I hope blackberry developers can find work on android or other java/C based platforms. But it's time for BB to go. They screwed customers for years with subpar functionality and only offered marginally better security. Then they had the audacity to be bold about their "dominance" through the face of Jim <span style="color:rgb(45,45,45);font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;line-height:20px;">Balsillie. I hope to see better work from Ubuntu and Android to keep Apple on their toes.</span>
One if the problems was that their customers were very happy with that circumscribed feature set because it did what no other product at the time did, and did it well. That led to the complacency we saw later. Unfortunately, even now, they aren't constitutionally able to admit when things are going wrong, or that it's their fault. So we see them constantly blame external factors for their problems, though they rarely admit that they are problems.
RIM wasn't caught off guard by the iPhone, they were downright ignorant. I know people who work(ed) at RIM when Apple introduced iPhone and they saw no virtue in what Apple was doing. Rather than understand what their competition was doing well, they chose to sit back and rant about everything it was doing wrong... as if these were things Apple was incapable of. This is about the worst mistake a business can make.
Nobody was caught off guard. They steered the ship straight into the rocks!
BlackBerry was too late to modernize its mobile OS and hardware, and as a result, this has become a two-party race between Android and iOS. At this point, BlackBerry should rethink their strategy to offer software and services for third-party mobile hardware and OSes rather than develop their own. Become a software company, more or less.
Or, perhaps offer BlackBerry branded Android phones with BlackBerry software on it. As it currently stands though, BB10 was DOA.
Instead of that Blackberry should strike up a deal with Microsoft to use Windows Phone.
Blackberry's clients likely wouldn't want Android but would probably would be alright with a Windows OS.
Yeah Blackberry would probably still be a single digit player but at least they'd be more relevant with Windows than with what they have now.
They could potentially sell their software division and make a pretty chunk of change for their various messaging patents.
Blackberry should marginalized their entire phone business and look for a new market for its technology, such as mobile medical devices or in-vehicle computer systems. These are both areas Apple is not likely to get into (aside from interacting with them, they're not going to sell medical devices or cars) and they require greater security than Android can offer.
The vehicle computer systems would be particularly well suited to Blackberry as this is the origin of the code at the core of the BB10 OS, which is already a real time OS for vehicle computer systems.
Bottom line is they can never recover their previous position, just look at Palm. They need to know when to fold them and when to run.
I guess this is one of the major signs that the non touch screen non smartphone industry is gone and that if a company had not started they will ultimately fail.
RIM wasn't caught off guard by the iPhone, they were downright ignorant. I know people who work(ed) at RIM when Apple introduced iPhone and they saw no virtue in what Apple was doing. Rather than understand what their competition was doing well, they chose to sit back and rant about everything it was doing wrong... as if these were things Apple was incapable of. This is about the worst mistake a business can make.
Nobody was caught off guard. They steered the ship straight into the rocks!
I recall both Microsoft and Nokia were boldly confident that business as usual would continue after the iPhone. Google and Palm reacted more quickly, and Palm stumbled on execution and delivery.
Six years ago Apple announced the iPhone, and handset executives, who should have been the most aware of the significants, laughed at the news. They could not even imagine what their customers wanted, and figured that the market would continue to accept what they were given.
As late as this week Apple executives had to remind the press and analysts that Apple's goal is to produce the best products to delight their customers and the bottom line will take care of itself. What other tech company trusts their customers to make quality decisions???
I remember the RIM Playbook advertisements promoting the product as running "Flash" and being "multitasking" while it was unable to do email. They thought their customers were ignorant and could be misdirected.
I remember the Palm phone company thinking that by announcing their product at the right time ahead of the new iPhone that they could disrupt Apple's game plan. It was arrogant to think their customers would forget the years of past failures of Palm to do what they promised. That somehow their cheap plastic phones could persevere in a market with a high quality competitor.
So, it was with surprise when Microsoft tried to do with "song and dance" what Apple does with beautiful user experiences with the products. This was followed with their "baffle them with BS" ads, where we get to see how you can watch a movie on the Surface Pro while creating a PowerPoint. Oh, and don't pay attention to all the BS about needed RAM and pricing.
It's my thinking that Apple treats their customers with respect instead of contempt for their intelligence.
In a sense, it's too bad for BB, because they are really good at certain parts of phone design, and I would hate for that expertise to get fragmented. Their cellular radio systems (including amplifiers, receivers and antennas) are better than any other manufacturer's. The Z10 is no exception; it can place calls where the iPhone and Nexus 4 can't even find a network.
Software-wise, BB10 seems to try to be different for the sake of being different. I do like the Hub feature. Way better than the Notification Center.
I currently have three phone I switch between: an iPhone 5, a BB Z10 and a Nexus 4. Of all three, I prefer the hardware of the BB10. Software-wise, iOS is probably still the way to go. Android is a bit of a Jack of all trades, but at 299$ unlocked, the N4 is a pretty good value.
If Apple can hire the BB hardware guys to work on the guts of what actually makes it a phone, that would be one killer device.
Comments
One if the problems was that their customers were very happy with that circumscribed feature set because it did what no other product at the time did, and did it well. That led to the complacency we saw later. Unfortunately, even now, they aren't constitutionally able to admit when things are going wrong, or that it's their fault. So we see them constantly blame external factors for their problems, though they rarely admit that they are problems.
Nobody was caught off guard. They steered the ship straight into the rocks!
Instead of that Blackberry should strike up a deal with Microsoft to use Windows Phone.
Blackberry's clients likely wouldn't want Android but would probably would be alright with a Windows OS.
Yeah Blackberry would probably still be a single digit player but at least they'd be more relevant with Windows than with what they have now.
They could potentially sell their software division and make a pretty chunk of change for their various messaging patents.
The vehicle computer systems would be particularly well suited to Blackberry as this is the origin of the code at the core of the BB10 OS, which is already a real time OS for vehicle computer systems.
Bottom line is they can never recover their previous position, just look at Palm. They need to know when to fold them and when to run.
I have an "I survived the iPhone" tee shirt to dispose of.
This wouldn't have helped, unless you mean a Samsung phone with Blackberry branding. The race isn't between Apple and Android, it's Apple and Samsung.
I recall both Microsoft and Nokia were boldly confident that business as usual would continue after the iPhone. Google and Palm reacted more quickly, and Palm stumbled on execution and delivery.
Six years ago Apple announced the iPhone, and handset executives, who should have been the most aware of the significants, laughed at the news. They could not even imagine what their customers wanted, and figured that the market would continue to accept what they were given.
As late as this week Apple executives had to remind the press and analysts that Apple's goal is to produce the best products to delight their customers and the bottom line will take care of itself. What other tech company trusts their customers to make quality decisions???
I remember the RIM Playbook advertisements promoting the product as running "Flash" and being "multitasking" while it was unable to do email. They thought their customers were ignorant and could be misdirected.
I remember the Palm phone company thinking that by announcing their product at the right time ahead of the new iPhone that they could disrupt Apple's game plan. It was arrogant to think their customers would forget the years of past failures of Palm to do what they promised. That somehow their cheap plastic phones could persevere in a market with a high quality competitor.
So, it was with surprise when Microsoft tried to do with "song and dance" what Apple does with beautiful user experiences with the products. This was followed with their "baffle them with BS" ads, where we get to see how you can watch a movie on the Surface Pro while creating a PowerPoint. Oh, and don't pay attention to all the BS about needed RAM and pricing.
It's my thinking that Apple treats their customers with respect instead of contempt for their intelligence.
In a sense, it's too bad for BB, because they are really good at certain parts of phone design, and I would hate for that expertise to get fragmented. Their cellular radio systems (including amplifiers, receivers and antennas) are better than any other manufacturer's. The Z10 is no exception; it can place calls where the iPhone and Nexus 4 can't even find a network.
Software-wise, BB10 seems to try to be different for the sake of being different. I do like the Hub feature. Way better than the Notification Center.
I currently have three phone I switch between: an iPhone 5, a BB Z10 and a Nexus 4. Of all three, I prefer the hardware of the BB10. Software-wise, iOS is probably still the way to go. Android is a bit of a Jack of all trades, but at 299$ unlocked, the N4 is a pretty good value.
If Apple can hire the BB hardware guys to work on the guts of what actually makes it a phone, that would be one killer device.