BalBurgh

So I got to put my grubby little mitts on an actual Blackberry Storm and I must say that the benefits of the much-vaunted "tactile feedback/click" feature are way overblown. The problem with touch screen keyboards has much more to do with "where" you click not "whether" you click.

In short, for those who have not had the chance to play with one, the click sensation is generated by mounting the entire screen on a flexible backing. It does generate a pleasant click senation and I'm sure the location information generated by the relative difference in depression of the four corners of the screen (based on what part of the screen you are pressing on) can modestly enhance the accuracy of the touch screen, but it seems like needless complexity to me.

Besides, for me it's all about getting lots of software onto the device and being able to customize it, as well as the size of the screen (full size please). It never seemed to me like Blackberrys (or anything else) were as flexible as Palm OS devices could be.

The question now, with layoffs and Palm's debt being degraded heading into another Great Depression, is whether it is all too late to matter. Their window may have closed.

Too bad.

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Joel

David Pogue has posted his scathing review of the Storm. He also followed it up with comments from both sides.

The funny thing is, he feels that he has stumbled into a new group of fans: the "BlackBery nuts." (which he described as even more rabid than the Cult of Mac. lol.)