“Fat Fingered” Football Player Nick Mangold Uses iPod Touch, Prefers Blackberry to iPhone

Nicole Martinelli ()

mangold

Butterfingers? Nick Mangold photo courtesy examiner.com

Nick Mangold, a  6’4”, 300-pound offensive lineman for the New York Jets, talked to uberfan Angel Navedo about, among other things, why he loves the iPod Touch but prefers a Blackberry to the iPhone.

The salient bits:

Do you consider yourself tech savvy?

Nick Mangold: I like to. I don’t know where I measure up to everyone else, but I like to believe I’m gadget and tech friendly. I’m a Blackberry guy.

AN: That hurts my feelings.

Nick Mangold: (Spots my iPhone) But I’m an iPod Touch guy! The iPod Touch is awesome. I think it’s a great device for games and messing around. But for dealing with emails and everything, I pick Blackberry—with the actual keyboard and everything—hands down. I can bang out a page-long email while I’m sitting, doing whatever. Touch screens, you know, I got fatter fingers. It’s not my thing.

AN: It definitely took some getting used to for me.

Nick Mangold: I’m just not a touch screen guy at all. I love it for playing games and stuff, but I keep them separate. If that requires me to carry two different things, I live with it.

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The interview caught my eye after spending an afternoon thumbing on a number of keyboards in the quest to finally put my beloved first-gen smartphone out to pasture.

Not an Apple customer by kneejerk, the contract nonsense with the iPhone got me testing the Blackberry and a bunch of Nokias.  And leaving empty handed, for the moment.

Any advice?

4 comments »

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

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Posted in Cult of Mac, Interviews, iPhone, iPod Touch |

  • Jeff

    To each, his own. I have fat fingers as well – I’m 6’0″ and around 300 lb – my wedding ring is a size 14.

    I much prefer the iPhone virtual keyboard to the BlackBerry or other physical keyboards, but that’s just me.

  • http://crosswiredmind.com crosswiredmind

    I’m 6’4″ 300lbs with big hands and I type just fine on my iPhone. In fact I have found it to be easier than typing with a tiny physical keyboard. I don’t think anyone should assume typing will be difficult on a touch screen and easier with a keyboard. You need to try both and find out which suits you better.

  • JAYnLA

    I wouldn’t run out and sign a two year contract with AT&T right now. Things may be changing within the year, opening up to better choices, and boy oh boy would you be pissed to get stuck with AT&T when you don’t absolutely have to be. They really are sort of a disaster.

  • imajoebob

    I’m big, but don’t have fat fingers. I find neither keyboard very useful. I like the tactile Blackberry, but I also found the touch “intuitive” keyboard function works pretty well. At least better than I ever expected.

    I’m also a cheap b*st*rd, so I don’t own either. I have a 5 year old, pay-as-you-go phone that I rarely use.