Blackberry or iPhone?

Question

I was wondering what is more useful for Bschool, Blackberry or iPhone? I read somewhere that Blackberry is better because when you get a calendar invite it is much easier to accept and get it into your BB calendar than it would receiving on iPhone and getting it on iCal. Any experiences here with either one or both? I of course want to reduce my cost. I currently have both a BB (work) and iPhone (personal) and would prefer to ditch the BB for bschool or avoid having to buy one.

eskimoroll · Answer

Half the kids at school will have iPhones. I don't think the calendar thing will be a huge barrier. I'm on Android and I'm going to be sticking with it for b-school.

LoboMBA · Answer

Stick with the iPhone... I have one and am not switching.

malbec · Answer

blackberry: more business oriented and better synchronization with the school
iphone too much distracted applications

LoboMBA · Answer

Blackberry no longer has much of a discernable business advantage over the iPhone... Apple has made major strides towards making the iPhone more business friendly, with better security features and enterprise integration.

Apps will only distract you as much as you let yourself get distracted by them. The iPhone is in many ways a superior productivity tool to the Blackberry because of it's elegant design and user-friendly interface.

As you can see I'm a little bit biased towards Apple, even though I come from the land of RIM (Ontario). At the end of the day it's a personal choice. Both devices are excellent.

We haven't even mentioned Android, which is a pretty killer mobile OS.

nink · Answer

You can pretty much use any phone that you want. People don't go out and buy X phone for bschool because it has advantages. Some people will have BB, iPhone, Android, etc because either it's their thing or it's the NEW thing that they have to try out.

In terms of calendar features, I use Google Calendar for everything and it synchronizes everywhere, including iPhone and Android phone (also contacts, etc). A lot of emails will e done via school email and I have them forwarded to my gmail account so I don't have to check multiple places. Social invitations usually come via Facebook. I don't think you have to worry about buying a specific phone for bschool. Whatever you take to bschool, it will work for you.

sdg · Answer

Outlook can sync with the IPhone and it works great. When I RSVP on my schools calendar the IPhones calendar automatically updates. I can send/receive meeting invites as well. Both phones will work so go with the one you like more.

Alley01 · Answer

Get what you prefer...the each have good features and ones that aren't as desirable. I prefer the iPhone mainly because it doubles as my iPod. It is funny that the Blackberry used to be the only phone that most companies would support. I know of people who had their iPhones taken away because the Blackberry was favored. Now, the Blackberry is on its way out and the iPhone is back in. I would never choose a phone based on the calendar function only. They all work with calendar functions...maybe some are easier than others but I think that phones are more a personal choice over anything else.

obsessively · Answer

I prefer the iPhone...it allows for a good work-play balance.

The Blackberry is great for work, but it's not a phone I can have as much fun with when I get home for the day.

3underscore · Answer

I did business school with a four year old phone that couldn't even do picture messaging, let alone email.

It really doesn't matter in the slightest, except in your own psyche of being "business".

AlexMBAApply · Answer

It's a personal decision - won't matter.

Now if you want a more heated debate, you have to compare iPhone to Android phones.

jko · Answer

I didn't realize people still bought blackberries. I thought the Blackberry Storm being released around the same time as Droid/iPhones coming out had pretty much done away with Blackberry.

hoogets25 · Answer

I would go with android!

lazerguy82 · Answer

Android as well here, but I don't think it matters for b-school.

icemanjs4 · Answer

As a tech guy, I'll throw in a vote for Android here as well. It acts as my iPod, my phone, my video player, my calendar, my email, etc - you name it, it does it.

And unlike my previous iPhone (which I loved by the way), it has a removable battery, add on memory card, and can be used as a portable hard drive.

shadow · Answer

I have an Android phone and I love it. It's the perfect mix of functionality (i.e. syncing with Outlook emails and calendars, including invites) and fun (apps, games, whatever).

I don't know what the breakdown is, but it seems many people in my class have either an iphone, blackberry, or android. I don't think it picking any of them will adversely affect you - just go with what you know or like

Blackberry or iPhone?

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