It's not about the phone anymore

by Volker Weber

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We were discussing preferences. A friend said his daughter did not really want his old iPhone 5 and preferred her Lumia. She likes the design better and she is used to it. Then another friend said that he would not buy another iPhone if he did not have everything else from Apple. He did not really know what he was suggesting, but most of his other equipment relies on him buying iPhones. Just recently he installed a bunch of Arlo cameras. They need an Android or iPhone. And he bought a few B&O connected speakers which need Airplay. He does not even know that a Lumia might be "chic", but would not work for him. Game over. He is now entangled in stuff that requires an iPhone.

I try to avoid this lock-in. All of my cloud services work across the board. I am not using services that are only available on Samsung, or Apple, or ... But the photo above shows the exception. I love the Apple Watch. And that keeps me on the iPhone. If I did not have an iPhone, or if I did not have an Apple Watch, I might be using the BlackBerry Priv as my daily driver. It has all the software support, it has this nice Samsung curved display, and a brilliant BlackBerry keyboard. It's not only the watch. Notice the case? That's Olloclip. With an opening for Olloclip lenses. Those are only available for the iPhone, not for the BlackBerry. There are so many things you take for granted when looking elsewhere.

If you don't have an iPhone, you don't have an iPhone.

Comments

Exactly. In addition, this is one of the main reasons for me why the BlackBerry Priv is a smart move by John Chen. Today, mobile means ecosystem. As much as I love BB10, as a single vendor (besides apple) you can't keep up a working ecosystem of software, hardware extensions/gadgets and operating system. Even Microsoft is struggeling with that. You have to focus on what you are good at (BB: Security/Keyboard) and "adopt" the ecosystem and future trends and gadgets automatically without playing catch-up all the time.

Heiko Voigt, 2016-01-27

BTW, you can install almost every Android app on the BlackBerry 10 devices. Dozens of site with apk's.
So, the ecosystem "problem" for my Passport is easily solved.
Owned a Priv for two days, can't stand it. Notifications is a hit and miss.

Horia Stanescu, 2016-01-27

@Horia - I'm not talking about apps, I'm well aware of the android runtime on BB10. I'm talking about watches, wearables, 3D Cardboards, fitness trackers and the whole caboodle of gadgets that people plug/wire to their phones. While there will probably for most of those will be android support available, there probably won't be much support for BB10 if any... .

Heiko Voigt, 2016-01-27

@Horia - and no, it's no fun to fiddle around with companion apps for gadgets and the BB10 android runtime without Google services. I have spent countless hours trying to get the Sony stuff to work on the BB10 android runtime. Fails after a couple of seconds at best. With the Priv it works like a charm.

Heiko Voigt, 2016-01-27

@Heiko, I got your point(s).
To be honest, I don't need so many apps on my phone.
Priv in Romania is/was more expensive than the 6S.
A shitload of money for a device in alpha state.

Horia Stanescu, 2016-01-27

Horia, if you "don't need so many apps", then this post is not for you.

Volker Weber, 2016-01-27

@Volker, you wrote a few days ago, something like "don´t phone me", so it is almost obvious that it is not about the phone anymore with you. ;-)

Wolfram Votteler, 2016-01-28

Etwas off topic: Über Olloclip und -case denke ich schon länger nach. In anderen Foren wird häufig bemängelt, dass die Olloclip Aufsätze den Helligkeitssensor komplett verdecken, sodass das iPhone glaubt, im Dunklen zu sein und die Displayhelligkeit entsprechend herunterregelt. Das fände ich ziemlich störend. Was sagt die praktische Erfahrung?

Tobias Vogel, 2016-01-28

Tobias, ja das ist so. Und leicht zu lösen. Man schiebt einfach den Helligkeitsregler nach rechts.

Volker Weber, 2016-01-28

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