When Research In Motion’s first touchscreen device, the BlackBerry Storm, came out a few weeks ago, many BlackBerry fans hoped to see a viable challenger to Apple’s wildly popular iPhone. According to critics and fans alike, what they got instead was a gigantic flop.

Senior PCWorld Editor Yardena Arar called it a “failed experiment,” and The New York Times’ David Pogue was particularly harsh on the Storm calling it a “dud” and remarked, “I haven’t found a soul who tried this machine who wasn’t appalled, baffled or both.” Reviewers from Wired, Endgadget, Gizmodo, and many others also delivered a negative verdict on the Storm.

But the story doesn’t end there. Commenting on the newspaper’s website yesterday, Pogue said that although he is used to receiving a large amount of hate mail after a scathing review he was surprised at the backlash from BlackBerry fans. "Having you comment on technology is like having Tom Cruise comment on religion,” wrote one reader. Another said, "Your article is a shameful report from someone who obviously is not knowledgeable in any of these newer items.” And a particularly excited Storm advocate said, “May the Devil find out you're dead immediately after you're gone." Even more surprising than these comments was Pogue’s assertion that most of the vitriol came from those who had not even tried out the Storm themselves.

Here at PCWorld our readers are far more reasonable, but out of the 28 comments on the review there was still some hate thrown Yardena’s way. Terekkincaid said, “make sure you know what the hell you're talking about before you review [the Storm].” Dstreeter poured on the love saying, “[you] have no knowledge of how it actually works but just need to get your name out there like every other ambulance chasing reporter making up a story.” Finally, Oneuser said, “your review is slanted, and not totally objective.” However, not wanting to be too offensive ended the comment with, “thanks anyway.” Who said civility is dead?

Despite an apparent setback in the publicity world Verizon says the Storm is still a hot item. I suppose that’s not surprising with such a dedicated and vocal fan base.