The reviews bear out what I said in May: Overall user experience, not touchscreen or features make the iPhone a winner vs. Blackberry Storm.
Any suggestion that adding a touchscreen would make Blackberry competitive with iPhone was always silly. Blackberry already creates a great experience for some users. To work equally well for another group of users, RIM needs to do more than add features or change input device.
When word of Blackberry Storm (previously Thunder) leaked in May, I’d hoped RIM would put in the work to make their user experience with a touchscreen as fantastic as their user experience with a thumbwheel.
The Storm goes on sale tomorrow, and today’s reviews are disappointing. Adding features or changing the input hardware by itself doesn’t create a better device. You have to think through the whole experience and designing accordingly.
Looks like the Storm isn’t as good as an iPhone. Or as good as a Blackberry.
Touch isn’t what matters. The Bold (or other non-touch model) is the phone for those who want a Blackberry.
PC World:
Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Storm looks handsome enough, but it will disappoint prospective buyers hoping for a credible touch-based iPhone alternative.
(Thanks to @smokingapples for the headsup on the above four reviews.)
update 11/26: Ouch. The New York Times David Pogue offeres perhaps the most scathing review yet:
UPDATE 1/8/2009: Great post comparing customer satisfaction surveys of Storm and iPhone owners of after one month, also concluding that user experience more important than touchscreen.
Dale Larson 
Interesting that you chose to focus on just the negative reviews and not balance it out with quotes from some of the glowing and positive reviews of the Storm.
From the website i linked…
” So how did RIM do with the on-screen keyboard? Very, very well. The Storm screen can be likened to the new MacBook trackpad in that the entire screen is a big button. This means when you press a key on the keyboard or a menu item you hear and feel a click just like pushing a real button. This provides a level of tactile feedback when typing on the screen never before experienced on another device. The button clicking means you can ramp up your typing speed pretty quickly and typing on the Storm feels a lot like typing on a “real” keyboard. The SurePress technology as RIM calls it is simply stunning in its performance.”
Interesting that you chose to focus on just the negative reviews and not balance it out with quotes from some of the glowing and positive reviews of the Storm.
From the website i linked…
” So how did RIM do with the on-screen keyboard? Very, very well. The Storm screen can be likened to the new MacBook trackpad in that the entire screen is a big button. This means when you press a key on the keyboard or a menu item you hear and feel a click just like pushing a real button. This provides a level of tactile feedback when typing on the screen never before experienced on another device. The button clicking means you can ramp up your typing speed pretty quickly and typing on the Storm feels a lot like typing on a “real” keyboard. The SurePress technology as RIM calls it is simply stunning in its performance.”
Great post, now if I can get my family and friends to switch to AT&T so I can grab an iphone. Thanks for a sweet product comparison.
Great post, now if I can get my family and friends to switch to AT&T so I can grab an iphone. Thanks for a sweet product comparison.
I wonder more about the speed and coverage Vs. the iPhone. I mean I lurve my phone, but half the house is off limits because I get no reception.
I wonder more about the speed and coverage Vs. the iPhone. I mean I lurve my phone, but half the house is off limits because I get no reception.
Iphone is better in my opinion