iPhone, oh the madness you have wrought

I just finished writing about how the iPhone’s success has made touch-screen smartphones all the rage in 2008. And then this morning I read that Jim Balsille, co-CEO of Research In Motion, told attendees at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that his company is open to producing a touchscreen version of the BlackBerry. Et tu, BlackBerry?

In an interview with Reuters, Balsille made it clear that RIM would be open to adding a touch-screen control feature to its BlackBerry line if that’s what the company’s customers want:

For sure we’re looking at all kinds of different device packaging and presentation. I think getting religious on packaging is not the way to go. It’s really user preference-oriented.”

At the same show in Barcelona this week, Sony Ericsson debuted its Xperia X1, a touch-screen smartphone that appears to be a direct response to Apple’s iPhone and other touch-screen announcements from HTC and Nokia.

Touch-screens are nice and all, but sometimes I wish my Tom Tom GPS had a keyboard. My fingers are just too big!