In the last few years, it has become THE question: iPhone, or Blackberry? Anyone with either/or will defend their mobile until the bitter end. Even with the addition of the Droid, it seems like iPhone users and Blackberry users still manage to pin themselves against each other in a friendly, sometimes heated, debate that Droid users frequently get kicked out of for being ‘too new.’ I’ll agree that the Droid is probably too new to really stand up against either phone, which is strange because the Palm smart phones have been around for a few years now and for some reason can’t hold a candle to the Blackberry or the iPhone in popularity. I guess that just goes to show that a new generation of marketing techniques is important when it comes to selling your product; both the iPhone and Blackberry have had clever campaigns/commercials/advertisements over the last few years. Even the Droid has had a memorable line of TV ads that got them in trouble with Apple (remember the “iDon’t” ads?).
Now that my current contract is nearing its end, I’m looking at trying out Verizon or AT&T. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been looking at the pros and cons of either, which morphed into a quest to find out which phone would be better for real estate agents. I found that the biggest and most important deciding factor for me is probably going to be service coverage; Las Cruces is fast expanding towards the Organ Mountains, and some of my listing are in more rural areas outside of the city. One of the many things Las Cruces and the surrounding area has to offer is space; a lot of my clients are looking for acreage and privacy, which can sometimes mean a fifteen minute twisting drive into the desert.
I can’t do my job well while worrying if I’m going to have service or missing calls because of dead zones, and Verizon’s coverage blows AT&T’s out of the water in our area in particular. While AT&T’s 3G service may be faster, I rely heavily on consistency and dependability. Although the Blackberry is available on almost all major 3G networks, I’m taking a close look at Verizon because of the size of their network and their direct competition with AT&T. I understand that other agents living in a different city who deal primarily in highly populated areas probably wouldn’t have any reason to worry about constant coverage.
That being said, there’s no question that the iPhone has a much ‘cooler’ status than the Blackberry. There is a stigma surrounding the iPhone that it’s more for fun, less for business, which any professional with an iPhone will tell you is not true. My main operating system is Windows, which is what I’m familiar with and know, and both phones will run on either a Mac or a Windows computer. However, I must say I have never heard of a Mac user owning a Blackberry, but I have heard of several Windows users owning iPhones; Apple does an incredible job of securing lifetime loyalty from their customers. I’ve had the opportunity to play around with both phones, and each are user friendly enough that anyone could figure out the logistics pretty easily.
So far, with the research I’ve done on the service qualities of the two phones and their companies, it looks like a Blackberry with Verizon is the safest route. AT&T’s biggest draw is the iPhone itself, and with rumors of Apple taking the iPhone to a new bidder in the next few years, what will AT&T have left?
The more that I read and discover about the two phones (their apps in particular), the more I realize I have a lot more to write. I’ve decided to make this into a two-part blog; in the next, I’ll compare the applications that would be helpful to real estate professionals specifically. You’ll be surprised at the differences between the two phones; for some, it could even be a deciding factor.
Stay tuned for Part II!
**************************
Evelyn Bruder: CRS, GRI, ABR, E-PRO, Las Cruces Cyberstar
The Evelyn Bruder Dream Team http://www.homesforsaleinlascruces.com
For more information about what we do and how we can provide all of your real estate needs, CLICK HERE
We welcome comments and questions - CLICK HERE
Steinborn GMAC Real Estate (575)522-3698
Comments(14)