This is a bit of advice I wrote regarding Blackberry vs. iPhone vs. DROID…

Thanks for letting me know about what is covered during those meetings. I’d like to share with you some of the reasons why we are using Blackberry devices and not the others, yet.

WMU Development and Alumni Relations uses Blackberry devices because at the time (2007) they were the most relevant and best-featured devices at the time. Blackberry is carrier agnostic, they’ll run on anything, and the two competing systems are CDMA (Sprint and Verizon) and GSM (AT&T and T-Mobile). Blackberry also was a superior choice for corporate users because of the seamless security not only behind the scenes, where the network is edge-to-edge encrypted with AES-256, the US Federal Government standard, but also in-front of the scene. By using BES we have the capacity to manage devices over radio, so if a Blackberry is lost, we do not have to worry about sensitive information leaking out, we simply instruct the Blackberry to commit suicide, then order a new device. This really drove a lot of the Blackberry adoption, at least in the technical circles where these properties are worth quite a lot. Blackberry continues to be a ‘best-case’ device because of all the sticky technical bits that make them quite a pleasure to support. There are tradeoffs, as the devices are all business and no pleasure, they don’t have touchscreens, a panoply of apps, and they aren’t exceptionally fast with data. The competing devices, which would be iPhone and Droid are arguably the flipside of what the Blackberry is, it’s all pleasure, but very spartan when compared to Blackberry in the context of business use.

Between iPhone and Droid there is more detail that would benefit you to know. While the Apple iPhone is a tremendously attractive device (especially for someone like me) the device is locked into an arguably stunted network, AT&T. Here in Kalamazoo AT&T has been inexplicably retarded when it comes to fleshing out their 3G network capacity. A 3G network is essentially a “Fast Radio Network” which makes any device that uses it work faster than ‘2G’ or ‘Old and Slow Radio Network’. This lack of competent service in comparison to Sprint and Verizon’s 3G networks that already exist here is the principal reason why iPhones have yet to earn the mark of distinction from my office and why I have been silent about any future move off of the Blackberry infrastructure. I can argue that switching from Blackberry to iPhone at this juncture would be a stupid move, since 90% of users would do business in Kalamazoo county, ignoring Sprint and Blackberry’s 3G network for AT&T’s EDGE (their 2G network) would be akin to replacing the engine in a Camaro with a lawnmowers’. As for Droid, I cannot recommend that mobile device operating system because it has yet to establish a stable canon. Google has been working feverishly developing and extending this platform and Droid suffers for it. If we were to buy-in to Droid now, 6 months down the pike we’d be stuck with 25 devices that may or may not have an upgrade path to wherever Google takes Droid next.

What does the future hold? Blackberry and Sprint are the ‘Devil We Know’. We’re used to the rough patches and we have a well-beaten path and a contract that works for our needs. What conditions would need to happen for me to change my official recommendations? Any switch to iPhone would require AT&T to demonstrate a willingness to flesh out their 3G network in Kalamazoo county. AT&T did consume Centennial Wireless recently, so this may be coming sooner rather than later. Alternatively, if Apple reworks the iPhone to use the CDMA network, it would be useful on the Verizon network and iPhone + Verizon would make me switch us all over in the blink of an eye. So far, the legal rumblings from Apple state that there is a lovers-knot forged between AT&T and Apple in relation to the iPad. Apple needed a data provider, AT&T offered their network for the new iPad device, but the rumor states that the ‘sweetheart deal’ would only be possible if Apple kept the AT&T-only stricture on iPhone, at least until 2011. Verizon is very hungry for the iPhone, but Apple won’t budge, and everyone agrees it’s because AT&T has their hooks in Apple quite deeply. Droid, on the other hand, needs time to mature. The platform is still very young and prone to wild upset and I can’t justify us spending valuable University funds on something so prone to ‘platform-quakes’. Droid would be a valid option by 2015.

If there are any points you’d like clarification on please do not hesitate to ask.