My Blackberry Storm Review

Before I begin I want to give a word of thanks to Arnie who dropped me a line to see if I was OK and why I haven't been posting. It's funny how life gets in the way sometimes. Yes Arnie I am still alive and kicking and thanks for checking in on me.

Back to the Storm review. About a month ago it was time to get a new phone. Up until that point I had a Motorola Q and was very pleased with it. Based on everything I read, I had decided to get the new Motorola Q9c. But when I arrived at the Verizon store I was informed that the Q had been discontinued. I had a hard time believing it so I called around and verified that it was indeed being discontinued. This left me in a position where I was uneducated on just about every phone in the store. A friend of mine had the HTC Touch Pro and for several reasons, I won't go into, I had decided against it.

Because I have an Exchange server, I had a pretty specific set of requirements that my phone needed to have. With no Q available and not wanting the HTC, that left 2 choices. The Blackberry (which I have had bad luck with previously) and the Samsung Omnia. This is when the salesman at the store went to work on me.

The Blackberry Storm was the best thing on the planet AND it was on sale. If you bought one storm, you got the second one for free. What a great deal right? I told him that I was extremely happy with the Q and wanted the SAME functionality and Exchange integration. I was absolutely assured that everything about the Blackberry Storm would integrate seamlessly with our existing server environment. After repeated clarifications on this matter I ended up getting the Storm. I have never had a touch screen phone and, after all, it WAS kind of cool.

This is where the misery unfolds. Despite all assurances, it turns out the Storm doesn't integrate with an Exchange server like a Window Mobile device. You have to purchase additional software from RIM (Blackberry), set up separate admin accounts, create additional databases on the server and purchase additional enterprise licenses for each Blackberry in use. 3 days and countless hours of tech support later, the Storms were functioning. OK, it was a headache to get the Blackberry Storm working but after all that it has to work great.

NOT the case. As I started playing with my new Storm, I was excited about the number of apps that were available for the device. You know, the whole "kid in the candy store" thinkg got the best of me. I immediately proceeded to install a bunch of apps that were either handy or fun to use. It turns out that the OS on the Storm kind of struggled with some of the apps that were available. YouTube, Google Maps and others seemed to create some minor conflicts with power management and other areas in the phone. Pretty soon my phone started crashing and rebooting on a regular basis. I began reading some forums in an attempt at troubleshooting my issues. In the end, I uninstalled all of the apps bringing the phone back to the original configuration. This should have fixed it.

Again, not the case. Touch screens are cool, no doubt. However, I soon realized that I like buttons. About a week ago I went to dial a phone number and the touch screen number pad had crashed. I couldn't dial a phone number. I had to take the phone out of the case, remove the back cover and take the battery out to force the phone to reboot. I did this twice and the touch screen number pad began working again.

Aside from the technical problems, the email and SMS organization leaves a little bit to be desired. You can customize it a bit by separating the SMS and email messages but all of your sent messages go into your main message folder. Not the end of the world, you just have to sift through more lines to get at what you want.

I have talked to people that are pretty happy with the Storm. My guess is that they are simply a casual user. Below are some additional negatives as well as positives.

The WIN: The Storm's browser is fast and loads websites quickly, the voice dialing works reallly well and the screen size is outstanding for browsing, viewing pictures and reading emails. The camera on the Storm takes really good pictures and the threaded text messaging is great. The Storm has a TON of on board memory with the option for additional memory via the memory slot.

The FAIL: Touch pad dialing and typing is MUCH slower and cumbersome vs. a conventional keyboard, the Storm OS app conflicts and the horrible integration and setup. Even though the camera takes great pictures, it crashes frequently and takes FOREVER to "snap" the picture. Sending pictures is also a tedious venture at best.

Bottom line? I don't think I can recommend the Blackberry Storm to anyone. There are a variety smartphones out there that seem to function much better.

UPDATE: I was just on the Verizon website and discovered that the Motorola Q9c IS available again. There's a little salt in the wound!

 

The Best Pole Dancing Video. Ever!

Aren't bears the best? Happy Friday everyone.

 

Check Your Headlines Twice.

When you are designing something or writing copy, you might want to have someone else take a peek. After you have stared at something for so long you tend to miss the obvious.

Seems like a typical governmental move.

And what exactly did you think you were going to find?

Good luck with that one. They may be searching for a while.

Stop drinking poison will you!

Let me know if you have seen this guy.

Some ironic justice?

Uhhh. OK.

Sounds about right coming from the Government.

Must be a GREAT camouflage job.

Now THAT was unexpected.

Come on, seriously. Is this some kind of bad joke?

Thanks again for stopping by. Have a great week everyone.

 

Times Are Tough For Everyone

This financial crisis is forcing us to make tough decisions especially in the area of personnel. There is a risk that we might need to lay off ANDRE.

 

Some Internet Triva For Ya

• In 2008 there were 28 million new domain names registered.
  
• At the end of 2008 there were a total of 177 million Top Level Domains in existence
• In order the 5 largest domain extensions were .com, .cn, .de, .net and .org
• 2008 represented a 16% growth in new domains.  The largest ever.

 177 Million didn't seem like a lot to me, given the number of people on the planet.  I guess I assumed that everyone had a couple of domains.  What IS big however is that 28 million new domains were registered last year.  I don't think that the fellas at Rand, MIT and UCLA could have possibly envisioned the colossal entity that was in it's infancy.

Today, I think that it's pretty safe to say that the internet has changed the way we live our lives.  Research,  shopping, entertainment, work and so on.  If you own a business, the real question is whether or not you are using the internet to maximize your business potential.  It's not just for eBay anymore.

If you are still with me here on The Big Bald Blog, thanks for hanging around during this time of inactivity. 

Be back soon.

Pops

 

The Advertising of Yesterday Part XXI

When Ted goes hunting NOW, he has all kinds of political pressure and government regulation to deal with. And running into Sears to pick up a shotgun and a box of shells isn't quite that simple anymore.

I have a collection of antique shotgun shell boxes that I have picked up over the years. Some of my favorites are from Montgomery Wards, Holiday Gas Stations, Sears and other similar retail establishments. These were the days when you could order a gun from a department store catalog and they would actually ship it to you. These were also the days where a shotgun was considered a "sporting good." Notice the logo, it says Sears Sports Center. Now, regulation has overtaken the firearm industry. Waiting periods, permits and licenses abound. But what came first, the chicken or the egg.

In the glory days of Ted Williams, there was little gun crime. People were responsible, and parents taught their children to hunt, shoot and respect firearms. This was also the time of the least amount of regulation. Today, it's cool to turn your hand gun to the side and quip about "bustin' a cap" or something. Today we have the most gun crime and the MOST regulation. Is there a correlation?

Here's the question. Is the regulation a function of society's breakdown or is gun crime due to the regulation of law abiding citizens acquiring guns? Perhaps gun crime is due to the natural development of a violent society and the regulations were too little, too late. What are your thoughts?

 

Hiatus

We apologize for the interruption in our normal blogging frequency. We will resume course shortly. At this time we would like to remind you to return you chair backs and your seat trays to their upright position. Thank you for flying with The Big Bald Blog.

Love,

Big Pops

 

Chrysler's Bailout Backlash

Here's a PR move that caused some unanticipated backlash. Chrysler, the recipient of 4 BILLION DOLLARS in bailout/bridge loans, decided to thank America. A nice gesture to say the least. However, it doesn't seem that Americans were very open to the thanks.

As it turns out, Chrysler placed full page "Thank You America" ads in newspapers across the country including USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. This is where the tomato and other produce flinging begins. It seems that the forced investors tax paying Americans didn't like the expense or the delivery of the campaign.

Over at the Chrysler blog, readers are not holding anything back. Comments like, Mr. Nardelli "Your resignation and the resignations of senior executives who have mismanaged the business would have been much more appropriate." and "Mr Nardelli, Fire your PR and advertising teams and execs immediately" seem to be the norm from the readers.

To put this into perspective, a full color, full page ad in the Wall Street Journal is about $250,000. A figure that is much more than the average taxpayer's salary.

A big BOOOO goes out to Chrysler for not having a "Thank You" press conference or publishing heartfelt letters to the various media sources and blogs. Hey Chrysler, just repay your loan as quickly as you can so we can get on with our recession will ya.

My thoughts: Thumbs up for the effort. Thumbs down for the execution.

Your thoughts?

 

"What I Found In My Email" Mondays. Vol.2 - Issue 28

Welcome to another, and long over due, edition of "What I found in my email Monday's." I know what your thinking - it's Tuesday. I know, I know but I really meant to post this yesterday.

I once heard a gender based driving assessment from an insurance agent. He said there are distinct differences in the types of claims between men and women. It seems that when men get into a wreck, they really GET INTO A WRECK. Meaning that men will destroy their car in one single catastrophic event. Women on the other hand will destroy their car one little piece at a time. A ding here, a dent there, knocking off a mirror, dragging along the side of the garage whilst backing out.

However the gentleman that perpetrated the caper featured below, falls into a completely different category. What category you ask? I don't know yet, but I am formulating it as we continue.

Here's the story:

An elementary school teacher ran over a mattress that had flipped out of a truck. Thankful that he didn't get into a wreck, he decided to keep going. Little was he aware that he had picked up a hitch hiker. As it turns out the coils from the mattress got tangled up and wrapped themselves around the drive shaft. The ensuing jumble finally whipped around enough to put a tear in the gas tank, the subsequent lack of fuel is what finally brought this vehicle to its knees.

He still managed to drive 30 more miles decently with a 60lb tangle wrapped around the drive shaft.

This genius complained that the vehicle had a "shimmy" when driving at high speeds.

This is what the dealership found







Have a great Christmas and a happy New Year everyone!

 

The Next Round Of Bailouts

I just read on AutoBlog.com that Bush has decided to greenlight the "$17.4 billion in low-interest loans to General Motors and Chrysler (Ford Motor Company has said it does not require relief at this time)." Props to Ford!

At this time I would like to extend a very special thank you to the UAW. Thanks for not supporting a reduction in the wage rages for those you represent (sarcasm intended).

For years we have seen inexpensive and high quality import cars flooding into America. These cars are built by hard working individuals for about 1/2 of what US union auto workers are paid. I don't understand how simple economics has escaped the big 3. If you are paying too much for labor which causes you to no longer be competitive in a market, why aren't you allowed to cut wages?

But let's also focus on the R&D and marketing efforts of the big US automakers. The way I see it, the US car manufacturers had a choice a while back. They could either research, develop and market fuel efficient vehicles OR they could have picked a different route. The alternate route was the one they ventured down.

"Hey, I got an idea, let's make the biggest, most inefficient vehicles that we can muster (Hummer, Suburbans, Escalades, Excursions, The Hemi, etc) and when gas peaks out at four something a gallon, let's panic."

The pain of $4 gas caused an almost overnight shift in consumer behavior. Unprecedented by most standards, this shift in buying patterns and lifestyle choices happened fast and will take a long time to change, if at all. People won't soon forget the $4 pain at the pump and have made changes in their driving and buying patterns that will last for quite some time.

Now that car dealer across the country have HUGE, unpaid inventory of trucks and SUVs that aren't moving, the juice on the floor plan is putting some out of business.

Granted, this isn't free money. The $17.4 Billion is in the form of low interest loans. But I ask, where do we draw the line? How big do you have to be to get bailout money from the Government? What about the lifeblood of our economy, small businesses? I am sure there are plenty of small to medium sized companies that are feeling the recession pain. $17.4 billion would go a long way if small businesses were allowed to get up to $500,000 in low interest loans. This means that 34,800 small to medium business would be able partake in a similar loan program that, in my opinion, would go much further in stimulating the economy.

I wonder how many people are employed by 34,800 small to medium businesses across the country. AND how much in taxes do those same businesses pay? Am I being ignorant or naive? Do you know of any small businesses that could use 500 large?

What are your thoughts on this whole deal?

Have a great weekend everyone.