NO!
That's what I have to say to rumors that RIM is developing a new touchscreen version of their BlackBerry devices.
I am a BlackBerry convert. I was a dedicated Palm user for many years before I switched to BlackBerry. The traits that would later lead to my PDA/smartphone obsession started early. I was a natural list-maker. From the time that I first learned to write with a fair amount of competency, I was making lists. I also always carried a little notepad and pen around with me. I remember being around six or seven-years-old and being extremely annoyed with my mother for not having a pen handy when we bumped into an old friend of hers while shopping. I remember pulling out my notepad and my pen so that she could jot down and exchange phone numbers with her old school chum. And so it has been since: no matter where I am, I want to have a way to add to my lists and jot down notes.
My first year of college I carried around a notepad and a planner to keep my appointments and lists in order. I started noticing that a handful of students and a few professors had PDAs. Most of them were Palms, but a few were rocking Handsprings (which at the time were the same machines in different casings). After doing online research, I saved my money from my student job and bought an entry level Palm M100. It revolutionized my life! I loved the calendar and the "tasks" function. All of my meetings and due dates for my work were organized. I always had important phone numbers handy. It did everything my paper system did, except with alarms and reminders. Plus, I killed fewer trees.
I bought a portable keyboard and installed Documents To Go on my Palm so that I could create and edit Word and Excel documents on my handheld. I worked on my schoolwork and personal writing projects while riding the Metra train home on the weekends. I had a desktop computer at school. My Palm saved me the extra expense of buying a laptop for when I left school on the weekends.
I was already hooked on the digital way of organizing when I discovered ebooks. I have read countless digital books on my Palm, making the most out of the free bits of time I found while riding public transportation and sitting in waiting rooms. I love the fact that with ebooks, you can highlight a word in the book and instantly look up the definition. I also found ebooks useful in my language classes. I had an English and a Spanish dictionary stored on a SD card. I also kept a copy of some of the books on my literature class reading list stored on my handheld.
I was extremely happy with Palm. It had become a way of life with me. I upgraded my handhelds throughout college, always more impressed with each new PDA. After school, I found my Palm to be invaluable in the workplace. I kept important notes and phone numbers readily available and was able to keep on top of tasks and projects, thanks to reminders from my Palm.
The bloom fell off of the rose and Palm lost me forever with their LifeDrive Mobile Manager. Sure, I had lots of extra storage space and was able to fit more books and documents on my device. Sure, I was able to store a few short movie clips and trailers. But I lost the one feature that I had always taken for granted with Palm devices: reliability.
Never, before I got my LifeDrive, had I had a Palm device crash on me. Never. When I got my LifeDrive, it regularly froze and crashed. Not even the ability to check e-mail at my favorite hotspot was enough to make up for this fatal flaw. There were several occasions where I needed to find information quickly for work and my LifeDrive failed me--miserably. I stopped using it. I resented Palm for having me spend $500 on a product that had so many bugs in it. I had not saved up my meager discretionary money to be a product tester for Palm!
I only rarely brought it to work. I started keeping my important addresses and contact information on my iPod. (To this day, I back up all of my contact information that way.) I started reading my ebooks on my laptop. I went back to using my notepad and pen to jot down random thoughts and bits of information.
Then a friend of mine suggested that I try Palm's new answer to the BlackBerry called Treo. I considered it for a short time, but I couldn't get over my $500 LifeDrive disappointment. I no longer trusted that new products from Palm would be of quality. I figured that if I was going to go for a smartphone, I might as well go for a company that had been in the smartphone business for a while. I started to seriously consider getting a BlackBerry. Shortly after I began eyeing the RIM product, I changed jobs. I tried to dust off the old LifeDrive and use it to keep organized with my tasks. But my fear of it crashing at a critical moment prompted me to keep backups of my notes on paper. I ended up leaving my LifeDrive in my bag for most of the day and only using it to read ebooks and check e-mail at the coffee shop while on breaks.
One of my new coworkers had a BlackBerry. This prompted me to look back at the smartphone versus PDA option once more.
RIM then announced their plans to introduce the BlackBerry Pearl. I wanted a new camera phone anyway. It seemed like fate. I put myself on the waiting list at my cell phone company and eagerly awaited my chance to purchase the device.
I was pleased beyond my expectations. I loved using keys for text input versus the touchscreens that I had gotten used to with Palm. And I loved the fact that I could quickly input text via keypad without having to attach a portable keyboard, as I did with my Palm devices. It was a lot handier and convenient for me to keep my notes, to do and shopping lists organized. I jotted notes to the memo pad with one hand while walking down the street. Though I love the SureType technology of the Pearl, I upgraded to a full qwerty keyboard and a larger screen and got a BlackBerry Curve. I love the built-in spell checking feature of this device. Though I am pretty good at grammar and spelling, I like having this feature. It gives me a little extra confidence when sending e-mail to my boss from my BlackBerry.
What's my point in this rambling account? I realized that what truly makes a PIM tool useful is not just the bells and whistles, but the reliability of the product. This is why I switched from Palm to RIM. RIM is a company that has been serving the business community for a long time. In my mind, the names RIM and BlackBerry represent quality. I trust their products to perform as they should. Also, I love their push e-mail system. It works wonderfully and helps to keep me better organized, both professionally and personally.
It was with great dismay that I read the news that BlackBerry is working on a touchscreen version of their devices. Why do they need a Palm-like touchscreen? Why do they feel the need to compete with iPhones? The reason that I got a BlackBerry is because I wanted something different than what Palm offered. I could have gotten an iPhone if I had wanted to. I considered it. But I decided that I like my 80 gig iPod just fine. BlackBerrys are their own unique niche. They don't need to imitate other smartphones. I am afraid that with the Palm-like touchscreen they will inherit Palm-like touch and go reliability.
No Replaceable Batteries
