Dear Blackberry: I Want Cool Apps Too

Dec 10th, 2009 | By Tyson Mutrux | Category: Attorney Gadgets, Featured, Lead Article

blackberryapppic For you iPhoners, please excuse me while I rant; you have what you want. For the rest of you, I know you share in my rage.

I think it’s pretty sad for me and Blackberry when the coolest app I have is BrickBreaker. I understand that Blackberry offers a decent selection, but let’s be real, iPhoners have 40,000 apps…nuff said. Don’t get me wrong, I love BrickBreaker. But what I really want are not cool apps that waste my time, but apps that are useful and that have some practical purpose. To be fair, some do exist, but I WANT MORE.

What has finally pushed me over the edge is the
BarBri application discussed by fellow contributor, Katie Luper. I think this is a great idea, and as soon as I saw the post I went looking to see if there was one in the works for Blackberry. I kept looking…and looking…and looking. No-go, my friends.

And like salt in the wound, Apple keeps running its dang commercials about its apps. They do this for a reason; because they’re awesome and no other smart phone comes close. So by writing this post, what I hope to get from you, the reader, are suggestions of apps that you would find useful that have not been created yet.

This is a short list of applications that I would like to see:

A BarBri application, of course.
A GOOD barcode scanner (not the crappy ones currently offered).
A job finder application where employers can post openings in real time.
Attention Aspen Publishers, etc.: PLEASE MAKE AN APPLICATION WHERE I CAN DO MY READINGS FROM MY PHONE SO I DON’T HAVE TO LUG AROUND MY BOOKS ALL THE TIME.

If I mentioned something that has already been created, please let me know. I look forward to your suggestions.

Tags: applications, apps, blackberry, iphone

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Tweets that mention Dear Blackberry: I Want Cool Apps Too | Social Media Law Student -- Topsy.com December 10th, 2009 12:10 pm :
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rex7, Sarah Lohman. Sarah Lohman said: RT @Rex7: Dear Blackberry: I Want Cool Apps Too http://ff.im/-cJ2Yj [...]
Rex Gradeless December 10th, 2009 1:03 pm :
I recommend the Seesmic Blackberry App for Twitter – http://seesmic.com/seesmic_mobile/
They even show lists!

[Reply]
Tyson Mutrux Reply:
December 10th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
How is this compared to TwiXtreme?

[Reply]
Steph December 10th, 2009 2:22 pm :
I think the coolest BB app is Pandora.

[Reply]
Rex Gradeless Reply:
December 10th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
One of my fav. too Steph.

Also, BB Messenger.

[Reply]
Tyson Mutrux Reply:
December 10th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
I agree totally.

[Reply]
Frank Gonnello December 12th, 2009 10:47 am :
“A job finder application where employers can post openings in real time.”

I think job openings need to be created before apps to find them can functional… (*tear*)

In all seriousness though, RIM has to do more to open up their development platform. They’re doing practically nothing to spark the interest of developers. Apple was an innovator, and thats why their app hoard grew so quickly. But look at Google’s venture with Android. They’re building a massive developers community, keep plenty of accessible and open notes, code packages and forums available to anyone, and their programming language is essentially the same as Java (object-oriented). Plus, the Android Market makes downloading apps over the air a breeze. Add all this to the fact that the Droid is finally starting to get people to recognize a “Goole Phone” is a worthy competitor, and you get a swarm of new application developers and porters, and plenty of great (…and bad) new apps.

Since the Blackberry brand of phones have been popular for some time, I think it’s safe to say the reason for the lack of apps isn’t the lack of interest in having them. It’s the nature of the OS, and the absence of RIM to spur development. I believe the ball is in their court.

PS – I have a Droid, have a handful of very useful apps, and couldn’t be happier. Competition yields quality.. maybe you should consider giving Android a go, if not just to light that spark under RIM’s rump.

[Reply]
Tyson Mutrux Reply:
December 13th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Good point about the jobs

As for the Droid, I considered mentioning it, but to be honest I don’t know much about it yet. However, I found your comments to be very interesting. What phone did you have before the Droid?

[Reply]
Frank Gonnello Reply:
December 21st, 2009 at 4:05 pm
I’ve come from several generations of Windows Mobile phones, however I do have an iPod Touch as well, so I’m familiar with the iPhone setup. I’ve never been a fan of Blackberry, primarily because I don’t like a single inbox for every type of communication (maybe this can be changed, but I never gave it a try) and because of the lack of development/developer motivation.

If you’d like to know more about the Droid, I’d be happy to explain more about it. Maybe we can collaborate on some sort of review. Please contact me at frank@ellblog.com, and we can chat more about it.

Nice article, though… Hopefully the folks at RIM will see it.

[Reply]