Take a look at these photos. The 8700c was released in 2004 (I have one of these) and the 9900 was released this week. RIM had seven years to change the design or do something, but they look pretty much the same. I suppose RIM has a dozen other models to choose from, but it seems amazing that the company is still selling something with the exact same design.
Similar design, but definitely not “the exact same” design.
To be fair, 4 years of iPhone design have not changed much either. Sure, the back and sides look different, but they still have only one home button and a 3.5″ screen. There is nothing wrong with sticking with what works.
But that retro look is in. American cars are modelled on their predecessors of the last century. Contemporary movies redux old ideas from the childhoods’ of their makers. Who doesn’t want a “smartphone” that looks like the one your dad used to have? Prediction: the Motorola “brick” phone will make a comeback, hot on the heels of these retro Blackberries.
Looks like an evolution of a popular design – thinner and sleeker and prettier screen graphics, but keeping the same basic keyboard and screen layout BB users are familiar with. Kind of like pulling out a TiBook and saying that the macbook pro is the exact same design.
Overall in terms of hardware design, I like the new Blackberries. They’re well made. What I don’t like is Blackberry OS and the lack of an integrated ecosystem that surrounds RIM devices, That’s what’s killing RIM.
It didn’t look sexy then, it still doesn’t today. RIM never went to market on product design. Where they have really failed is in keeping up with demands in product functionality.
Except that their design DOESN’T work and that’s the problem. It was junk in 20014 and it’s junk now.
Fundamental difference between MacBook Pro design staying the same and BB design staying the same: nobody’s come up with a better design for the MacBook Pro, everybody’s come up with a better design for the BB.
A MacBook Pro’s design is at the top & makes tonnes of money. You can’t compare RIM’s products to Apple’s! They’re not even in the same galaxy. RIM is NOT competition for Apple. Apple is NOT competing with RIM! RIM is a fraction of Apple, they could buy all their shares tomorrow. RIM’s been a dinosaur since ’07. It’s ’11 & they’re still clueless to the problems they’re facing. It’s too late for them & their ancient thinking. iPhone 5 & iOS 5 will blow these new phones out of our memories. When RIM has more delays for QNX, investors will run from them & try to sell them off to a big-company.
iPhone 3G,3GS and iPhone 4 it’s still the same,the screen,keypads,home button,and others. Apple is just same like BB and maybe the iPhone 5 same like the rest iPhone as well. So please, Apple is no different than Rim because before iPhone 4 everyone said iPhone 4 is different towards the 3GS and 3G.
The screen size of the BB is a killer. One of my coworkers has a work-issued BB; when we’re sitting around in an airport surfing the web, he is (metaphorically) drooling over my iPhone 4 in part because the screen is twice the size of the BB.
My preference towards phone design is the slider phones, RIM has the Torch. It has the touchscreen (3.2”), but also a trackpad and a QWERTY keyboard.
As for the model shown, I think it has a 2.8” touch screen and one killer QWERTY keyboard. By comparison, the iPhone has a 3.5” touchscreen with no keys…