I know, right? Isn't Stephen Fry supposed to be the authority on all things, everywhere? That's why he's got that QI gig, holds the position of National Treasure and has the ear of everyone from Royalty to Deities. But on this occasion, he's wrong. Sorry.
After playing with the Blackberry Storm, he posted the following on Twitter: "Been playing with the BB Storm. Shockingly bad. I mean embarrassingly awful. Such a disappointment. Rushed out unfinished. What a pity." He followed this up with "Yes, I blame n'works more than RIM. Problems are terrible lag: inaccurate t'screen, awful, slow and fiddly text input. I SO wanted to like it."
I've played with the Blackberry Storm, and whilst it's not perfect, it's not 'shockingly bad', either. Neither is it 'embarrassingly awful'.
Like the iPhone, the text entry takes a while to get used to. Just like how you come to realise that the iPhone only responds when you take your finger off a letter, and can correct mistakes as they happen as a result, you quickly get used to highlighting a letter on the Storm keyboard and not pressing it down unless it's the correct one.
And there are areas where the Storm trumps the iPhone. For instance, searching for a specific email on the iPhone is damn near impossible. On the Storm, you can search by sender or message subject simply by highlighting one of the emails. Alternatively, you can search for a specific word in an email. And connectivity-wise, the fact that you can plug in the Storm and use it as an HSDPA modem is a key feature for those people who work on the move.
Yes, the Storm is a little bit laggy at the moment, but so was the iPhone before the first couple of software updates. Could it be that Stephen Fry has forgotten all this in a fit of fanboy-dom?
I feel like I can talk from personal experience with this one. I too was really excited about the Storm, and was holding off from buying an iPhone to see if it could sway me. And it couldn't - I bought an iPhone last weekend. But that's because I realised the Storm was more suited to proper business users, and I wanted all the fun stuff that comes with the iPhone. That doesn't mean the Storm is rubbish - that means it's not suited to me.
I almost feel sorry for Fry (which I imagine he's hugely grateful for). He posted an opinion on Twitter, and it's been turned into a Friday Tech Story. He posted initial reactions, and it's being reported as fact. He's being accused of killing off the phone before it's even seen a fortnight on the market. In 140 characters. Harsh.
You can check out part one of my Storm review here, and the second part here.
Does being a failed "comic" make one an "expert" on consumer electronics hmmmmm......
wassic
Hang on.. no wifi and a keyboard that doesn't actually work properly. It's not a case of getting used to it.. it's practically unuseable when compared to a proper slide-out keyboard or multi-touch keyboard like the iPhone has. Shockingly bad when compared with the hype surrounding the storm yes - It was supposed to be their flagship model, and it's utterly useless.
You have no idea how many disapointed IT managers there are around here who wanted this phone to be Rims answer to the ongoing iphone encroachment of the enterprise smartphone market. The've already cancelled orders sent them back, and are swapping back to the older blackberry models.
"Failed comic"?! The man's a national treasure!
Well, firstly, if there is a facebook group called "If Stephen Fry says it, then it must be true" (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2251756357)then he must be right since, everything said in Social Networks is always right too... I think.
I went into a Vodaf0n3 shop to give it (the Storm) a try and I just couldnt work it out. Kept pressing buttons and the phone took ages(more than I am willing to wait) to react. BTW, I dont have an Iphone because although it's sexy, it feels very buggy and I dont have a gphone because although the prospect of Android sounds great the phone doesn't look great. I am almost ashamed to say I will be sticking to my N95 until someone decides to bring one of those reliable yet sexy looking clamshells from Japan!
@John Dougald McCallum: how is he a failed comic?
And Fry has a well known for his ferocious appetite for tech toys. He also uses them longer than tech journalists do for reviews. That does make his opinion valuable.
I partly disagree, Susi!
The lag and other hiccups are still going to be there, and for some people (including David Pogue) that's been too rough to bear. The iPhone had its glitches but wasn't that rough on launch.
Besides, RIM had about a year and a half to study its rather obvious rival, improve on it, and give its phone spit and polish. If the company couldn't manage that, they're falling behind!
Fry is correct... I have also had a go with the Storm and found it to be a piece of rubbish. The Bold is much better suited to what most business users will want it for.
It's just his opinion for goodness sake. I've never used one so I can't comment.
I have recently used a iPod and iTunes on a Windows XP PC the other day and I found the GUI was totally amazingly awful.
How can Apple allow it to be so bad?
Why aren't people complaining?
I am with Fry on this one. The Storm is currently rubbish.
Stephen's ' comparative review' cannot be wrong. Although your critique on his report leaves a lot to be desired. I think over time we'll find what he said was pretty much spot on.
And in response to JD McCallum; he's an 'expert' in so much as he uses consumer electronics on a professional level (an obsession of his I dare say) and he's also an excellent writer. Attributes you'll find are pretty necessary to be taken seriously in this field of journalistic expertise.
And yes, I'm fully aware I sound like a complete jack ass but if Fry ever reads this, I'd like him to know I'll work for him for free if it means spending mere minutes in his company. I could learn so much!
How can you call someones opinion wrong? I think that the XBOX 360 is the single worst thing since Hitler, but thats an opinion. Not right or wrong. Please; you have the opportunity to reach millions with this blogg and you fill it with nonsense. What are you playing at? Stephen Fry is king. Yet another opinion.
First off, I have not ued the Blackberry Storm and don't really intend to in the near future after spending money on an iPhone. So I'm not going to say "he's right about it" or "he's wrong about it". However I am rather annoyed at the nature of the article.
You said it yourself, "He posted an opinion on Twitter". Emphasis on OPINION. Your opinion might be different to his opinion, but that does not make his opinion wrong (or your opinion for that matter), but stating that someone is wrong just because their opinion does not agree with your's is, in my opinion, ridiculous.
I think you're just trying to use it to get people reading your aticle. I know the only reason I read this was because the title grabbed my attention. So bravo, if that was your plan it worked.
You've accused people of taking his initial reactions (opinions) and reporting them as fact, but you're doing the same. You're posting your opinion that Mr Fry was wrong as though it were a fact.
Failed? how many TV shows do your front John?
Failed in what definition John? He's a successful actor, presenter and has had a number of comedy series... You may not like his comedy or humour, but he's hardly a failure because of that.
He hasn't claimed to be an "expert" - it's everyone else that done that...
I feel your title is a little misleading - I wouldn't say he was "wrong", rather that he has a different opinion to the phone than you.
I'd say that compared to the hype that the BB Storm got, it is awful. Whilst one probably could get used to it in time, I really don't feel its worth it for what seems to me, to be a flawed product. Perhaps not as bad as Stephen said, but still... pretty useless.
John, in comments... being a "failed comic" does not make Stephen Fry an expert on consumer electronics, being a consumer does.
Just watched your video review - so from your own video the browser was unfinished, few apps available, menus don't always appear, unintuitive, relatively slow and occasionally laggy. The lack of wifi has already been mentioned earlier.
Um, where was SF 'being wrong' exactly? Regardless of RIM eventually being able to fix some of this with software updates, seems SF was pretty much spot on with the 'rushed out unfinished', etc comments...
To be fair to Stephen Fry he did say, when questioned by the BBC tech reporter, that he did not intend his comments as a technical review and that he hoped his comments would not dissuade people from at least checking out official reviews of the phone before deciding whether to try it.
I was going to get one of these because they looked to be the perfect answer to my needs but I know of at least two people (other than Stephen Fry) who have them and cannot get them to work properly. They are not intuitive, they are fiddly, they do lag and they are a huge disappointment so really Stephen Fry is right.
Sorry.
Since when was Fry a "failed comic"?
A very successful one I think you'll find.
I totally agree with Mr. Fry.
I am not an Apple fanboy in the slightest but testing the Storm for the last 2 weeks and there are too many annoying glitches which can't be fixed by updates. RIM should stick to QWERTY keyboard devices and make them more reliable rather than develop fancy but ineffective touchscreens.
It's become apparent this morning that if you criticise Stephen Fry, at least you'll find that the comments in response are at least spelt and punctuated properly.
To clarify, I don't think the Storm is perfect, by any means. It needs a software update badly. I still don't think it's 'shockingly bad' or 'embarrassingly awful'.
And yes, it's his opinion, this is mine. "Stephen Fry in 'being wrong' shocka, in my opinion" would have been too long a title.
Hrm... Stephen Fry or some nobody "Journalist" for a crappy website... I wonder who I'll be listening to?
I take it you're not going to add us to your RSS reader Leon? For shame.
Wow.I think we've established Stephen Fry has a huge fanbase. To be honest, I don't think he is a failed comic because he has never really been that funny - just one of those smug Oxbridge types that seem to get on TV really easily. But I have enjoyed his US series and there's no doubt that he's a pretty clever guy, as well as a very interesting person, and very talented, even if he does come across as quite smug at times, well usually on QI. Yes I've used that word again. I must admit I generally agree with him on his gadget reviews, but haven't check out the Storm - and now probably won't. For me the iPhone is just superb, even if Apple - and its fanboys - seem even smugger than Stephen.