By: Steven Chmielash
Blackberry unveiled their newest lineup of phones on Jan. 30, which many have said was long overdue given that the previously-named Research In Motion haven’t released a new device since Aug. 2011.
The question that remains, are Algonquin students concerned, eager or even care about these new devices, the Z10 and the Q10?
“There’s definitely a lot of interest from the students,” said Christopher Khale, employee at the New Technology Store. “Are they going to get it? That’s a different story.”
Ragulan Gnaneswaran, a first-year business administration student, said he’ll take a wait- and-see approach on the new Z10. As the owner of several Blackberry devices, he still uses the Bold but says he‘ll try out the new device in-store before making a decision. His main concern is “the firmware and everything…Blackberries tend to freeze, have little problems and issues.”
On the other hand, Tara Jeffery, a second-year dental hygiene student, is interested in the new Blackberry device. Even though she currently owns an iPhone, she still remains a loyal fan of Blackberry. In fact, she had 22 of them in a two-year span. She had 13 Blackberry Pearls in one year and then nine Blackberry Curves in a year and a half. “I miss my Blackberry,” said Jeffery. “It depends how the touchscreen went. If it’s everything that the commercial says it would be, I would totally be okay going with it.”
Despite the problems, she intends to switch back to a Blackberry device when her contract expires.
But for the majority of students, like Brian Nelson, a first-year computer programmer, the hype over the new smartphones just isn’t there. Many of his classmates already use iPhone or Android devices but aren’t interested in switching.
“Nobody likes Blackberry anymore,” said Nelson. “They were the cutting edge but now they’ve just gone too far back…this is the kind of updates that they should have done two or three years ago.”
For the most part, students don’t seem to be attracted in the new Canadian-made smartphones. While a few seem interested around campus, Blackberry continues to play third fiddle behind iPhone and Android devices because of their lack of innovation and most importantly, the wow factor.