lots of dropped phone calls; and (best of all) the heartwarming sight of men in expensive suits wandering in and out of buildings, trying to locate an adequate signal for these hellish gadgets.
In all honesty, I didn't want one. I still haven't quite figured out how to consistently retrieve messages from my voice mail, so I had no business considering such a complex tool as the BlackBerry. However, our IT director (a shameless gadget freak) offered to buy one for me (he was that convinced I'd love it), so I got one.
My last cell phone had a manual that was 131 pages long - I expected the BlackBerry manual to look like the Los Angeles phone book. But surprisingly, the device came with a very rudimentary user manual - more of a pamphlet, really. The manual is augmented with online, context-sensitive help, bolstered by a clear belief that the device is mostly intuitive to use - a conclusion I would vigorously debate.
In addition to the manual, the package I got included an AC power supply, a geeky belt holster, an ear bud/microphone thing, and a USB cable and software to install the synching software on my laptop.
I loaded the software on my laptop and had our IT folks walk me through the initial synch to our Outlook email server... it seemed pretty straightforward and I might have been able to do it unassisted, but I was grateful for the expert help. For some reason, the SIM card from my previous cell phone didn't transfer my contact list (user error, no doubt), but the BlackBerry software allowed me to easily and quickly download my entire Outlook personal contacts folder from my laptop to the device. A nice feature of the BlackBerry is that once you’ve set up your contact list, you can choose to either email or call a contact (at any of their defined phone numbers) – I liked that aspect of the combined technology.
So far, so good.
I have to give the RIM folks full marks on the capability they've built into their software: the interface is fairly intuitive, and it does everything you’d want it to do. You can synch your calendar, contacts, and task lists quickly and easily. The ability to quickly and conveniently download from laptop to handheld device is, in my opinion, a must-have feature for users.
Once you attempt to actually use the information you’ve downloaded, however, things get ugly in a hurry.
To begin with, the primary BlackBerry selection device is a scrolling wheel that you press to select choices. It’s a technique that takes a bit of getting used to, and even after I did, there was always the good chance that my thumb would slip just as I was pressing the wheel, causing all manner of unintended results. Even when I made the proper selection, I was frustrated by the redundancy of the user interface: virtually every data entry requires multiple confirmation steps – a slow and tedious process.
Still, it was fairly entertaining (and efficient) to be able to read and reply to emails while riding in a car. The email interface provides a view of your inbox, sorted by day/time stamp, and including a truncated description of the sender and email subject. You open a message by selecting and clicking via the process described in the previous paragraph.
I wouldn’t recommend the BlackBerry for anything more than simple emails, however – I tried (once) to open an attachment, and was rewarded with a three column by five row view of an Excel spreadsheet. Utterly impossible to use. However, for simple email exchanges, the BlackBerry works pretty well, particularly if you can work out a subject line protocol that helps to identify message content.
Email replies are best left to short, one or two sentence responses – the keyboard is necessarily miniscule and awkward for any lengthy typing. Within its limitations, however, the keyboard isn’t bad – the keys are slightly angled and require just the right amount of pressure to engage – no worries about mistakenly brushing keys and ending up with a mass of undecipherable garbage. Likewise, the QWERTY style eliminates that infuriating multi-selection key thing used on cell phones. Still, your typing speed will be reduced to that of a rank beginner, so forget those long-winded email diatribes. Brevity is the key.
I liked the calendar functionality. I was able to port over my entire Outlook calendar to the BlackBerry, so I didn't have to print out an instantly-obsolete copy of my calendar. Instead, the Blackberry acted as a sort of alarm clock, notifying me when, where, and why various events were scheduled.
The BlackBerry web browser allows you to wirelessly surf the text versions of all your favorite websites. When was the last time someone used the text version of a website? I didn’t even bother to try this feature, because I was at a loss to come up with a reason to do so.
The rest of the bundled features (calculator, alarm clock, games, etc) are simply along for the ride, just as they are on your current cell phone. Available, but inconvenient and infrequently used.
Finally, there’s the phone. Those of you out there who are already struggling with the ergonomics of ever-shrinking cell phones should look very carefully at the BlackBerry keyboard layout.
Note that the ten number keys are located to the left of the letter keyboard and that the * and # keys are located differently than they are on every other telephone keypad in the known universe. Imagine yourself trying to punch in a 10-plus digit phone number on those keys. It’s not a pretty picture. Unlike my experience with a cell phone, I found it virtually impossible to dial the BlackBerry phone while doing anything else (eg, driving, walking down an airport concourse, or chewing gum).
Assuming you manage to finally punch in the right phone number, place the device upside your head to start talking. Whoa! Where’s the microphone? Where’s the earpiece? The BlackBerry is intensely non-phone-like, causing folks who don’t use the headphone jack to awkwardly cradle the phone against the side of their head in a vain effort to find a position that feels right. To simulate this experience, try using the aforementioned deck of cards as a phone. It’s totally the wrong shape. Most callers will opt to use the uncomfortable ear bud headphone or will spring for a Bluetooth wireless headset – as a phone, the device itself is just wrong.
My 7290 model featured a quad-band phone, which is alleged to operate on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS wireless networks in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. My experience is that this technology is far from functional. I dropped calls like a rotisserie league right fielder, and in many locations simply had no signal whatsoever.
Conclusion:
After two weeks of using the BlackBerry, I evaluated my experience.
On the plus side:
- I enjoyed the ability to pick up emails without firing up my laptop.
- I appreciated having my schedule up-to-date and available, even when I was not at my computer.
On the negative side:
- I hated the phone. I had mis-dialed numbers, dropped calls, missed calls, and on that small number of calls that I’d actually completed, I struggled with the uncomfortable ergonomics of the phone and/or ear bud headset.
- With the email functionality, I found myself signing onto my computer anyway, so that I could view attachments and to compose more complete messages. With the growing availability of wireless hotspots, it's not particularly inconvenient to use my laptop to keep tabs on things.
- I couldn’t figure out where to carry the thing.
It became clear to me that the convenience of real-time email and calendar was more than offset by the awkwardness of virtually all other functions. The efficiencies I gained by having continual access to my messages was more than offset by the time I spent trying to use the phone effectively and the frustration I felt at virtually all the other functions.
Plus, there was the un-quantifiable but very real “Crackberry” effect: as I attended meetings or did other work, I was continually checking my incoming messages. The net result was that I paid less attention to the task at hand – not a good way to improve productivity.
I packed the device back up in its box and took it to the IT department. The woman there was startled to hear that I wanted to trade the BlackBerry in on a simple cell phone. Startled, but not displeased… after all, at my company, there’s a waiting list to get one of these things.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 150
Recommended for: Gadget Lovers - Trendy and Hip
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