As a Canadian I feel sad about this. It seems like it's been a never ending stream of great companies - Corel, ATI, Nortel, and now RIM that reach a certain level of success and then get gobbled up by the American behemoths down south.
I use an iPhone at work, mostly because our President wanted one and I had to support it - but 99% of our users run Blackberry's. I honestly think Blackberry's are a better product in the corporate world, but as we all know Apple is the media darling so gets all the headlines and therefore mindshare.
Your Canuck buddy, J. Balsillie was more interested in acquiring a hockey club than he was in building smartphones and that's one good reason why RIM is on a treacherous slope. Another reason is that one Steve Jobs is smarter than two co-CEOs. No need in going into the rest of the reasons because Apple and RIM are going in opposite directions. RIM at one point owned the smartphone industry but I guess they thought texting would last forever so they kept refining the keyboard while the rest of the industry moved on to more interesting things. I think a BlackBerry is still a very functional smartphone if your life revolves around covert texting and messaging, but I guess there's more to getting consumers' interest that RIM wanted no part of.
RIM also has a lot of business and enterprise features that will make it much easier to implement into iOS.
Besides their messaging and email, what features do they bring to the table that could be considered "a lot"?
The fact that they bring little else is part of the reason they're getting hammered. It's much easier for competitors to implement these features on their own than it is for RIM to up their game to the level of the competition.
I can sympathize with you here (tho I am "south of the border" ). The problem is not that Apple has "gobbled up" RIMM, but rather that RIMM shot itself in the foot - and now the head it seems.
They had an opportunity to move forward with good, well designed products, but they blew it big time. Nokia came to them (or so I have read) offering to join together with MeeGo a Linux based alternative that was free of exterior motivations/entanglements. But they rejected that out of what I can only see as pride and arrogance. They had no experience in developing real GUI operating systems, and they thought they could just jump in and do it. That was big-time foolish.
Apple does not care about competition. They welcome it (as long as it does not rip off their IP). They compete by their drive to develop the best products, incorporating the greatest technology. They are happy to do this.
But RIMM just flubbed big time. I agree - kinda sad.
100% agree. Canadian need to go back and read RIM's management statements at the start regarding the iPhone to see this. They mocked Apple and explained how 'real keyboards' were essential not to mention the lecture about Apple having no phone experience. The expression 'They got their come·up·pance' springs to mind.
Buy RIM for what? To own a line of smart phones that are basically, obsolete? RIM will just fall by the wayside much faster than we think.
Seems to me that RIM has just about reached that tipping point where millions upon millions of smart phone buyers are independently but simultaneously deciding that they're not getting a Blackberry for their next phone. That's how sales collapses happen, first you see a gradual erosion of demand and you project that into the future thinking there's enough time for the mfr to fix things, then people notice that their friends and relatives aren't buying the product anymore and they decide they'll follow suit then BAM! the gradual erosion turns into a downward spiral.
When the iPhone first came out, I said RIMM is already dead they just don't know it yet. They're starting to know.
This is the most complete and well-worded illustration of why RIM was F'd the moment the iPhone was demonstrated I have read- an internet to you sir!
RIM has strong Microsoft culture, their enterprise department is almost like subsidiary of Microsoft (heavily in MS technology stack, with open hostility towards any technologies/programming languages that don't come from Redmond). And even the mobile group is clamoring to develop mobile BB apps in C# rather than Java.
If that were the case I would not need a Blackberry Enterprise Server to integrate the phones with my Exchange Server. I can integrate directly to Exchange from an iPhone, iPad and Android device. Including all of the security policies like remote lock and remote wipe directly from the Exchange Management Console.
My favorite story of the whole situation is when the iPhone was first announced the folks at RIM thought Apple was blowing smoke because what they were supposedly showing on stage "couldn't be done".
If your own people who are charged with creating new and advanced products see something announced and react that way - your company is probably doomed.
I've had exactly 1 Blackberry in my life and there were so many serious design flaws with it I just couldn't believe it made it through R&D. I hung onto it long enough to get an iPhone and haven't looked back.
As a Canadian I feel sad about this. It seems like it's been a never ending stream of great companies - Corel, ATI, Nortel, and now RIM that reach a certain level of success and then get gobbled up by the American behemoths down south.
I use an iPhone at work, mostly because our President wanted one and I had to support it - but 99% of our users run Blackberry's. I honestly think Blackberry's are a better product in the corporate world, but as we all know Apple is the media darling so gets all the headlines and therefore mindshare.
henry ford syndrome
you get a world changing innovator but they stagnate on their original vision and fail to change. in the 1920's it was Ford vs GM. in the 2000's it was MS vs Google/Apple. Bill Gates made microsoft but for mobile he insisted on a desktop UI and it never went anywhere. Pocket PC was pretty cool along with Palm but too many shortcomings to make it really useful. same with intel and AMD. they dumped their mobile business right before the big boom because management was focused on PC/server business
My favorite story of the whole situation is when the iPhone was first announced the folks at RIM thought Apple was blowing smoke because what they were supposedly showing on stage "couldn't be done".
If your own people who are charged with creating new and advanced products see something announced and react that way - your company is probably doomed.
I've had exactly 1 Blackberry in my life and there were so many serious design flaws with it I just couldn't believe it made it through R&D. I hung onto it long enough to get an iPhone and haven't looked back.
for a long time it was the killer phone for mobile MS Exchange email. not anymore
What a pointless news story. I notice you didn't bother to add anything about Android 'steamrolling' iOS, as it will inevitably continue to do.
Yes. Apple is in danger of losing most of its business because Android phones are steamrolling iPhone sales. Fewer and fewer iPhones are being sold each quarter and Apple is bleeding money. The cash reserves at Apple are falling due to the incredible success of Android devices. I'm completely with you on this. AI is derelict, as usual, in not reporting this. AI is completely blinded by their fanboi mentality.
More than any other smart phone manufacturer, RIM had their chance. With absolutely no vision at the top they failed to innovate. Death soon follows when blood stops being pumped to the brain.
Brilliant and right on! RIM is now in the "business" of "going out of business!"
Yes. Apple is in danger of losing most of its business because Android phones are steamrolling iPhone sales. Fewer and fewer iPhones are being sold each quarter and Apple is bleeding money. The cash reserves at Apple are falling due to the incredible success of Android devices. I'm completely with you on this. AI is derelict, as usual, in not reporting this. AI is completely blinded by their fanboi mentality.
(Not)
I have an iP4 and three of my coworkers have Android's...they complain that they are POS. They do things one way one time and another thing the next time...they find them really annoying. Reminds me of my Windows friends, problems, problems, problems!
Yes. Apple is in danger of losing most of its business because Android phones are steamrolling iPhone sales. Fewer and fewer iPhones are being sold each quarter and Apple is bleeding money. The cash reserves at Apple are falling due to the incredible success of Android devices. I'm completely with you on this. AI is derelict, as usual, in not reporting this. AI is completely blinded by their fanboi mentality.
Comments
As a Canadian I feel sad about this. It seems like it's been a never ending stream of great companies - Corel, ATI, Nortel, and now RIM that reach a certain level of success and then get gobbled up by the American behemoths down south.
I use an iPhone at work, mostly because our President wanted one and I had to support it - but 99% of our users run Blackberry's. I honestly think Blackberry's are a better product in the corporate world, but as we all know Apple is the media darling so gets all the headlines and therefore mindshare.
Your Canuck buddy, J. Balsillie was more interested in acquiring a hockey club than he was in building smartphones and that's one good reason why RIM is on a treacherous slope. Another reason is that one Steve Jobs is smarter than two co-CEOs. No need in going into the rest of the reasons because Apple and RIM are going in opposite directions. RIM at one point owned the smartphone industry but I guess they thought texting would last forever so they kept refining the keyboard while the rest of the industry moved on to more interesting things. I think a BlackBerry is still a very functional smartphone if your life revolves around covert texting and messaging, but I guess there's more to getting consumers' interest that RIM wanted no part of.
I honestly think Blackberry's are a better product in the corporate world
There's just not enough clueless MBAs around who will buy a Crackberry anymore.
RIM also has a lot of business and enterprise features that will make it much easier to implement into iOS.
Besides their messaging and email, what features do they bring to the table that could be considered "a lot"?
The fact that they bring little else is part of the reason they're getting hammered. It's much easier for competitors to implement these features on their own than it is for RIM to up their game to the level of the competition.
I can sympathize with you here (tho I am "south of the border"
They had an opportunity to move forward with good, well designed products, but they blew it big time. Nokia came to them (or so I have read) offering to join together with MeeGo a Linux based alternative that was free of exterior motivations/entanglements. But they rejected that out of what I can only see as pride and arrogance. They had no experience in developing real GUI operating systems, and they thought they could just jump in and do it. That was big-time foolish.
Apple does not care about competition. They welcome it (as long as it does not rip off their IP). They compete by their drive to develop the best products, incorporating the greatest technology. They are happy to do this.
But RIMM just flubbed big time. I agree - kinda sad.
100% agree. Canadian need to go back and read RIM's management statements at the start regarding the iPhone to see this. They mocked Apple and explained how 'real keyboards' were essential not to mention the lecture about Apple having no phone experience. The expression 'They got their come·up·pance' springs to mind.
Apple logo
Steve Jobs driving the Applemobile
Apple's competition after Apple rolls over them
In other news, water is wet...
Buy RIM for what? To own a line of smart phones that are basically, obsolete? RIM will just fall by the wayside much faster than we think.
Seems to me that RIM has just about reached that tipping point where millions upon millions of smart phone buyers are independently but simultaneously deciding that they're not getting a Blackberry for their next phone. That's how sales collapses happen, first you see a gradual erosion of demand and you project that into the future thinking there's enough time for the mfr to fix things, then people notice that their friends and relatives aren't buying the product anymore and they decide they'll follow suit then BAM! the gradual erosion turns into a downward spiral.
When the iPhone first came out, I said RIMM is already dead they just don't know it yet. They're starting to know.
This is the most complete and well-worded illustration of why RIM was F'd the moment the iPhone was demonstrated I have read- an internet to you sir!
RIM has strong Microsoft culture, their enterprise department is almost like subsidiary of Microsoft (heavily in MS technology stack, with open hostility towards any technologies/programming languages that don't come from Redmond). And even the mobile group is clamoring to develop mobile BB apps in C# rather than Java.
If that were the case I would not need a Blackberry Enterprise Server to integrate the phones with my Exchange Server. I can integrate directly to Exchange from an iPhone, iPad and Android device. Including all of the security policies like remote lock and remote wipe directly from the Exchange Management Console.
If your own people who are charged with creating new and advanced products see something announced and react that way - your company is probably doomed.
I've had exactly 1 Blackberry in my life and there were so many serious design flaws with it I just couldn't believe it made it through R&D. I hung onto it long enough to get an iPhone and haven't looked back.
As a Canadian I feel sad about this. It seems like it's been a never ending stream of great companies - Corel, ATI, Nortel, and now RIM that reach a certain level of success and then get gobbled up by the American behemoths down south.
I use an iPhone at work, mostly because our President wanted one and I had to support it - but 99% of our users run Blackberry's. I honestly think Blackberry's are a better product in the corporate world, but as we all know Apple is the media darling so gets all the headlines and therefore mindshare.
henry ford syndrome
you get a world changing innovator but they stagnate on their original vision and fail to change. in the 1920's it was Ford vs GM. in the 2000's it was MS vs Google/Apple. Bill Gates made microsoft but for mobile he insisted on a desktop UI and it never went anywhere. Pocket PC was pretty cool along with Palm but too many shortcomings to make it really useful. same with intel and AMD. they dumped their mobile business right before the big boom because management was focused on PC/server business
My favorite story of the whole situation is when the iPhone was first announced the folks at RIM thought Apple was blowing smoke because what they were supposedly showing on stage "couldn't be done".
If your own people who are charged with creating new and advanced products see something announced and react that way - your company is probably doomed.
I've had exactly 1 Blackberry in my life and there were so many serious design flaws with it I just couldn't believe it made it through R&D. I hung onto it long enough to get an iPhone and haven't looked back.
for a long time it was the killer phone for mobile MS Exchange email. not anymore
What a pointless news story. I notice you didn't bother to add anything about Android 'steamrolling' iOS, as it will inevitably continue to do.
Yes. Apple is in danger of losing most of its business because Android phones are steamrolling iPhone sales. Fewer and fewer iPhones are being sold each quarter and Apple is bleeding money. The cash reserves at Apple are falling due to the incredible success of Android devices. I'm completely with you on this. AI is derelict, as usual, in not reporting this. AI is completely blinded by their fanboi mentality.
(Not)
More than any other smart phone manufacturer, RIM had their chance. With absolutely no vision at the top they failed to innovate. Death soon follows when blood stops being pumped to the brain.
Brilliant and right on! RIM is now in the "business" of "going out of business!"
Yes. Apple is in danger of losing most of its business because Android phones are steamrolling iPhone sales. Fewer and fewer iPhones are being sold each quarter and Apple is bleeding money. The cash reserves at Apple are falling due to the incredible success of Android devices. I'm completely with you on this. AI is derelict, as usual, in not reporting this. AI is completely blinded by their fanboi mentality.
(Not)
I have an iP4 and three of my coworkers have Android's...they complain that they are POS. They do things one way one time and another thing the next time...they find them really annoying. Reminds me of my Windows friends, problems, problems, problems!
Yes. Apple is in danger of losing most of its business because Android phones are steamrolling iPhone sales. Fewer and fewer iPhones are being sold each quarter and Apple is bleeding money. The cash reserves at Apple are falling due to the incredible success of Android devices. I'm completely with you on this. AI is derelict, as usual, in not reporting this. AI is completely blinded by their fanboi mentality.
(Not)
1. I don't think it is clear that Android sales have even equaled iOS sales yet: http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/04/2...-market-share/
2. from what dark hole of misinformation did you pull the Apple's cash reserves are falling ? http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...g_balance.html http://www.mactrast.com/2011/09/appl...e-end-of-2012/
In five years, this will be the only thing people remember when they think of RIM:
Research In Motion, seems like that's the ONE thing it didn't do.
1. I don't think it is clear that Android sales have even equaled iOS sales yet: http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/04/2...-market-share/
2. from what dark hole of misinformation did you pull the Apple's cash reserves are falling ? http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...g_balance.html http://www.mactrast.com/2011/09/appl...e-end-of-2012/
lilgto64- He's showing how ridiculous it is by taking the position (uber-sarcasm)-
reference 'not'
ken
1. I don't think it is clear that Android sales have even equaled iOS sales yet: http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/04/2...-market-share/
2. from what dark hole of misinformation did you pull the Apple's cash reserves are falling ? http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...g_balance.html http://www.mactrast.com/2011/09/appl...e-end-of-2012/
You may have missed the sarcasm in his post, hence the "(not)" at the end.