Research in Motion has a new phone that’s “officially called the BlackBerry Storm,” David Pogue reports for The New York Times. “But I’ve got a better name for it: the BlackBerry Dud.”
The Storm’s “entire screen acts like a mouse button. Press hard enough, and it actually responds with a little plastic click… As a result, the Storm offers two degrees of touchiness. You can tap the screen lightly, or you can press firmly to register the palpable click,” Pogue reports. “It’s not a bad idea. In fact, it ought to make the on-screen keyboard feel more like actual keys… Unfortunately, RIM has completely botched the execution.”
“The Storm even muffs simple navigation tasks. When you open a menu, the commands are too close together; even if your finger seems to be squarely on the proper item, your click often winds up triggering something else in the list,” Pogue reports. “There’s no momentum to the scrolling, either, as on the iPhone… In short, trying to navigate this thing isn’t just an exercise in frustration — it’s a marathon of frustration.”
“Now, I wouldn’t come down this hard on some product — especially one that was so eagerly anticipated, customers lined up at dawn on the day of its release — without getting a second, third and fourth opinion. And I’m telling you, there wasn’t a soul who tried this machine who wasn’t appalled, baffled or both,” Pogue reports. “And that’s before they discovered that the Storm doesn’t have Wi-Fi.”
Pogue asks, “How did this thing ever reach the market? Didn’t anyone at RIM actually try it? Or was everyone involved just too terrified to pull the emergency brake on this train?”
There’s much more – highly recommended – in the full report of the train wreck, er… review of RIM’s BlackBerry Storm, headlined “Blackberry Storm Downgraded To A Depression,” here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Vista got better reviews.
That take really stung mdn!!
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“Vista got better reviews”. Cold, MDN, very cold…
“… to see this article you have to be a registered member of the New York Times”
The funny thing about this is the absolutely fawning review of the Storm by that bastion of intellectual honesty, Gary Krackow of TheStreet.com. I think he’s the only person who likes the thing.
“But wait, there’s less.” Gotta love ya, Dave.
last sentence –
“The company says that it’s hard at work on a bug-fix software update.”
so they know it sucks today. too bad vz rushed rim as it is hurting both of them. better off delaying a few weeks, taking the heat, and delivering a decent product.
So what do you do when when after sampling a delicious looking fruit you discover that it tastes like crap and smells like crap?
Wait for a genetically engineered fruit of the same kind?
Once bitten, twice shy! PTL Ball Silly, Pull The Plug!
PTP I meant in that last line! Fingers before brain.
@MDN Take
The truth hurts!
I love this from the article.
“BlackBerry without a physical keyboard.
Hello? Isn’t the thumb keyboard the defining feature of a BlackBerry? A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel. A Prius with terrible mileage. Cracker Jack without a prize inside.”
Cracker Jack hasn’t had a real prize inside for years (and no a sticker doesn’t count), and the iPod touch doesn’t have a scroll wheel yet it is one of the best iPods ever!
Send that thing back to the Island of Misfit Toys where it belongs.
Mossberg gave the most postive review I’ve seen so far ( http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20081119/blackberrys-storm-presses-into-the-touch-phone-fray/ ) though it’s hardly glowing.
Maybe RIM should take a cue from Microsoft and throw $300 million in advertising at it.
David liked the Bold, and Walt seems to like the Storm.
Golly, the iPhone was just perfect when it first came out, too.
@Gunboat Smith,
Between RIM and Verizon, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Storm already has a $300 million campaign underway. The commercials are everywhere.
Actually, dude, the iphone was perfect when it came out. It blew the cell phone world apart.
Remember, this is a product by an Industry Leader, to try to take back some of the losses they are suffering from customers choosing the iPhone.
This isnt their first attempt at a cell phone. This is the Blackberry guys panicking like rookies.
Had it too easy for way too long, eh RIM?
How many other complacent and lazy companies can you name?
Ford
GM
GE
Chrysler
Microsoft
…….
RIM’s name for Storm is appropriate for the phone when you storm back in to the store and demand your money back.
To all the naysayers out there, I just want to say that I love the Storm. And the G1 too. Never touched or seen either one, and, based on the reviews, wouldn’t dream of buying one, but I love them just the same. Competition will only drive the iPhone to get better. Heck, I’ll even pre-love the MS Zune-phone disaster-in-waiting, for the same reason!
cynical observer,
Rosemary Hattersley and Mark Hattersley of MacWorld UK give the Storm a quite glowing review, which can also be read on the U.S. MacWorld website.
They particularly praise its e-mail capabilities!
And was supposed to be THE iPhone killer?
Storm in a teacup
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JD: Golly, the iPhone was just perfect when it first came out, too.
No, but it got the essentials so right that people were willing to wait for improvements around the edges.
From all appearances RIM fails miserably even at basic usability. And that is hard or impossible to remedy after the fact. Too bad they don’t seem to understand the difference.
Don’t think you can review a product objectively with you head dunked in a bucket of apple kool-aid.
Apparently RIM management read Steve Jobs praise of RIM as a ‘good company that makes good products’ and has set about to destroy his credibility completely. Devilishly clever meta-marketing.
@ping
Actually, I have a Storm. Its essentials are just fine, and RIM is going to make it better. I don’t know what device Pogue is going on about, but it’s not the Storm. Walt Mossberg agrees with me.