CNN -- Since
the dawn of the iPhone age in 2007, loyal BlackBerry users have
watched their favorite device maker stumble into an ever-steepening decline.
Some of the collapse is due to the consumer changeover to Apple
and Google Android products, but the company -- once known as Research In
Motion -- hasn't helped itself with poor planning and delayed product introductions.
On Monday, the company that once blazed the trail in the
smartphone market announced it's being taken private by its largest
shareholder, Fairfax Financial, a Canadian insurance company.
The move comes on the heels of an announced $1 billion quarterly loss and layoffs of
4,500 employees. Its future as a maker of smartphones may be in doubt.
Now the dwindling numbers of loyal BlackBerry users must decide:
Is this the last straw?
Ronen Halevy, an IT security professional who runs the site BerryReview.com,
still prefers his BlackBerry because it "focuses on communications
first" -- even though he's familiar with both Android and iPhone
platforms.
"They're very good devices to consume information, but the
main point of the phone is that it's more like a computer," he says of the
Apple and Google phones. BlackBerrys, he says, are better at "flow"
from e-mail to calendar to other applications.
He hopes that the company returns to its roots.
"I think that Fairfax should double down on BlackBerry 10 and
the combination of corporate and consumer market that appreciated the rock
solid communication platform it offered," he wrote on BerryReview.com.
"This means an end to the 'me too' additions of features to BlackBerry 10
and instead appealing to the market that made BlackBerry take off."
One commenter observed, however, that the company will be hard
pressed to win new converts.
"Not good news for consumers, people hate the BB name and
what it stands for. Self-inflicted suicide," kingbernie wrote. He
suspected that becoming a corporate-focused software business might be the
company's best way out of the wilderness -- even if it means leaving the
consumer market behind.
Chris Umiastowski, a tech analyst and regular contributor to the
BlackBerry boards on CrackBerry.com, says
BlackBerry fans should remain wary.
"Going private doesn't necessarily change the outcome for the
company. All it is guaranteed to change is the ownership structure," he
said via e-mail. "It's not a nail in the coffin, nor is it some massive
opportunity to fix themselves. No matter who owns the shares they still have to compete with solid
competitors. Going private just lets them operate outside of so much public
scrutiny."
For those who want to put their BlackBerrys in a drawer next to their PalmPilots but want to keep a
physical keyboard on their devices, your options are limited. The Motorola Photon Q and
the Motorola Droid 4 are
Android-compatible and have relatively large slide-out keyboards, but reviewers
have taken issue with their camera capabilities.
In addition, BerryReview.com's Halevy observes, those keyboards --
which are landscape-oriented instead of the portrait-style versions on
BlackBerrys -- seem like "afterthoughts."
"Even if you're in an e-mail and you want to hit the 'delete'
button to delete an e-mail -- you think that's logical -- it doesn't
work," he says.
The NEC Terrain, another Android phone with a physical keyboard,
is marketed for its "rugged innovation" but, says Halevy,
he doesn't think it's really aimed at the general consumer.
That leads to the host of smartphones with virtual keyboards,
including the new iPhone 5S and 5C, the Android-compatibleSamsung Galaxy S4 and the Android HTC One, among many others. All have their pros and
cons, whether it's your comfort with their operating systems or your desire for
certain accessories.
But for those, like Umiastowski, who want to stick with
BlackBerry, it will hard to get them to change.
His household includes a number of Apple items -- including his
wife's iPhone -- but he prefers the BlackBerry. He's frustrated by the lack of
apps for the device but still prefers the overall experience.
"BlackBerry has always been (and still is) the best
experience for communicating. At first it was push email and physical
keyboards. Now I'm on a Z10 and I find the multitasking + software keyboard +
email experience is second to none," he wrote. "An iPhone would feel
like a step backwards on those things which matter to me."
Besides, says Halevy, he likes how the BlackBerry creates
community.
"The one thing you
notice immediately when people change from BlackBerry to other devices is you
never hear from them anymore," he says.
