BlackBerry vs. iPhone: Who Comes Out On Top?

There’s always a big debate over which is bettter, but has there ever been a balanced argument between the two?

Lauren and Sopho put forward their arguments as owners of either the BlackBerry or the iPhone respectively, also highlighting the bad points of each. Balanced argument. Fun way to procrastinate. Enjoy.

Argument A: In Favour of the BlackBerry

BlackBerry – often confused for ‘blueberry’ – is a favourite among the celebs. You can’t even watch an episode of ‘The Hills’ on MTV without seeing one of its so-called ’stars’ with a vintage BlackBerry Curve. But why is it so popular? The are the reasons I came up with.

1) Vanity.

• You bought your BlackBerry to look good to your friends. Jealousy is always great when its not you who’s green with envy.
• Having a BlackBerry makes you look more professional in an interview situation. For example, walking in with your phone come personal organiser would look much more impressive than strolling in with a Sony Ericsson walkman phone.
• On a date, a BlackBerry makes you seem more sophisticated to your friend with its fancy-schmansy QWERTY keypad. Although saying ‘fancy-schmansy’ on a date is probably a big no-no.

2) Organisation.

• The little BlackBerry may look more complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it keeps all your notes, key dates and appointments neat and tidy in one little block. That’s what instruction manuals are for.
• Thinking about it, the BlackBerry saves a lot of trees; post-its are extremely thankful. The BlackBerry even has a ‘Post-It Note’ app, so it avoids cluttering your desk with unsightly yellow paper.

So why is the BlackBerry better than the iPhone?

The iPhone seems much more of a ‘follow-the-crowd’ type of phone. “OMG, did you see the new iPhone?” is more often said than “Jeez, that new BlackBerry looks so fly, natch.” Even the adverts are more gimmicky. BlackBerry’s ads just get the point across simply and stylistically, but the people at Apple mess about with the white background and mind-boggling scrolling of the iPhone’s screen. Gives me a headache.

Another thing you should know about me: I do not work well with touch screens. It’s not that my fingers are fat or anything, but if I go to type an ‘e’ on a touch screen, I manage to catch the ‘r’, ‘d’ and even possibly the ‘n’. THAT’S how uncompatible we are.

Bad things about the BlackBerry? I would say that if you’re not great with QWERTY, it’s a bit of a problem. However, iPhone keypads also function with the QWERTY keypad, so that argument pretty much goes out of the window.

It could also be said that the over-complicated nature of the BlackBerry’s appearance could scare off potential partners or employers. Especially when your new boss is even more easily confused than you are.

Over to you, Sopho.

Argument B: In favour of the iPhone

Okay, so hey. I’ve been the, very happy, owner of an iPhone for almost two years now, and if you knew my history with phones you’d really appreciate just what an impressive statement that is. So, here are some of my reasons as to exactly why the iPhone is so sought-after.

1. The Design

• Anyone who says that the sleek and simple style of the iPhone isn’t attractive is either a liar or blind. With no keys to detract from the elegance of the large glass screen, this phone is actually a work of art.
• The design of the home page is also simple, easy to use and attractive to the eye. With all functions clearly labelled as well as having simple yet easily recognisable icons, it’s never an issue to find exactly what you’re looking for.

2. Its Millions Of Uses

• Nearly everyone has a phone. But the iPhone is more than just a phone. Yes, it texts, it allows you to make calls and it take photos which are clear rather than blurry, but it has so many other functions. It’s like a phone, laptop, camera, GPS, scientific calculator, notebook and iPod all rolled into one. Yes, it’s probably bigger than your average phone (though very similar in size to the BlackBerry) but think off all the things you don’t have to carry round when you have this in your pocket.
• If we just go into the internet in detail for a moment, well, it’s wonderful. The fact that I can go on Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, MSN, and of course The Daily Wiggle all at the same time, means that I never feel left-behind. Also, the fact that when I’m on the internet I view the real internet pages, NOT the mobile internet pages is a definitely bonus. As far as this phone goes, being able to visit YouTube, check my emails and pop to the iTunes store on-the-go definitely becomes taken for granted
• As for all the Apps available, well, where do I begin? As everybody knows, there are Apps for just about everything, I could probably stay here writing them all day and never get done.

3. Its Durability

• Now, unlike the JCB phone, the iPhone doesn’t claim to be indestructible, but I can honestly tell you that I’ve put mine through hell and back and it’s never failed me yet. Having been in two fishbowls and down the toilet this phone is still soldiering on with no lasting damage. Also, the number of times I’ve dropped and thrown my phone is unbelieveable (it’s not because I get annoyed with it, just because I’m very accident-prone), and although it has a few war-wounds on the back (which would be avoided with the new model), the screen remains not only in one piece but also scratch-free, which is som sort of miracle to be honest.

So why would I always choose the iPhone over the BlackBerry?

Well, if you enjoy fiddling about with tiny keys, then by all means go and buy yourself a BlackBerry, I’m sure Lauren is right when she says it’s a very good phone indeed… But, if you want the world at your fingertips, no matter where you are, then the iPhone’s the one for you. As for the touch screen issue that Voice raised, I understand exactly where she’s coming from. I used to class myself as a ‘fat thumbed, touch screen imbecile’, until I got an iPhone. Now I get numerous people, even Voice herself, commenting on just how fast I type on it. And if you’re prone to typos? The iPhone’s word-recognition is unlike that of any other phone I know.  Very rarely does my phone not correctly guess the word I’ve incorrectly typed, in fact I’d say it knows what I want to say even before I do.

And yes, I know what you’re about to say… “But Sopho, surely you can’t love everything about the iPhone?”

Well, I guess that’s true. My phone is probably the single most distracting phone ever in the history of the universe. Because it has everything, I often find it hard to distance myself from it long enough in order to actually get my work done. But apart from that, no, I really can’t see any other major problems.

So that’s it, we’ve both had our say.

But what do you think?

We want to know which side you’re on and why.