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Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

#201

Post by ubermonkey »

Hell no.

RIM's approach worked well when the tech wasn't there yet for a pocket-sized device to run an actual mail client. To get the "full" Blackberry experience, there was a Blackberry Enterprise Server between your device and your actual mail server.

Once we started getting devices that could run straight-up IMAP clients, the biggest appeal of the platform was compromised.

I had moments early in the glass-rectangle era when I thought I missed a physical keyboard, and I definitely had physical keyboard devices that I enjoyed on at least a hardware level through about 2009 or 2010, but the overall functionality of a modern glass-rectangle far and away exceeds what I ever got out of a RIM device.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

#203

Post by rubyfan »

smcl wrote: post #187
vincentmarle wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> autocorrect has started to be extremely aggressive and frequently very wrong First thing I do when setting up a new phone is turning off auto correct and auto capitalization. Yes, I still make mistakes, but I prefer becoming quite handy at using my backspace button than having to fight the auto correct all damn time.

Yeah for all my complaining, autocorrect is still just about a net benefit but it’s MUCH less than it once was.

it’s funny how when it doesn’t work the negative feels is perhaps much stronger than the positive feeling when it works correctly

Re: Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

#204

Post by bgro »

smcl wrote: post #157
awinter-py wrote: post #64

I could type 55 wpm on the keyboard. Every time I use a screen keyboard I feel like I lose 10 IQ points. I can use a physical keyboard without looking, but the screen keyboard takes twice as long and consumes my full attention if I want any speed. The blackberry felt like an extension of my brain on the internet. Touchscreen devices feel like an extension of the internet in my brain + eyes, not as nice. I used my bla…

I loved my blackberry's keyboard, but I adjusted to iOS on-screen keyboard (starting circa the iPhone 4S) pretty well. Last couple of years though iOS autocorrect has started to be extremely aggressive and frequently very wrong (incorrectly changing were->we're, ill->i'll for example. and today changing "Torvalds" to "Torshavn" or something when I was talking about Linus and not the Faroes). If someone has a nice pho…

There appears to be some speculation about something changing on the iOS keyboard / autocorrect, causing it to get worse in the past few years. You're not alone!

Re: Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

#205

Post by slothtrop »

Loved them, and would have switched to the Key2 line were it not for the prospect of using Android as-is. I opted for LineageOS on a cheap phone instead. Maybe there will be proper custom-rom support for those devices one day.

The first BB phone I tried was the Curve 9320 and it remains the most responsive, perfect phone I've ever experienced. The BB10 devices were decent but came far too late.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

#206

Post by bgro »

kenned3 wrote: post #179

Yes. The physical keyboard was so much faster and accurate vs the "on screen" version most phones have now. The BB was also built like a tank. i once had mine fall off while i was running down 3 flights of granite stairs. It hit my leg on the way down and was kicked a good distance. After clearing the stairs, i put the battery back in and closed the door and it was good to go. Try that with a "modern" smart phone. My…

Removable batteries were amazing. I'm convinced they helped absorb drop shock when they'd explode out after a drop. Blackberries with the standardized batteries were an amazing time. You could swap it out with a friend in your group during emergencies.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

#207

Post by SamCritch »

I still have my Key2. Sending mails/WhatsApps/Slack/Messenger messages takes me half the time it takes someone on a touch-screen phone. It's the best BlackBerry I've ever had - I had an iPhone and a couple of Android phones for a while, but I just couldn't get as much stuff done. Those keyboard shortcuts - once you get used to it it's so fast. And I can touch-type on it!

These days I get people asking "what's that?" when they see my BlackBerry. Some of them then go "whoaaa, cool idea, a keyboard on a phone, I want one of those!" Others just say "do they still make those?"

Re: Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

#208

Post by myself248 »

Yeah. The Bluetooth implementation was stellar, RIM implemented basically everything in the Bluetooth spec. You could send and receive pretty much anything, it would just do the right thing, and it could source and sink audio streams. They even released a tool to make it act as a HID keyboard for other devices.

The camera sucked even compared to other smartphones of the time, though, and that limited its usefulness for a lot of the tasks I've done with subsequent phones.

Also it took about 6 minutes to boot up after a battery swap, which limited the usefulness of a removable battery. (Yeah you can carry a second and just swap it in, but whatever task you're doing must not be very urgent!)

Oh you were asking about email and SMS and stuff? Yeah those were great. It had really good clipboard support which was before its time, and the contacts database manager thing was just the right amount of powerful without being overly complicated.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

#209

Post by colejohnson66 »

bloopernova wrote: post #190
awinter-py wrote: post #64

I could type 55 wpm on the keyboard. Every time I use a screen keyboard I feel like I lose 10 IQ points. I can use a physical keyboard without looking, but the screen keyboard takes twice as long and consumes my full attention if I want any speed. The blackberry felt like an extension of my brain on the internet. Touchscreen devices feel like an extension of the internet in my brain + eyes, not as nice. I used my bla…

Do you ever try using a bluetooth keyboard with a mobile phone? They're certainly not as good as a nice mechanical keyboard, but they can improve the text input experience many times over a screen keyboard.

Has anyone ever designed a slide out BT keyboard for phones? It could be a single size part with attachments for the different phone models. Or a pop socket style where it just glues onto your phone/case.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?

#210

Post by colejohnson66 »

bgro wrote: post #206
kenned3 wrote: post #179

Yes. The physical keyboard was so much faster and accurate vs the "on screen" version most phones have now. The BB was also built like a tank. i once had mine fall off while i was running down 3 flights of granite stairs. It hit my leg on the way down and was kicked a good distance. After clearing the stairs, i put the battery back in and closed the door and it was good to go. Try that with a "modern" smart phone. My…

Removable batteries were amazing. I'm convinced they helped absorb drop shock when they'd explode out after a drop. Blackberries with the standardized batteries were an amazing time. You could swap it out with a friend in your group during emergencies.

Plastic screens (instead of glass) helped avoid cracks as well
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