IReturnedMyiPhone.com

I made this site because a TON of my friends are considering leaving the BlackBerry platform because, even we can admit, BlackBerry has not been doing a great job. Their servers have been down, their devices are not inspiring, the PlayBook was a bust (I tried that too), and overall their health is in jeopardy. So the question for all us BB owners: what's next? 4 Million people bought the new iPhone 4S in ONE WEEKEND when it launched so I figured it might be time to give the iPhone a try. I also have a bunch of Apple gear (desktop/ laptop/ iPad/ iPod(s)/etc) so it seemed like it would be a good fit. This is my story and why I owned the iPhone for 24 hours before returning it to the apple store.

My Phone History:

My first Smartphone was a Palm Treo. I had it for about 1 year before going to my first BlackBerry. Since then I have had a BlackBerry for over 8 years (8703e - 8330 - 9630 - 9650). The iPhone was NOT my first smart phone. I think this is an important point to why the iPhone doesnt meet my needs.

Why/how I use my phone:

I use my smartphone primarily for my work. I send lots of emails and do quite a bit of traveling and HATE turning on my laptop to check email. With a BB, I can obviously do quite a bit of work wherever/ whenever I want. You say the iPhone can do that as well, but I don't think that is the case and I think I will prove this as you read futher down.

The technology I own:

I also do own 2 iPod(s) (one for the car and one for everything else) and I also own an ipad 2. Just so we are clear, this is not an anti Apple thing. At work I have a Mac Pro and a Macbook Pro as well. I run Windows 75 percent of the time, but do a SIGNIFICANT amount of work on the Mac side (BootCamp/ Fusions). In fact, I don't use PowerPoint, but use primarily Keynote for all my presentations. So, this is not an anti-Apple message.

iOS vs. Android:

So, why not get an Android? Well, there are other factors at play here. I work for a corporation that permits only 2 smartphone devices. They have supported BlackBerry for over 10 years now. The iPhone they have supported with a piece of crap software called iAnywhere (now discontinued). Just recently they began beta testing Lotus Notes Traveler (we are on Lotus Notes). I was lucky enough to get on that beta of that Traveler software for the 24 hours that I had the iPhone, and despite Lotus Notes Traveler supporting the Android platform natively, they have decided NOT to support Android at this time. Otherwise, I would have a 4G LTE device powered by Android (or another website called ireturnedmyandroid.com- don't know). I decided after seeing a few holes in the iPhone to make a list to help myself (and BlackBerry users) quantify what functionality you will have to give up if you get an iPhone and what you will gain if you do. This list is of my doing and my experience. If you think something here is wrong, email me (ctsvett@verizon.net)

Here is my list of iPhone CONS vs. the BlackBerry:

1. The iPhone does not have adjustable/customizable sound profiles

This is a HUGE one. I walk into meetings, etc and need to quickly change the way my phone rings or doesn't. This doesn't mean I don't want to be notified, I just need it to be different for different situations.

2. The iPhone does not have the ability to have different vibrations (long, short, medium, etc)

Even if the ringer is off, with the BB on my belt/ pocket, I can tell what message type is coming in without interrupting someone and without rudely taking out my phone and looking at it. This is a great convenience. Turns out you can make custom vibrations in the accessibility menu, but you need to assign it to individual contacts not activities (i.e. not txt messages vs. email vs. calls)

3. iPhone does not have the ability to customize SMS messages alerts

The iPhone cannot customize the text message alerts other than to select from the few alerts that apple provides. With my BB, I can make whatever sound (in mp3 format by the way) belong to any profile or any individual person.

4. The iPhone does not give a warning to shut off radio when battery is about to run out.

As with any new phone, the objective is to run the battery out the first day to condition it. Easy to do on an iPhone. The phone gave me a warning at 20% and I kept going... Then it got to the point where it just shut off (rotating icon in the center of the screen). With the BB, you get a warning and then the phone will automatically shut off the radio when it gets critical so you don't lose the access to your data. So, when my phone died completely, I had NO access to anything (email, 911, txts, previous messages, etc). Oh and I had to wait 10 mins for it to have enough juice to boot up. Some may see it as primarily for video/ iPod/ etc, but its primary function for me is a phone.

5. iPhone has no ability to synchronize journal with Lotus Notes.

This issue may be partially IBM's fault for not putting that into the Traveler software yet, but it matters. So I said, ok, and decided to go with iNotes and synch with iCloud or gmail. Both worked, the problem is that without using my Mac (I don't boot into it all the time) I could VIEW the documents I created on my iPhone in the cloud, but I could not EDIT them and push them back to the device. A huge advantage of this is that I can create (copy/paste) a large document on my computer and push to my device and keep it synched if I make small adjustments on my phone (additional notes, etc). So, the inotes (iCloud AND Gmail) did not work this way.

6. Can't delete multiple messages at a time

So I get a ton of emails. I also get a ton of trash in some of my pop accounts. As it turns out one of my POP accounts had 278 emails stacked up on it that the phone proceeded to download when I activated that email with it. Great if I could click 2 buttons and delete them from the phone. Problem is that I had to click edit in the message list and individually select about 50 at a time by clicking 50 times and then delete the bulk of 50. This is not intelligent design.

7. The iPhone has no ability to mark all messages as read

I get a bunch of emails and the way I track what I need to do is with unread marks. Good news is that it synchs with my notes so I can go to my computer and see what I need to follow up with (and I sometimes flag them as well), but the message count matters to me. It's not the best system, but it works. So, the issue comes up when I have say 278 emails in my pop account that I want to mark as read, but the only way to do that is to actually open 278 of them. LAME.

8. The iPhone doesn't have BBM

Ok, well I did try iMessage and it's similar, but it lacks some features that are cool in BBM. BBM tells you when the message was delivered allowing you to know if the person is even on the network (or in a plane cause it doesn't deliver) and then if they have read it and then when they are typing. iMessage only tells you they are typing. iMessage could be there if Apple added features. SO, you may ask why don't I use KIK or WhatsAPP? Well, they are battery hogs and while they do interface with many messaging systems (some of them), they are all proprietary. I can't have one buddy on WhatsAPP and one on Imessage. That's not gonna work. Consolidation to one or two clients is it, or I'm gonna txt message.

9. The iPhone can't easily add custom ringtones

So, this is where you would think that apple would excel. Nope. I have to use iTunes to re-encode the file as aac, then manually rename the extension to m4r and then use iTunes to move the file over... With a BlackBerry, I can drag and drop the mp3 (without conversion) into the ringtones or music folder (or use music I already have on the phone) and just assign that to an alert/ ringtone/ other. VERY SIMPLE.

10. No Consistent time stamp on text messages

Only once and a while do you get a time stamp My BlackBerry gives me a time and date stamp on EVERY text message I send and receive. The Apple iMessage client only gives you a times stamp when it wants. I'm guessing there is some rule that if 15 min goes by, it will time stamp the next message, but why not just time/date stamp EVERY message so I can tell how long has gone by since I sent or received a message. WHY APPLE?

11. the iPhone/ iTunes is a closed System

Some see this as a positive because you have the walled garden effect and everything is safe. Cool, but this sucks when you want to do anything outside of what Apple allows. Or, you can spend 99 cents on an app to do it (if they have the app). I don't buy music in iTunes (I use other systems) and I hate iTunes (yes, for my iPad too). If I can avoid that stuff, I will, but that is impossible with the iPhone. Sorry, Apple, for a counterculture company who rebelled against the man, you HAVE BECOME the man and I'm not buying.

12. The iPhone doesn't support push for POP accounts

Some may say this is a bit unfair, but BlackBerry has built their base on push messaging. Even my POP accounts will push messages to my BlackBerry. With the iPhone, you need to click on the account, and then it will go check the messages and download them. Lame. So, should I go get IMAP accounts. Not gonna happen. I use many different email accounts and imap isn't available on all of them. The BB server manages this all for me. Is there a patent issue? Maybe but I like that feature.

13. The iPhone can't turn off the send sound when a message gets sent (if sound is on)

Ok, so if you sent a text message and the sound is on, the phone makes a noise. There is NO option to turn this off. It's NOT the sent mail noise; I'm talkin' 'bout txt messages. So, you will say, turn off the sound and the noise goes away. That's not the point. I want my phone to ring, but I don't want to annoy myself or those around me with messages as I txt with my friends or co workers.

14. The iPhone doesn't Vibrate BEFORE the ring tones come on

We are all forgetful. One cool thing about the BlackBerry, is that it does the vibration tone FIRST and then pauses before making any sounds (if you have your profile enabled for sound AND vibration). SO, lets say for example you are in a meeting and FORGOT to turn the ringer off (EVERYONE has done that once). Well, with the BB, you can reach down and hit the volume button on the phone and it will MUTE the ringer because you first got the vibration tone and then were able to mute. All it takes is the vibration tone happening first to prevent a VERY embarrassing tone and everyone looking at you.

15. No hard keyboard

Ok, this goes without saying that the iPhone doesn't have a hard keyboard. (except a Bluetooth one, I guess but who is going to carry that around?). Now, in the 24 hours I had the iPhone I learned the keyboard pretty well, and I'm sure I would have done better if given more time. This is a bit of a nit pick because I think (unfortunately) the size of the screen is the design feature more people want and soft keyboards are the future, so I probably need to concede on this one, but my 9930 has a hard keyboard now and its awesome. Other than the typing experience the hard keyboard offers shortcut keys for applications, speed dial keys (press and hold a letter to speed dial), Lock the phone (hold "a" button), tactile feel to type under a table (we all need to pass notes sometimes).

16. Requirement for hard password (IBM requirement)

The application that runsEexchange (Traveler) requires a password. I'm ok with this since the BlackBerry does this as well, but the iPhone required 4 letters and 4 numbers and was annoying to put in all the time. This appears to have been a software requirement by my IT department and they may have lessened the requirements here, but the BB simply has a password I set and it's not as intrusive.

17. Cant manually lock device (cmd+l on BB)

As I say above, I will sometimes set my BlackBerry down and like to lock it (require password). I can simply hold the "a" button and set it down and nobody can pick it up and read anything. I couldn't figure out how to do that on the iPhone where there wasn't a timeout.

18. Almost everything on an iPhone is an app I need to download.

Ok, so when I installed my BB, I had to use the BB app store to download 4 apps: Concur (expense management), Google Maps, and a few other minor apps. It felt to me like ANYTHING I wanted to do with the iPhone (all the "cool" stuff that everyone said an iPhone was capable of) required an app. And many of them cost money. Anyone ever consider what all those apps cost in addition to the iPhone?

19. The iPhone has no snooze on alarm/ meeting notice notification

Ok, this one is just stupid. How Apple missed this one, is beyond me. When I get a meeting notice/ reminder on my BB, the notice alert has a simple button that allows me to snooze the alarm and remind me in 5 minutes. You ask why someone would want this. Well, I like a 15 min warning on when I have a meeting, so if I'm in another meeting, I can wrap it up and prepare for the next meeting, but then I may run long, get distracted and end up forgetting about the next meeting. Its simple, have a snooze button that will remind me in 5 mins so I can start my trek to the next meeting room. Does nobody at Apple have a snooze button on their alarm clocks? They have it on the iPhone alarm clock.

20. No sounds alerts when in 45 degree holder- vibration only

So, when I sleep, I put my BlackBerry in a 45 degree holder cradle on my nightstand. Cool because I can see the display if someone calls, etc. However, when I put the iPhone in the iPhone cradle I had, it muted the sound because it thought it was docked and was expecting to play the sound through the dock and not the phone speaker. REALLY lame.

21. ITUNES BLOWS...

This is just reality. iTunes blows. Its slow, cant handle huge amounts of music and is not simple to use. You can sync or not, but not a combination of the both. As I said, I have multiple computers so I CANT sync so I must manually manage everything. Why cant I use another piece of software to do this? I use Winamp on my iPod (which makes it an infinitely better device)

22. The iPhone has worse battery life/ no ability to change batteries

So the battery life wasn't great, but again the phone was new and I only had it for 24 hours. However, my friends who have iPhones tell me they can go 1 day or a day and a half without a change. I can routinely go 2 days easy with my BlackBerry. Oh, and the battery is removable so I can carry a spare if I want to and swap it out when the first one dies and still be on the go.

23. The iPhone has no LED for notifications

Yep. dumb as it sounds a simple multicolor LED on the phone makes a difference. My BlackBerry has a message LED on the face (oh and its user configurable so I can decide WHAT it goes on for) . This means that from across the room I can look at the device and see if I have any new messages, if the battery is low, etc without touching the device. Why does that matter? Well, we all don't carry our phones on us every second. Actually, when I go to the gym, I put my phone in the corner. Sometimes, I want to know if I have a message. With the LED indicator, I can look at the phone across the gym and without picking it up I can see if someone responded and I need to take a break and look at it.

iPhone Pros (credit where credit is due)

1. Great Screen

Ok, the screen on the iPhone is beautiful. Its the right size (I think some Android Phones are too big). Designers- a bigger screen is NOT necessarily better. The iPhone is great size and is great quality.

2. Good sound quality/Great speaker phone

I was really impressed by the speakerphone and the sound quality. This was versus my 9650 which had a bad microphone and a soft speaker that was hard to hear. When I returned my iPhone I got the 9930 which is MUCH improved and equal the iPhone (actually I think the speaker is actually louder). So this one is not a win vs. the 9930.

3. Siri could be cool/useful- Yet to be proven

Siri was cool. I had played with her (innuendo intended) previously. It's a very cool system that works well. Ironically, the first question I asked her was if I would like my iPhone. She was wrong.

4. Good media (mp3/ video/photo)

Ok, this is where apple excels. The media handling/ video/ photo (8 mp vs. 5 on the 9930) is great. However, I don't do much of that for work or personal other than some pictures. I have an iPod for music and the BB can play music as well (not as well, but it can). I use my iPad for video so why do I need my phone for that? Oh and I would rather watch on the iPad cause it has a much bigger screen. I would NEVER watch a movie on an iPhone.

5. Some cool apps (concur works better, conversion, etc)

Some apps are cooler on an iPhone. The Concur application works better on an iPhone (easier to make it work). The conversion app that is available to convert units is very cool and ther are tons of other free apps you can get. They are cool and have some very valuable functionality for work and daily use.

6. WEB BROWSING is much better/ Faster browser loading

Ok, Apple is a clear winner here. Vs my 9650 the apple is a million miles ahead. Now, with my 9930, the Apple is only about 1 mile ahead in terms of speed and the visual look. However the Apple probably wins the visual part of this because it has a larger screen. I have a iPad or a computer for web browsing, so its not a huge deal, but BB needs to pick this up and do a better job in this area. Pages do load way faster on the iPhone.

7. Find My iPhone software

This is cool. There are apps for the BB that allow you to do this, but the iCloud allows you to wipe the phone/ track the phone/ message the phone in a simple web interface. If I want to wipe my phone, I gotta call my IS team. If I want to find my phone, I gotta use an app. I don't think I can message the phone like you can on the iPhone. So, this is a winning feature. RIM, get on this!

8. Auto push of photos to server (iCloud is NOT good)

PhotoStream is a cool idea. Get the photos off onto the web so you can get them quick. However, I don't like that PhotoStream delete them after 30 days of inactivity. I also don't like that I need to use the iCloud. I think a killer app would be to allow this to PhotoStream to my synology box (at my house). That's a killer app for BB or iPhone, but iPhone has the BB beat on this one. This WOULD help me at work so I don't need to email myself pictures.

9. Higher quality camera/ video

The iPhone has an 8 MP camera and shoots great video/ pictures. It's good. Time to catch up BB. This is a simple hardware choice and some software improvements.

Summary and conclusions:

When I look at the above lists the list of 25 Cons effect me in everything I do and how I use my phone on a daily basis. The list of 10 or so Pros are cool, but not essential to me doing my job (my primary reason for the phone) and things I have other devices (iPad/iPod/computers) for. Yeah the BlackBerry isn't great in those 10 areas, but my decision was to give those 10 things up to have the top 25 list of issues NOT be an issue.

After returning my iPhone I went back to my office and talked to a bunch of people who have iPhone in my office. I found that 4 out of the 5 of those people who have iPhone ALSO have Blackberries for work. They carry the iPhone for personal reasons and the BB for work. I am NOT carrying 2 devices. Sorry. This was surprising. I will instead carry my iPad and tether it to my BB. That might be the right combination.

Bottom line: I manage my BlackBerry. I tell it what I want to do and how to behave. The iPhone tells its user how it wants the user to act. I want my phone to respond to me not that I should be forced to adjust to it.

I have a theory. There are 2 types of people. Those who have used a smartphone and have come to expect a level of functionality (BlackBerry palm/ etc). The second is someone who has NOT used a smartphone or the iPhone was their first smartphone. This person has the Plato's cave effect and doesn't know what they are missing in customization and functionality. They love the easy to use iPhone interface and it works for them- which is great. However, Type 1 personalities cannot easily transition to the iPhone. They have smartphone expectations and the iPhone will not meet them unless they are willing to bend their methods to the iPhone.

Make the decision yourself and try both, but don't expect the iPhone to meet your expectations for customizations and messaging capabilities. I urge everyone to try it and it may work for you. Others will be like me disappointed. If anyone from Apple reads this, call me when you fix 15-20 of the list of 25 CONS and I would love to try it again. HOPEFULLY the iPhone5 will have 4G LTE and fix the above list and I may be back...