RIM thought Apple was lying about original iPhone in 2007

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
An alleged former employee of Research in Motion has revealed that RIM was incredulous over the original iPhone when Apple first unveiled the smartphone in January of 2007, according to a new report.



The BlackBerry maker reportedly held multiple "all-hands meetings" the day after the first-generation iPhone was announced, MacNN reports.



According to Shacknews poster Kentor, employees at RIM and Microsoft were "utterly shocked" by the iPhone. RIM was allegedly "in denial" about the iPhone, claiming "it couldn't do what they were demonstrating without an insanely power hungry processor, it must have terrible battery life, etc" Kentor wrote.



"Imagine their surprise when they disassembled an iPhone for the first time and found that the phone was battery with a tiny logic board strapped to it," the post read.



Apple introduced the revolutionary mobile phone on January 9, 2007. At the time, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs asserted that the smartphone was "literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone."



RIM has struggled to keep up with the iPhone's tremendous growth. During an earnings call in October, Jobs announced that Apple had passed RIM in units sold. "I don't see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future."



Verbal shots have been fired between the two companies' CEOs as the rivalry between Apple and RIM has increased. Most recently, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie asserted that RIM, with its unreleased PlayBook tablet, was "way ahead" of Apple and its iPad. Though the BlackBerry maker beat Wall Street estimates with its latest quarterly earnings, the company also announced that it will no longer reveal new subscriber numbers, which have slowed in recent quarters.



According to RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, the PlayBook tablet OS will "set up BlackBerry for the next decade." Earlier this month, Lazaridis revealed in an interview that the QNX-based tablet OS will eventually be used in multi-core BlackBerry smartphones.



Sales of the BlackBerry Torch, RIM's answer to the iPhone, have been steady, but the device has failed to gain the traction that Apple's smartphone has established.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 90
    "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."



    Apparently five years is magic.
  • Reply 2 of 90
    When the iPhone was first announced, RIM had a Scooby Doo moment...



    "Ruh Roh!"

    /

    /

    /
  • Reply 3 of 90
    Does the term "co-CEO" piss anyone else off when they hear it?
  • Reply 4 of 90
    Caught with their pants down. Kind of like Adobe in the next few years.
  • Reply 5 of 90
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nberg5 View Post


    Does the term "co-CEO" piss anyone else off when they hear it?



    It's just weird with our perspective.



    We come from a totalitarian dictatorship. The concept of a co-CEO can be equated to Steve Jobs and his wife being in charge of Apple simultaneously. It's complete nonsense but hilarious to imagine.
  • Reply 6 of 90
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,123member
    Another typical example of fat-cat CEO's and their lazy, has-been companies once again falling asleep at the wheel. And now, almost four years after the original 2007 announcement and all that time to compete, they are still running around with their heads cut off.
  • Reply 7 of 90
    Well I think RIM is lying about the Playbook.. I don't think it can do what they say it can do.



    ;-)
  • Reply 8 of 90
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nberg5 View Post


    Does the term "co-CEO" piss anyone else off when they hear it?



    They refer to themselves as "DUAL CORE" CEO since they seem to be obsessed with dual core processors on a phone and tablet.
  • Reply 9 of 90
    sheffsheff Posts: 1,407member
    A decade is about right. Jobs is on record saying os x will last 20 years in 01ish. He then said iPhone runs os x in 07. After that though they will be another 10 years behind.
  • Reply 10 of 90
    bwikbwik Posts: 565member
    Many industries, including some parts of tech, are unbelievably slow and lazy.



    The car industry... GM is still producing the Chevy Impala for 2011. Even after Hyundai introduced its new Sonata, which is roughly 10 years newer as a product. That's incredibly lazy.



    The airline industry... many of their interiors (a hospitality product) are unchanged since the 1980s. If you went to a Four Seasons hotel from the 1980s, you'd ask for a refund. Airlines fail to adapt to changes.



    Electronics is no different. My parents' HDTV / digiCable interface is just horrible. To watch a DVD, you must press "Input" literally six times. It's a failure of design and standards. So bad that the customer can't even use it. Four different components have their own different menu. Electronic companies are catering to the 5% nerd and ignoring the 95% public. Guess where the real money is made.
  • Reply 11 of 90
    Nobody really buys Blackberries anymore. They're usually given one and they're stuck with it.



    I hate my BB Torch.
  • Reply 12 of 90
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie asserted that RIM, with its unreleased PlayBook tablet, was "way ahead" of Apple and its iPad.



    Congrats that your UNRELEASED device is, in your opinion, "way ahead" of year-old technology.

    gee, it's a good thing apple will never ever update the iPad, otherwise, you'd be FOOKED.
  • Reply 13 of 90
    So someone on the internetz posts a comment somewhere at some site, claiming to have "pals" in RIM and, why not, in Redmond (dontcha know, they are neighbours!! oh wait), and then say they were flabbergasted by the ridiculous awesomeness that Apple is, that they all looked at the big fruit's manlihood's size and suddenly their jaw was wiping their tears on the floor, and that's enough for Apple Insider to make an article about it.



    Heck, this is the twenty first century news'! Fair and balanced all the way!
  • Reply 14 of 90
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,736member
    I shit bricks when I saw the iPhone being demoed by Steve. It was like nothing I had imagined it would be at that time. Thank goodness I did not work for RIM, Motorola, Samsung, etc.
  • Reply 15 of 90
    I have a Torch for work. I bought an original first gen iPhone and loved it. It went to the wife and when the wife graduated school, I bought her the iPhone4. I also have an iPad and 3 Mac's. The Torch is nowhere near as good as even the first gen iPhone! It's touch interface is horrid, were it not for the slideout keyboard it would be an utter failure. It's just as bad as the Storm and Storm2. The iOS devices all use a higher tech capacitive screen with many more sensors than anyone else. The Android phones are better than the Torch at touch but still not better than the iOS devices.



    There's nowhere near as many Apps and what Apps do exist are all Java based. At least the Torch boots faster than the other BlackBerries. The iPhone boots in about 10 seconds, the BlackBerry devices can take up to 10 minutes to reboot and you have to yank the battery and reboot them now and then when it gets wonky.



    Thank God, that my company will be supporting the iPhone and iPad as well as Android phones in January! We are using the tech from Good.com rather then trying to enterprise activate with ActiveSync. Good is a single app that's encrypted, it does email, calendar and contacts. If you leave the company they just disable your logon to the app and don't wipe your device. This allows you to have both personal and work on the same device without interaction.
  • Reply 16 of 90
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post


    Well I think RIM is lying about the Playbook.. I don't think it can do what they say it can do.



    ;-)



    RIM may not be lying about what they THINK the Playbook can do. The key for the Playbook is how it does what they say (or THINK) it does. If it isn't easy, intuitive and productive, it will fail.
  • Reply 17 of 90
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post


    Well I think RIM is lying about the Playbook.. I don't think it can do what they say it can do.



    ;-)



    Well, its not like their claiming that it does all that much to begin with.

    Definitely nothing ground breaking.
  • Reply 18 of 90
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stottm View Post




    Thank God, that my company will be supporting the iPhone and iPad as well as Android phones in January! We are using the tech from Good.com rather then trying to enterprise activate with ActiveSync. Good is a single app that's encrypted, it does email, calendar and contacts. If you leave the company they just disable your logon to the app and don't wipe your device. This allows you to have both personal and work on the same device without interaction.



    Don't get your hopes up too high about the Good product yet. Its a nice try, but they really aren't up to enterprise level support, its slow, and dealing with attachments through their in-app reader is a nightmare. Slow downloads and unreliable viewing.

    Its not a bad approach, but they really need to improve their product big time.
  • Reply 19 of 90
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by LuisDias View Post


    So someone on the internetz posts a comment somewhere at some site ...



    a site dedicated to PC and console gaming news is apparently a reliable source of information regarding the inner workings of a telecommunication and wireless device company
  • Reply 20 of 90
    With the iPhone, Apple redefined what people expect in a phone (similar to what they did with the Mac in 1984). ALL the major cell phone manufacturers have had to change their plans based on the iPhone. RIM was the market leader, at least on the corporate side, and they still hold a commanding position in this market. Apple is catching up, while Android devices are behind (mainly to do Security and Integration issues). M$ is spinning their wheels and I expect they will soon change strategies again. RIM's BB Torch does not compare favorably with the iPhone (I have a Torch due to my company) and the tablet market is still in it's infancy. Apple's biggest challenge is to not get complacent and continue to focus on the needs of the market in a way that commands unique value (and thus a premium price). They would do well to learn from their past mistakes...
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