RIM actually is doomed on account of their CEO is brain damaged
Holy cow. WTF. Does this guy always comport himself this way?
Mike Lazaridis interviewed at Dive Into Mobile Conference.
The questions are less hostile and more completely befuddled, like "Are you really saying what you're saying, because it makes no sense whatsoever."
I don't think I've ever seen such gibberish from the CEO of a major tech company, not even from Ballmer in full cry. Good lord. Don't they sit down and get their story straight, at least, even if they're not sure they can execute?
And it gets worse:
So they're currently shipping underpowered, underspecced phones because presently the hardware will get better and then! Then, watch out! Because, I think, maybe they port the Playbook OS to their phones? Which seems to contradict what he was saying earlier, about how the tablet is the phone, or something? I mean, really, what the hell?
If the CEO is this much at sea about what they're doing, what hope is there for RIM to follow any kind of effective, coherent product strategy? And if they actually flounder around as madly as Lazaridis' remarks suggest they intend to, what chance do they have of competing against actually well run competitors with a disciplined roadmap?
Mike Lazaridis interviewed at Dive Into Mobile Conference.
The questions are less hostile and more completely befuddled, like "Are you really saying what you're saying, because it makes no sense whatsoever."
Quote:
4:36PM Walt: But look, there's a growing consensus that your OS is dated. When will this become the new OS?
Mike: By focusing on the tablet market, we see it as a way of freeing where smartphones can go.
Kara: So the tablet is the phone?
4:37PM Mike: No, the tablet is what mobile computing is all about. In cases where we want a high performance smartphone, the tablet is perfect for it.
(an aside from the editors at Engadget) What? We think he's saying the phone is no good for multimedia experiences... and that RIM will hang onto its old mobile OS! Really? Really Mike?
4:38PM Mike: A lot of markets are still on 2G. Even in 3G markets, BlackBerry is in its own space and becomes very popular. What the PlayBook allows us to do is jump into the next stage of mobile. In the US the PlayBook is perfectly targeted.
Walt: I'm a little confused. You said it will free the smartphone to focus on communication. You mean it will free you to not pay as much attention to apps and video and music on the phone?
4:39PM Mike: What I'm saying is that with BB 6 it's a great multimedia platform. But the difference is, rather than being all things to all people, we can present the best platform for the application. Full web, real multitasking... very few people can do it properly. The point here is in that environment, you can use it differently. But a 7inch screen is too big to be a phone.
4:40PM Kara: So you're saying that the strategy of Google and Apple -- making the phone with video and audio, that's not the right direction?
Mike: We're going to see different categories. You're going to see smartphones taking on multicore processing, you're going to see powerful tablets...
(Another aside from Engadget) He isn't making any sense at all. Quite literally, we don't know what Mike is talking about right now.
4:36PM Walt: But look, there's a growing consensus that your OS is dated. When will this become the new OS?
Mike: By focusing on the tablet market, we see it as a way of freeing where smartphones can go.
Kara: So the tablet is the phone?
4:37PM Mike: No, the tablet is what mobile computing is all about. In cases where we want a high performance smartphone, the tablet is perfect for it.
(an aside from the editors at Engadget) What? We think he's saying the phone is no good for multimedia experiences... and that RIM will hang onto its old mobile OS! Really? Really Mike?
4:38PM Mike: A lot of markets are still on 2G. Even in 3G markets, BlackBerry is in its own space and becomes very popular. What the PlayBook allows us to do is jump into the next stage of mobile. In the US the PlayBook is perfectly targeted.
Walt: I'm a little confused. You said it will free the smartphone to focus on communication. You mean it will free you to not pay as much attention to apps and video and music on the phone?
4:39PM Mike: What I'm saying is that with BB 6 it's a great multimedia platform. But the difference is, rather than being all things to all people, we can present the best platform for the application. Full web, real multitasking... very few people can do it properly. The point here is in that environment, you can use it differently. But a 7inch screen is too big to be a phone.
4:40PM Kara: So you're saying that the strategy of Google and Apple -- making the phone with video and audio, that's not the right direction?
Mike: We're going to see different categories. You're going to see smartphones taking on multicore processing, you're going to see powerful tablets...
(Another aside from Engadget) He isn't making any sense at all. Quite literally, we don't know what Mike is talking about right now.
I don't think I've ever seen such gibberish from the CEO of a major tech company, not even from Ballmer in full cry. Good lord. Don't they sit down and get their story straight, at least, even if they're not sure they can execute?
And it gets worse:
Quote:
4:58PM Q -- Lance Ulanoff from PC Magazine: So I own a Torch, but it's slow and has a low res screen. I'm confused, you're creating a false dichotomy between the PlayBook and the smartphone. I don't understand that. How can you deliver this phone without the best hardware available today? You seem to be looking to the tablet for that. But this is a tiny tablet. What is the strategy? Why are you demoting my phone?
Mike: First of all, the Torch was designed to be a launch vehicle for BB 6. That argument could be used in reverse. In a world where Half VGA was high performance, the world had moved on to 1GHz CPUs and higher res displays... when you see how quickly that phone moves around, just imagine the next generation...
(Engadget again)That answer also makes no sense.
Lance: I don't see that performance. I see the lag.
4:59PM Mike: Here's another way of looking at it. If it's 1GHz now, it'll be 2GHz next year... we're bypassing the arms race and going straight to multicore. We're going to lead the way in an environment where we can scale properly without burning up the battery
4:58PM Q -- Lance Ulanoff from PC Magazine: So I own a Torch, but it's slow and has a low res screen. I'm confused, you're creating a false dichotomy between the PlayBook and the smartphone. I don't understand that. How can you deliver this phone without the best hardware available today? You seem to be looking to the tablet for that. But this is a tiny tablet. What is the strategy? Why are you demoting my phone?
Mike: First of all, the Torch was designed to be a launch vehicle for BB 6. That argument could be used in reverse. In a world where Half VGA was high performance, the world had moved on to 1GHz CPUs and higher res displays... when you see how quickly that phone moves around, just imagine the next generation...
(Engadget again)That answer also makes no sense.
Lance: I don't see that performance. I see the lag.
4:59PM Mike: Here's another way of looking at it. If it's 1GHz now, it'll be 2GHz next year... we're bypassing the arms race and going straight to multicore. We're going to lead the way in an environment where we can scale properly without burning up the battery
So they're currently shipping underpowered, underspecced phones because presently the hardware will get better and then! Then, watch out! Because, I think, maybe they port the Playbook OS to their phones? Which seems to contradict what he was saying earlier, about how the tablet is the phone, or something? I mean, really, what the hell?
If the CEO is this much at sea about what they're doing, what hope is there for RIM to follow any kind of effective, coherent product strategy? And if they actually flounder around as madly as Lazaridis' remarks suggest they intend to, what chance do they have of competing against actually well run competitors with a disciplined roadmap?