1. 2 thoughts:

1) long term, how much are people going like typing their messages w/o any click/feel of a keyboard...when I've eval'd different handhelds, much of whether I stick with using the eval comes from what its like to type on the keyboard...

2) i picture having to clean the iphone every few minutes because of all the smudges from typing a message.

Posted at 10:15PM on Jan 9th 2007 by Dan

2. iphone looks cool but i wonder how the battery life would be like. my nano doesn't last one day on the public transit w/ me...and it just plays music. what if i had an emerg call to make and the battery's dead...?

Posted at 9:10PM on Jan 9th 2007 by red

3. re: battery life -- tell me how long your phone's battery lasts. The published specs for iPhone's battery are far better than most phones I've seen.

re: smudges -- what, you don't already clean off your screen after every call after holding next to your greasy face?

Posted at 10:30PM on Jan 9th 2007 by Steve

4. I mean I love my Blackberry, but hell, the iPhone is so much better than anything RIM can offer. I mean Steve even said during his speech that the original idea of a mouse and graphical user interface was so foreign when it was introduced. This will take some getting used to but Apple has made a name for itself by making its products extremely easy to use and integrate.

Posted at 11:06PM on Jan 9th 2007 by Chris

5. I want a widescreen ipod w/ internet...

so i can keep my blackberry 8800 :D... i dont like touch keyboard.. but i need a new ipod .. :(

Posted at 11:12PM on Jan 9th 2007 by dapoktan

6. This is smart from a marketing standpoint. Apple makes it clear (via it's presentation at least) that its input method is superior. May not be true, but will be in the back of the minds of anyone who looking at the iPhone and sees a Pearl in the store.

Posted at 4:20AM on Jan 29th 2007 by Robb Dunewood (RIMarkable)

7. Come on you guys, the Blackberry product line is doomed to a niche market (it already is a niche). In the next 2 years email will be a standard feature on all phones and not something you have to pay a premium for. It's up to the user what UI they prefer. SOme will like Stylus, some keyboard and some touch. Apples new UI wiyth Multi touch is certainly innovative and will appeal to many. But the current iPhone is probably not a business tool (it's not aimed at that segment, neither is the pearl unless you are a nancy). and it supports Push IMAP, and will have difficulty getting your notes or exchange email.... Great product though. Nokia and Mot must be seriously worried, all those years stuck on a single train of thought (duh keyboards...)

Posted at 2:13AM on Jan 10th 2007 by cyclobob

8. Hmm, Trademark problems anyone? Besides that, once we see a picture, I may want one. If its at least as functional as a nano.

Posted at 6:08AM on Jan 10th 2007 by brad

9. Luckily, iPhone users can take advantage of the iPod accesories from day one, including the power adapters and homebrew 9V/iPod emergency chargers.

And there's no way people have become used to all of those different button arrangements. People adapt to whatever they interact with. If we had to worry about that, then the Blackberry would have been a hand-crank rotary dialer.

#2 is totally right about the touch screen, though, especially if you can't hear the audio cues when typing. (Or if they're not fast enough. Button-press ... wait... wait ...button press sound)

Even so, seems pretty awesome. Sign me up.

Posted at 6:10AM on Jan 10th 2007 by Jo Li

10. I like my blackberry, and I'm no Apple fanboy, but the difference between a blackberry and the iphone is like the difference between an Apple //e and a Mac. I don't know if the first generation will live up to the demo, but the iphone defines what a smartphone should be. Perhaps corporate users will stick with blackberry, but I can't see anyone looking at Pearl as their first smartphone choosing it instead of an iPhone (unless the choice is made solely on price).

Posted at 7:40AM on Jan 10th 2007 by Verizon User

11. I have not seen any information regarding the security of the email that will be used on the iPhone. One of the things that Blackberry prides itself in, is the security that it brings in regard to Email. Could this product take advantage of the Blackberry Connect software? I agree with cyclobob. To the major public, this phone is probably going to cause people to miss some rent payments in order to have one, but in the business market, the iPhone may fizzle out. Of course, the "nancy's" will desperately want this.

Posted at 8:31AM on Jan 10th 2007 by ONEOFDWAGS

12. Navigation and data input are very different things to me.

A phone-based pda should should first and foremost be easy to use as a phone (i.e. easy navigation) - this was a problem for phone-based blackberry handhelds before the send/end keys were added. The missing physical mute buttons for the mic and for the speaker are still limitations to me.

I do think that the Pearl trackball with its adjacent menu and escape buttons is a superior one-handed navigation system which is also very important to me for ease of use where the phone is concerned.

Then there is the data input - the Pearl suffers there and that's why lovers of 8700s will wait for the QWERTY "Pearl". Perhaps this is where the iPhone will pull ahead of even QWERTY devices - I have a sneaky suspicious feeling that displaying a qwerty keyboard on the iPhone touchscreen and entering data on it may be not as easy as everyone will think.

To me, the jury is still out on whether the iPhone's touchscreen will "leapfrog" past the BlackBerry Pearl's superior navigation system in terms of ease of use.

The iPhone is very beautiful. The touch screen seems like a neat idea - I do wonder about smudges and scratches and how they may affect data input.

I hope to be proven wrong in spades regarding the iPhone's data input and one-handed navigation challenges.

I have no brand allegiance and I will purchase whatever is best for my needs, not what's hip at the moment. So far it's BlackBerry, maybe tomorrow it will be jPhone (Sorry Mr. Coupland - couldn't resist)

Posted at 9:01AM on Jan 10th 2007 by colabnet

13. I have been a gadget fan for years since the first Palm to now Treo and Blackberry. The innovation of the iPhone is great, however it will never make it to the business users or even the mass consumer users.

I'm currently using the BB 8700 and have taken advantage of Cingular 1 year warranty to exchange for another one several times because of the ware and tear on the unit itself and sometime failure to start. That means you will drop the phone accidently, you will through it across the sofa or when picking up a phone call, it slips from your hand, slaming on your desk.

The iPhone would only be a good fit for that girl next door who likes to look good with a phone and put it in her purse. Realisticly, who the hell listens to music on their phone? New trend for phone has been "Data: Messaging and Internet". And if you have a phone like iPhone, for sure you cannot "BABY" the phone for more than the first month.

Afterall, its just an electronic device, why spend an "arm and 2 legs" on it when it will phase out of the market after a couple months.

Posted at 12:17PM on Jan 10th 2007 by PD

14. I have only one comment. Since the BlackBerry is a business centric device and has only recently started competing on the consumer market, it has a connection to Exchange and Domino mail servers like no other company. As a business user, I laugh at the Iphone, they don't even try to make it a business device. It is all play. They won't even cut into the BlackBerry's real installed base which is business and government. Talk to me when Apple is ever interested in more than existing in a niche, or creating a new niche that no one thought about.

Posted at 3:56PM on Jan 10th 2007 by gpearl

15. I'm a huge Apple fan-boy - I'll admit it. But I have to wonder about a couple of things...

a) one-handed navigation - this is why I didn't buy a BlackJack
b) corporate connectivity - lots of the world doesn't use POP and IMAP, but Lotus Notes and Exchange. The iPhone isn't going to connect with either of those. If I was RIM, I'd be trying REALLY hard to work w/ Apple to get a RIM BlackBerry client for the iPhone. It won't sell devices, but it WILL sell licenses.

Posted at 1:09PM on Jan 10th 2007 by TroyG

16. The biggest advantage the iPhone has over smartphones, is that like Jobs said the Software is the key! With only one button, Apple can work with anybody to build custom apps where the buttons are on screen, and you're not limited to how you do things on the phone, b/c the phone itself has limited means to input information

Posted at 1:12PM on Jan 10th 2007 by Albert

17. PD is a dumbass. Does MS pay you to troll? I guess saying a 15 yr. old girl would look good with an iPhone is the best insult you could come up with.

My son, who at 25 has built a multi-million dollar record label, can't wait for an iPhone ... he described it as "out of control" - his highest praise. He is a TOTAL businessman, and also extremely creative as the main A&R guy for the label.

So he sees the potential of the iPhone right off the bat.

Too bad weenies like PD don't.

Posted at 1:35PM on Jan 10th 2007 by Knox Bronson

18. Why would you laugh at iPhone as "they don't even try make it a business device"? Where in this phones non-existance on the market do you see anything about them saying its not a business device? It does internet, voice messaging, email, it could work plenty as a business device. Hanging your hat on exchange and domino ain't much to hang on. iPhone being built on OS X could easily incorporate that.

That being said I plan on securing myself an 8800 when released. Mainly because I don't want to use cingular anymore and because I can get one sans camera at a good price.

Posted at 5:46PM on Jan 10th 2007 by system

19. How exactly is the Pearl "sticking to a buttons and controls interface that users have grown comfortable with"? Scrollwheel? Gone. Querty? Nope. Even the default theme is different.
I too agree that a tactile keyboard is a must for typing, but lets not call the Pearl something it's not.

Posted at 7:18PM on Jan 10th 2007 by Anonymous

20. The iPhone is very cool, but I agree with the comments above that those who seriously type lots of messages will prefer a real tactile keyboard, which (not so coincidentally) is how I'm entering this message!

But having said that, perhaps those with a major case of BlackBerry thumbs (i.e., RSI) will like the light touch of the touchscreen.

Posted at 11:33PM on Jan 10th 2007 by Paul Beaulieu