“Last night I thought I’d get around to checking out the BlackBerry Storm that got so many rave reviews when it was announced by bloggers (like me) who’d never seen one,” Dr. Joel West, associate professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the Department of Organization and Management in the College of Business at San José State University, writes for Seeking Alpha.
“In a word, it was disappointing. The performance of the [Verizon] network (1x not 1xEV) inside the Circuit City store was sluggish [Note: RIM’s Storm lacks Wi-FI]. As reviewers have noted, it was really buggy,” West writes.
“The browser was particularly awful. It updated the screen in splotches (almost as though it were doing server-side rendering). When I rotated the device the splotches (or tiles) got out of sync and so the screen was unreadable,” West writes. “I haven’t been able to find who made the browser, but this is not the WebKit-quality browser found on the iPhone… The sales clerk rationalized the network performance — not implausibly, that there was poor radio reception inside a large 2 story building. But he said it was the worst BlackBerry he’d ever seen.”
West writes, “There’s no way this device has the user experience of the iPhone…”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: E, click, P, click, I, click, C, click, space, click, F, click, A, click, I, click, L, click.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Carl H.” for the heads up.]
Kind of sad, really…!
More iPhone gloating?
heh heh heh heh heh heh heh
Yes ping, really sad. They came up with a clicking screen and released the Storm with an earlier R&D;OS. This is another iApple killer that bites the dust.
I’m going back to TUAW. They occasionally talk about those Mac thingies.
Comment deleted in 5…4…3…2…
@RimDailyNews,
Go ahead. No one’s stopping you.
Went into Verizon with our iPhone and had the sales guy compare with the Storm… Not only did the iPhone perform WAY better in every area (loading the same web pages, SMS, Emailing), the sales manager came over to see what we were doing as there were 3 other customers there watching- well, she asked us to leave the store as we were upsetting their customers. Ha! Upsetting customers… the store was upset they were being humiliated by the likes of the lowly iPhone. Storm- the iPhone killer? NOT
A feces is a feces
It is my understanding that it does do server side rendering. RIM insists on doing everything in house – even when they don’t have the needed expertise. The browser is a tad better than the older BB’s. However, it is certainly no Safari on an iPhone. RIM needs to license and have a vendor customize Safari, Opera, or Firefox for the BB.
Actually, I hate that review. For a prof he’s a terrible writer and there are several sentences that make no sense. The Storm may be terrible but this review is worse.
You have to wonder exactly how much damage this Storm is going to do to RIM.
I think they may have blown it. Completely. Another Palm. Once good, now hopeless.
I’m actually starting to feel sorry for RIM. They’re getting reamed!
“…Blackberry Storm that got so many rave reviews when it was announced by bloggers (like me) who’d never seen one….” Why on earth would someone review a product without physically having it in hand? Stupid people.
This is so STUPID. Obviously this guy’s 5 minute review was done on a device with the older version of the software that sucked. I agree RIM blew it by releasing it before the software was ready, but the device already has been updated and the software is much better. These problems he describes are not there in the newer versions. So MDN, stop posting this crap and get of rid of that hard on you have for the Storm. We all know the device stinks, but the same reason that you are willing to forgive iPhone’s shortcomings (copy/paste? WTF!!! Battery life? WTF???) is the same reason that this device will ultimately be ok – they can upgrade the software and make it better. What a bunch of bitches on this board.
P, click, O, click, S, click
I have no dog in this hunt, having neither the iPhone nor the Storm, but I do find it interesting that the same thing that happened to the iPhone is happening to the Storm. Within minutes of release, everyone is deconstructing its flaws and problems. I’ll leave it to those in a position to do so to evaluate those shortcomings.
Most of my exposure to iPhone is via the web and TV ads, but I tend to like most things Apple anyway. I thought that the hysteria about the iPhone’s shortcomings upon release were overblown and exaggerated. It seems any new device is going to have a traumatic birth. Glad I’m not a hardware developer!
@JRA
Webkit is open source (it’s what Google uses for the Android and for their Chrome browser), Firefox is also Open Source, and Opera has a mobile version out, all they would have to do is grab one of the above and start using it.
Crazylegs:
RIM did not release a test version of the Storm so there are no ‘previous’ versions siting on shelves. RIM had delayed the phone a few times due to buggy software. To my knowledge, they have not released an update for the software so the review stands correct.
MW: right
Rushing to compete with a product like the iPhone is never going to be a happy story.
The iPhone is the result of years of software and hardware experience and many patented processes.
RIM should stick to their gray and dull world of email phones, which supposedly are as addictive as crack, or something.
Apple introduce the iPhone and the cell phone industry collapses – yes, folks, all these years the phone makers and the providers really have been RIPPING you off with their lousy ‘full-featured’ products….
The MDN site really is a scurrilous and rabidly Apple fanbois scene, isnt it?
LOL!
Please MDN, lets have MORE articles on how Microsoft, RIM, Dell and all the rest of the lazy incompetent and unimaginative tech companies are – its so much fun!
I find MDN to be a welcome relief to the anodyne crap on the web; after a hard days work, I love to come home and write comments about the sheer idiocy of the Suits that run these USELESS tech firms.
Storm – has one giant button that moves the entire screen – what idiot thought that one up?!
Pity MDN doesnt get involved in other areas – there is a small war in Iraq that makes NO SENSE whatsoever……
The iPhone is such a spoiler….
now just stop updating the page in safari every time I go back to a page I was on and I a happy camper, willya?
> Obviously this guy’s 5 minute review was done on a device with the older version of the software that sucked.
You can’t fix a hardware design flaw (having to click the entire screen to type every letter) with a software fix. That would be like having a computer keyboard where all the keys are connected, and you have to press them all down to type each letter. The MDN take is funny and dead on.
And a retailer would want to maximize sales by having that latest software installed, if it makes so much difference.
@Crazylegs,
L, click, O, click, L, click.
Man, I would hate to be the CTO of a company that is trying to build an iPhone killer. Apple spent years developing the iPhone, not to mention they had the base of OSX to work with. Catch up devices cranked out in response to Apple style and innovation will never have the elegance or user experience of an iPhone, and are going to look like slapped together rip-offs for the next couple of years at least.
Just looking at the iPod’s dominance in the MP3 space speaks volumes.
BB users want the click, or so they b*tched about the iPhone. Now they have it, they hate it. Waa, waa, waaa.
It’s interesting to see that there is a segment of the BB population that wanted a touchscreen. Now that they’ve seen the BB touchscreen implementation, BB just may have driven them to the iPhone instead.
RIM, Palm, Nokia, Motorola, These guys should have taken notes from the iPod strategic decimation on the music player market over the years.
1) Create a simple devise that’s easy to use. (One button)
2) Easy to update.
3) Online store with easy access. (This is what kills them)
4) Fix major flaws before shipping. (What was RIM thinking?)
5) Stop wasting millions on advertising that doesn’t work.
6) Small retail stores. (The friendly customer service really kills…?)
…Oh why bother continuing its too late for these guys at this point.