Switched from Blackberry to Droid Pro

UPDATE - 2/19/2012 - Newly acquired a Droid 4, replacing my DroidPro. First Reaction - Much Better! Definitely way faster. Will post new blog post soon.

UPDATE - 3/23/2013 - I am ready to dump my keyboard, and go full touch screen, but awaiting Verizon contractual obligations until October. The main change in my usage is...type less! With wireless everywhere, I spend more time on my MacBook.
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I've been using Droid Pro (Verizon) for one week now, having ditched my Blackberry after 9 loyal years as a thumb user. I was a Blackberry power user, and I have been waiting years for a device like the Droid Pro because I must have a physical, usable, tactile keyboard. It was difficult not to get an iPhone, watching other developers and CTOs enjoy them, but in the end I decided that the iPhone is just not a business email device.

My verdict is... Droid Pro beats Blackberry. I am still getting past some significant keyboard differences, see below. A number of journalists have written reviews comparing the two devices, but with so many smart-phone devices available now, it wasn't really that useful to a long-time Blackberry user like myself. Here is my review (in bullet form)...

Pros

• Much better notification controls than Blackberry, can configure both sound and vibration for different apps
• Getting to phone, gmail, yahoo mail, text messaging, calendar, and much easier than Blackberry
• Keyboard is almost on par, with one major exception (see 'Cons')
• Screen timeout, controls, off in pocket all work extremely well. Only bug is screen sometimes flips between portrait/landscape when first coming our of pocket and activating
• Apps work fantastic, very much like iPhone (I know, IPhone nailed this years ago). My Blackberry 8300 SUCKED at this, and probably always will
• In general, seems highly configurable as a phone and apps.
• LOVE Verizon, always works for me in the NYC area and when traveling

Cons

• MAJOR Keyboard issue - When hitting keys in top qwerty row, I frequently also hit touch screen command with my fat thumbs (menu/home/back/search), which jumps out of the app I am typing into. Took me a few days to figure out what was happening. Now that I am watchful, happening less, but needs resolution
• MINOR keyboard issue - No capital letter on key hold-down, must hit shift (I often used this feature on Blackberry)
• Battery runs out before end of day. I have 2 chargers, one at work and one at home
• Reading email always seems to be an extra click away, but getting used to it
• Contacts are a little slower (I have over a thousand), not quite as easy as Blackberry, but getting used to it

Things I haven't yet figured out

• I like notifications (drag top down to see what's new since last use, email, apps, etc), but haven't quite figured out how best to use
• How to easily take multiple notes/files? (on Blackberry, was Notes function)
• Different apps for same function (i.e. text messaging), always prompts me for which one on action, annoying and caused me deinstall 2nd text message app I was testing
• Allows me to send text messages to non-mobile phone numbers, why? It's just stupid.
• No easy way to show unread emails in gmail or yahoo mail

The Droid Pro is definitely a learning experience, but after just one short week, I am hooked.

What is "Open"?

I am a huge advocate of open source software, and now that I am CTO at an open textbook company, I am pondering the question "What is open?". Let me use the moniker "open product" for covering open source software and open textbooks (and if anyone has a better term, please let me know!).

Some criteria for an open product:-
1) A version of product available at no cost
2) A company developing an open product needs a revenue stream to support product development (in what manner those revenues are derived can vary widely)
3) Product needs to be remixable (in technology parlance, "mashable"), allowing for an even better product or use of product

As an open source expert once told me, "without revenue, there is no open source". I believe this applies to all open products.

Many, many products meet the above criteria for "open", let me pick a few:-
- Linux
- Google search
- Flat World Knowledge open textbooks

Not to say Flat World Knowledge open textbooks are in the same league as Linux and Google, but what's interesting is that each of these products provides different revenue streams. Redhat makes revenue by providing support to enterprise Linux users. Additionally, other companies like HP make revenue using Linux on their hardware (HP has claimed that open source software has accounted for billions in indirect, additional revenue sales). Google makes revenue selling keyword and ad placement inside their search results. Of all the open products, in my opinion Google has made the most significant revenue, and interestingly using that revenue to support other open products (i.e. Google docs, email, maps, etc.), which in turn can drive additional revenue.

At Flat World Knowledge, our revenue stream is selling print-on-demand textbooks in addition to our no cost online textbooks. We also sell additional material useful for students, including audio study guides, flash cards and quizzes.

In open source software, you get the "source code", which itself is changable and remixable (depending on creative commons licensing terms). At Flat World Knowledge, our open textbooks are "customizable" (i.e. changable) by educators who adopt our textbooks. They can move chapters and sections around, add anotations, and in the future do many other customizations with our open textbooks. It really is quite amazing how open products have really changed they way products are developed and used, with many, many more changes to come!

With new technology, the tech community at large looks for a moniker to understand and grab on for new concepts. Recent ones include "web 2.0", "cloud computing", and "NoSQL". I wonder what is the best moniker for covering open source software, open textbooks, open courseware, and other "open" things as a group? What about "open product"? I would like to hear from others if this works for the category, or if they have or have heard of better terms. Clearly, this is a space of growing interest, and we will benefit from have a term to describe this new concept wider than just open source software.

Started today at Flat World Knowledge

I started today as CTO at Flat World Knowledge, a publisher of open-source college text books (a good article describing the model here). It's very exciting to join a start-up and be in the education industry. I also like its similarities to the open source software industry.

While I've been on the corporate route since 2001, I've spent most of my career at small companies. I am really looking forward to the scrappiness and nimbleness of small. While I will be crazy busy, hoping I can regain my blogging activity.