I'm not one who just go buy whatever new gadgets are out there.
For one, I don't have unlimited funds
Also, if I'm going to spend money on gadgets, I want something that is proven to be useful.
I got my previous cell-phone the day after Christmas in 2009. Even then, it was a cheap flip-phone.
It was working fine all these years but I wanted more.
I noticed everyone else was able to do quick reference checks on their smartphones and I still didn't have one.
Then in the summer, the professor wanted to us experiment checking a database via mobile device. My flip-phone couldn't do it and I had to borrow a mobile device (an i-pad) from a classmate. (much praise for that classmate)
But since I wasn't working in the summer, I had to wait before I buy a smartphone.
Well, I'm back to work. So it was time for research.
I prefer pressing keys instead of typing on a finger-sensitive touch screen. Many times I barely even touch a touchscreen and it shows a letter I wasn't even trying to type.
But I still wanted to be able to do quick reference checks as well as do quick uploads to my facebook.
Well, the only smartphone that still has buttons to press was the BlackBerry Q10. And it also has a touchscreen. It's the best of both worlds.
Blackberry.com
BlackBerry Q10
It was expensive, but T-Mobile allows for down payments for their customers. So I ordered one online. (the T-Mobile stores here ran out).
I got it on October 2!
It's 11 days later and so far, I'm loving it!
I'm finally able to do quick reference checks when I am outdoors and do so with a device that fits my pocket.
I can post photos and videos to facebook live from the event!
I can also watch YouTube videos wherever I want!
I can do all that (and more) while still being able to press buttons :)
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As for BlackBerry, it has some struggles lately. So far, I don't think the phone is the problem. It's a great phone.
The problem is that BlackBerry doesn't have a real marketing strategy!
A marketing strategy for smartphones isn't just about its usability.
It's about marketing it as a fashion accessory.
That's what Apple does everytime they introduce their product. They make it an event, a place to be seen while standing in long-lines. This makes the Apple i-phones "cool" in the eyes of many!
This was from a mass-email from advice columnist John Alanis that I got on March 2012
Here's the interesting thing you should know about the iPad: every
attempt to create a knockoff of it has been a miserable failure.
No other company has been able to make a tablet computer that
people want.
Why? Because they think they are in the tablet business. But no
one wants a tablet computer--they're mostly useless. However, everyone wants to be cool, and only Apple realizes they're in the coolness business.
You see, having an iPad is considered cool. Having a Samsung Galaxy is not. Apple is cool, everything else is uncool and they've built their whole company around that. Not only that, but having the latest iPad is extremely cool, while having an old one is not so cool anymore.
Apple has figured it out. People want to be cool, and will pay for it, even if it involves forking over $700 a year for a mostly useless device (did you hear about the new HD screen on the latest iPad...cool, huh?).
Well, apparently, Samsung had gotten hold of this mass e-mail because they responded with this ad!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJafiCKliA8
That ad made the people who stood in long-line for Apple stuff look like suckers! The slogan "The Next Big Thing is Already Here"
That ad made the SamSung Galaxy part of the "coolness business" that the mass e-mail was talking about!
And Microsoft must've gotten a hold of the same mass-email because they responded with this ad!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE7AQY5Xk9w
That ad mocked the iPad as "not user friendly" AND for not having a keyboard!
BlackBerry could've done a similar ad promoting their Q10 smartphone!
I checked their ads on YouTube. Most of them are too serious!
The one humor ad just didn't stand out at all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPbhzmIq9uU
Excuse me, a lame self-mocking ad about what a Blackberry 10 can't do?
The SamSung Galaxy and Microsoft Surface ads were way more funnier and attention grabbing because they showed what those products CAN do!
Also don't just market as a business smartphone (which was BlackBerry claim to fame), market it as a fun smartphone too!
I hope the new people running BlackBerry will get this memo! They shouldn't let their great Q10 smartphone get lost in the shuffle just because their companies can't market to save their life!
