I recently made the jump into the phone 2.0 world last week and it’s been fun. My previous phone, a Motorola Razr from Verizon Wireless was all I needed over the last two years and it had no data or SMS plan.   Being a so called computer geek I knew that sometime I needed to make the switch into the real phone world.  So I began looking at many different phones and their features.  The hardest part of my decision was choosing a service provider.  I had been with Verizon for years and never had a problem with the service.  Ever since the new iPhone 3G was released, I was pretty much set that it would be the phone that I would get.  However, after doing some research about the phone, AT&T coverage vs Verizon coverage, customer service of both carriers and network (data) speeds I decided to stick with Verizon and go with a Blackberry Curve.  I think the biggest decision maker was how much more coverage Verizon had and the hassle of switching over a family plan to a different carrier.  There would have been activation fees and more money spent buying new phones.  So over at Verizon I picked out my new Blackberry.  I decided to go with the Curve rather than the Pearl because of the full QWERTY keyboard.  The pearl has a shared button keyboard and didn’t really like that.  It’s more of a personal preference since they both pretty much do the same thing.  Since making the switch I haven’t been happier with my decision.  I think the coolest part of the blackberry is the openness of application development and the ability to download whatever application you want.  Most people would say that the Apple App Store is much better and I totally agree, but I have learned that pretty much everything that the iPhone can do I can do with the Blackberry.  The best benefit is that it’s so much cheaper than the iPhone.  I paid $49.00 for the phone + $29.00 for the 4 gig MicroSD card. That’s less than $100! The Blackberry screen may be smaller, less storage, and it may not be touch screen but the blackberry has better battery life and I can replace it without having to send it in for service.  Oh yeah don’t forget the development of applications. It’s all JAVA based so download the API from Blackberry and start development!

With about a week on the phone I don’t have any regrets.  There is a large contingency of loyal blackberry users and I think I am going to join the group.  The interface may not be as pretty as the iPhone but blackberry has come along way and just like web2.0, phone2.0 is going to start gaining speed.  So, over the next couple of days I will be writing reviews of my new phone and the applications that I have been using.  A small series that I will call the “Ten days of Blackberry, Making your Phone Better.”  I hope to answer questions for people that are considering a blackberry or iPhone.  I may not be able to answer everything but trust me when I say the answer is out there you just have to find it.  The blackberry community is huge, and very helpful.

Ten days of Blackberry, Making your Phone Better

Day One: “The Blackberry Community”
Day Two: “Twitter for your Blackberry”
Day Three: “Facebook for your Blackberry”
Day Four: “Flickr for your Blackberry”