They are fine with two different developers posting the same App name with the same functionality. They don’t realize how this discourages the developers from having a sense of ownership and they also don’t realize how bargain basement their store truly is.

These guys won’t be along for long. The iPhone has taken off partly due to its Apps. Apple has encouraged the developer network and do not approve copycat Apps.

“Why can’t people just realize what many have: the iPhone is a consumer device with a little corporate thrown in, and a BB is a corporate device with a little consumer thrown in.”

This is exactly right. Don’t get me wrong, I have an IPOD Touch 8gb, I use a mac for work and also own a mac and pc for home use. I don’t want an I-Phone…simply not interested. I happen to enjoy the blackberry for getting my email and checking facebook or espn. Beyond that, it’s mostly email and tiny bit of web.

The Blackberry is NOT the I-Phone, the sooner both Blackberry and I-Phone fans realize this, this argument of “which is better” can come to an end.

“Clearly BB’s email is better”

My BB Pearl can’t even do HTML mail. Links in the email app appear as plain text with markup and all, making an abominable mess in some messages. I was stunned when I bought it. Completely asinine. My T-Mobile contract is up in 2 months, and I get a new phone then, but if I don’t get a G1 I’ll jump ship for an iPhone. One thing is for sure though, RIM isn’t getting any more of my money. There are tons of phones out there that have better feature sets than anything RIM is offering.

I bought a 1st generation blackberry pearl last summer and it worked fine with multiple apps. I was ready for a new phone and debated the iPhone but ended up going with the Bold because my main purpose is email and phone with occasionally browsing. Clearly iPhone’s browser is better. Clearly BB’s email is better. I personally like the real keys over the virtual keyboard.

I love my MBP and wish my blackberry sync and management was a bit easier with it, but for me, I’d still prefer a Blackberry.

Have you browsed the web on an iPhone? It’s absolutely lightyears beyond what Opera mini or the Blackberry Storm offers. And though you have apps such as facebook/flickr/etc installed, their user experiences are no where near the level of the equivalent apps on the iPhone, and their feature set.

Most of the issues you mentioned can be addressed in a software update if Blackberry deems it necessary.

Also, what 140+ apps do you use on a regular basis? I can’t imagine a need for that many. Games would be great but I have a DS for that. I use it mostly at home though. Also, check out Apple’s latest ad for the games. All but 1 of the games has some object being “controlled” by the accelorometer and turning left and right. If there was great level design, I could see this being fun more than once. Most of the games look boring. Super Monkey Ball is the pinnacle of accelerometer gaming. Sorry, they need to come with something better than a moving background and a player controlled object that rocks back and forth.

On my Blackberry Storm I have installed Opera Mini, WeatherBug, Google Maps, Slacker Mobile, Myspace, Flickr and Facebook. The last two were already installed. I guess you can count Word/Sheets/Slideshow to Go as an app (Docs to go) but that was preinstalled too. With all of that, why would you need 140+ apps again?

@Mettur (#9): The web browsing on my Blackberry Browser and Opera Mini are perfectly fine, thank you. I use the Blackberry one when it is required that the device be identified as a Blackberry. I use Opera Mini for everything else. The Storm browser works fine by me.

My own thoughts on this topic is that RIM has made a mistake by pricing the apps so high. I really don’t like to spend that much on something that will be deleted eventually because I don’t use it. Other than that, their market share is going to be instantly huge if they have quality apps released for all devices. I’m sure thats why they are doing the BOGO…to put more devices in peoples hands and basically say “developers, look at our market share…spend your time where the money will be”.

I think the Storm will continue to be refined, and will eventually gain market traction. I love the device and I think that those people who bought and returned it will wish they hadn’t come it’s next software release. That’s just my take.