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MeridithMusick
English 101
Professor Bolton
March 7, 2012
BlackBerry, Not the Same Berry
David Pogue’s “No Keyboard? And You Call This a BlackBerry?” argues that a
BlackBerry is known for its keyboard, not for touchscreen. Pogue offers several examples of
how a touchscreen BlackBerry is bad. First off by arguing that a BlackBerry is known for its
keyboard, and a touchscreen messes with these original features that it’s known for. “Hello? Isn’t
the thumb keyboard the defining feature of a BlackBerry?” (719). Pogue then offers similarities
to other products without the natural purpose: “A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod
without a scroll wheel. A Prius with terrible mileage. Cracker Jack without a prize inside” (719).
He offers these examples to give an idea of how bad this touchscreen BlackBerry concept is.
Who has ever heard of a Cracker Jack box with no prize? Think of a touchscreen BlackBerry as
cracker jacks, with no caramel it just is not right. Pogue’s essay is about himself getting upset
with Blackberry mostly because of “R.I.M.” (719). Thisis the company that created the famous
BlackBerry along with the BlackBerry Storm. The storm has several glitches that just do not
slide with Pogue; it makes him very upset. Furthermore, Pogue continues to discuss how horrible
the phone is, and it reflects badly on the company. Pogue made several complaints to the
company which really did not care about the phone issues. He even sent videos of the phone’s
malfunctions; again they acted as if they did not care. It does not say in the story but my own
opinion is that Pogue does not use BlackBerrys anymore. I agree with Pogue if a phone is known

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for certain characteristics it should stick with them I also agree those companies’ attempts to
innovate and keep up with popular trends can sometimes backfire.
BlackBerry is famous for its keyboard; it is what made it popular. When taken away or
trying to replace that defining feature, it takes away from the distinctness of the brand. The
BlackBerry Storm is in simple terms a “touchscreen BlackBerry” (719). Some of the features of
the Storm include “two different keyboards depending on how you are holding it. When holding
it horizontally you get the full keyboard but when you hold it upward you get the Sure Type
keyboard, where two letters appear” (720). Having two keyboards could be cool, but not when
the brand is known for its unique keyboard. Besides, a two letter keyboard is really hard to
maneuver, and it seems like it could never get the message across. Pogue is even frustrated by
the two letter keyboard: “You can see the problem.” (720). He’s talking about how difficult it is
to get words out of two letter keys. If a company has built an empire on a specific aspect, then
they should stick with what they know. This experience takes me back to my HP laptop when I
had so much trouble with it. The idea of a brand new computer seems really cool but it had its
glitches also. A laptop is supposed to hold tons of information and be a huge entertainment
source. Well, not this laptop, it was crazy after I put media on it, it acted slow and would turn off
and was just not what I expected. HPs are supposed to be fast and efficient computers because
it’s a very popular brand. Just walk around a college campus and see how many students have
HP’s compared to Dell’s. My experience with it crashing three times, running hot, and a messed
up charging cord was the last straw for me. Just like Pogue’s BlackBerry Storm, if I had as much
trouble as he did I’d be done with them.
I also agree that companies’ attempts to innovate and keep up with popular trends can
sometimes backfire. Companies are always trying to makes phones smaller and, of course,

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touchscreen; sometimes, though, it isn’t what consumers want. Just because it is touchscreen
doesn’t mean it works correctly. The Storm had many malfunctions such as the email was
messed up: “When I try to enter my Gmail address the Storm’s camera starts up” (722). This is
another feature that the BlackBerry is known for email: “The Storm doesn’t have Wi-Fi. It can’t
get onto the Internet using wireless hot spots, like other BlackBerry’s.” (722). This is where
“R.I.M.” messed up “, having had more than a year to study the iPhone, R.I.M. failed to exploit
the virtues of an on-screen keyboard.” (720). If “R.I.M.” wanted to be like Apple’s iPhone, then
what happened to the Wi-Fi and the email? Of course, the iPhone isn’t perfect; it had its own
share of glitches. I used to own an iPhone, so I could say all about the glitches of an iPhone.
When I first got my iPhone, I didn’t listen to all the negative issues with it. I got my iPhone and
it had a bad problem of freezing up and every time I turned around the battery died. Then when it
was time for me to update it, it crashed and never worked again. All technology has issues, so we
cannot just blame BlackBerry for theirs.
Pogue is correct in his discussion about how BlackBerry should with what they know,
and also that companies should not try to be things they are not. When buying a phone, do the
research to save the time and money. No matter what phone you, choose it’ll have glitches all
technology does.
Works Cited

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Pogue, David. “No Keyboard? And You Call This a BlackBerry?” The Norton Field
Guide to Writing with Readings and Handbook. 2nd ed. Eds Richard Bullock, Maureen Daly
Goggin, and Francine Weinberg. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 671-676. Print.