5 ms·

I always end up wondering how can a company have so much of the market and so little of the buzz? (Of course, if you can maintain that level of market share, it

I always end up wondering how can a company have so much of the market and so little of the buzz? (Of course, if you can maintain that level of market share, it may not matter.)

yummyfajitas 16y ago
They sell to corporations. Citigroup and similar companies give their employees blackberries and generic dell laptops. Their employees are sufficiently un-excited about it that there is no buzz.
- edster 16y ago
  hmmm, for some reason I can't reply directly to @gaius' comment. I find the I love my BB argument interesting. While he's right, I don't understand the attraction for these people. I've been doing some BB development lately using a Storm II. Compared to the iPhone 3GS, it's a flying turd. I wonder if these BlackBerry lovers just haven't tried an iPhone or Android device. Maybe I would think differently if I was testing on a keyboard device like a Bold, but I can't imagine it would change my opinion that much.
  - gaius 16y ago
    It takes a few minutes after a comment is posted for replies to be enabled.
  - WiseWeasel 16y ago
    A good portion of them are women with long nails, who can't use capacitive touchscreens very effectively, especially for typing.
  - lallysingh 16y ago
    The BB's UI is garbage, but the iPhone really misses a big point on missing a real keyboard.
- gaius 16y ago
  I don't think that's true. People say "I love my BlackBerry". Regardless of where they got it, they form the emotional attachment to the brand. Jay-Z mentions his BlackBerry in his music. It's a lifestyle object, it says, I am taking care of business, baby. I am an insider, I have my act together, I make decisions. People call them CrackBerries because they're addictive. But I've never heard anyone say "I love my Android", people talk about how clever it is, but the brand doesn't seem to resonate nearly as much, and it's not as clear what it says as a lifestyle accessory.
  - telemachos 16y ago
    First, I love my Eris. Love it, love it, love it. Would sleep with it under the pillow, if I weren't so worried about its well-being. Second, in my experience, people react to it with a "So you're a DIY-er, huh?" That is, people are aware, however vaguely, of the opensource/hacker vibe that the brand carries. I'm not sure if that's what you meant by "what it says as a lifestyle accesory," but I think it is. (Btw, you had your +1 at "Jay-Z mentions...")
    - bitwize 16y ago
      You live in the Bay area? Up here in Mass, I tend to see Android devices being carried by unpleasant, street hoodlum types, which I guess to be a consequence of and reinforce the "iPhone knockoff" image associated with them.
      - zach 16y ago
        I see this got into the negative, so let me upvote and point out that this is totally expected. This is exactly how it was with the Danger handsets 5-7 years ago, simply because they were great for power-texters, had a camera and were way, way cheaper than BlackBerries. And yes, as a result they were great for conducting street business -- don't be all shocked if that's true of Loopt as well.
  - cheald 16y ago
    I think a part of that is that "Android" is the software, and the hardware is all over the place. "iPhone" is a package deal - hardware and software. The brand means both at the same time. Same with Blackberry - there are lots of different blackberries, but when people mention the brand, they mean both hardware and software. I love my Nexus One. I love the Android platform. I wouldn't say "I love my Android", because it doesn't make any more sense than saying "I love my Windows" (whereas a Mac user would easily say "I love my Mac", as the hardware and software are a deal package). The "Droid" brand is starting to change that, though. People are referring to all manner of Android phones as "Droids". It's a name that is being used to refer to both the platform and the hardware. I could easily see it gaining the same kind of brand mindshare that the iPhone and Blackberry brands have.
- goatforce5 16y ago
  And i'd hazard a guess and say the rate of growth in the consumer smartphone market is growing faster than the corporate smartphone market. (Don't run for where the ball is, run for where the ball is going to be. Or however that saying goes.)
  - BrandonM 16y ago
    It's a puck, so I suppose it would be skating.
    - telemachos 16y ago
      I've heard it for basketball and soccer as well. (I also have a tickle in the back of my head that says I've heard a variant in some movie's kung-fu training scene. Keanu in the Matrix? This is going to bother me for hours now...) Strikes me as a generic sports/life tip: anticipate and be there first. Edit: Gauius's reply suggests I'm probably dead wrong about the movie. Never knew where the quote came from. Thanks.
      - gaius 16y ago
        Believe the quote is Wayne Gretzky, an ice hockey player.
- telemachos 16y ago
  <anecdotal> I teach at a high school, and although there are a lot of iPhones, I would say that one in every two phones is a Blackberry. And as Gaius says, they love the hell out of the things. (I speak as someone who has had to take one away from its owner.) </anecdotal> The buzz I meant was media buzz. Among users, I think Blackberry has plenty. Their users are fanatical. (Stephen Fry had an article on this a bit back, as I recall.)
  - gaius 16y ago
    One of BlackBerry's features is BBM, a private IM network for BlackBerry owners. People love it because it's counted as part of your (fixed price) BlackBerry mail, so there's no extra charge like SMS or a conventional data connection. Apple and Google don't have anything comparable. Sure there's Google Talk but anyone can use that, there's no exclusivity.
    - lftl 16y ago
      Google Voice can be setup to basically give you free SMS, with the added bonus that you can send and receive to anyone, not just BB users.

I always end up wondering how can a company have so much of the market and so little of the buzz? (Of course, if you can maintain that level of market share, it may not matter.)

yummyfajitas 16y ago

They sell to corporations. Citigroup and similar companies give their employees blackberries and generic dell laptops. Their employees are sufficiently un-excited about it that there is no buzz.

edster 16y ago
hmmm, for some reason I can't reply directly to @gaius' comment. I find the I love my BB argument interesting. While he's right, I don't understand the attraction for these people. I've been doing some BB development lately using a Storm II. Compared to the iPhone 3GS, it's a flying turd. I wonder if these BlackBerry lovers just haven't tried an iPhone or Android device. Maybe I would think differently if I was testing on a keyboard device like a Bold, but I can't imagine it would change my opinion that much.
- gaius 16y ago
  It takes a few minutes after a comment is posted for replies to be enabled.
- WiseWeasel 16y ago
  A good portion of them are women with long nails, who can't use capacitive touchscreens very effectively, especially for typing.
- lallysingh 16y ago
  The BB's UI is garbage, but the iPhone really misses a big point on missing a real keyboard.
gaius 16y ago
I don't think that's true. People say "I love my BlackBerry". Regardless of where they got it, they form the emotional attachment to the brand. Jay-Z mentions his BlackBerry in his music. It's a lifestyle object, it says, I am taking care of business, baby. I am an insider, I have my act together, I make decisions. People call them CrackBerries because they're addictive. But I've never heard anyone say "I love my Android", people talk about how clever it is, but the brand doesn't seem to resonate nearly as much, and it's not as clear what it says as a lifestyle accessory.
- telemachos 16y ago
  First, I love my Eris. Love it, love it, love it. Would sleep with it under the pillow, if I weren't so worried about its well-being. Second, in my experience, people react to it with a "So you're a DIY-er, huh?" That is, people are aware, however vaguely, of the opensource/hacker vibe that the brand carries. I'm not sure if that's what you meant by "what it says as a lifestyle accesory," but I think it is. (Btw, you had your +1 at "Jay-Z mentions...")
  - bitwize 16y ago
    You live in the Bay area? Up here in Mass, I tend to see Android devices being carried by unpleasant, street hoodlum types, which I guess to be a consequence of and reinforce the "iPhone knockoff" image associated with them.
    - zach 16y ago
      I see this got into the negative, so let me upvote and point out that this is totally expected. This is exactly how it was with the Danger handsets 5-7 years ago, simply because they were great for power-texters, had a camera and were way, way cheaper than BlackBerries. And yes, as a result they were great for conducting street business -- don't be all shocked if that's true of Loopt as well.
- cheald 16y ago
  I think a part of that is that "Android" is the software, and the hardware is all over the place. "iPhone" is a package deal - hardware and software. The brand means both at the same time. Same with Blackberry - there are lots of different blackberries, but when people mention the brand, they mean both hardware and software. I love my Nexus One. I love the Android platform. I wouldn't say "I love my Android", because it doesn't make any more sense than saying "I love my Windows" (whereas a Mac user would easily say "I love my Mac", as the hardware and software are a deal package). The "Droid" brand is starting to change that, though. People are referring to all manner of Android phones as "Droids". It's a name that is being used to refer to both the platform and the hardware. I could easily see it gaining the same kind of brand mindshare that the iPhone and Blackberry brands have.
goatforce5 16y ago
And i'd hazard a guess and say the rate of growth in the consumer smartphone market is growing faster than the corporate smartphone market. (Don't run for where the ball is, run for where the ball is going to be. Or however that saying goes.)
- BrandonM 16y ago
  It's a puck, so I suppose it would be skating.
  - telemachos 16y ago
    I've heard it for basketball and soccer as well. (I also have a tickle in the back of my head that says I've heard a variant in some movie's kung-fu training scene. Keanu in the Matrix? This is going to bother me for hours now...) Strikes me as a generic sports/life tip: anticipate and be there first. Edit: Gauius's reply suggests I'm probably dead wrong about the movie. Never knew where the quote came from. Thanks.
    - gaius 16y ago
      Believe the quote is Wayne Gretzky, an ice hockey player.
telemachos 16y ago
<anecdotal> I teach at a high school, and although there are a lot of iPhones, I would say that one in every two phones is a Blackberry. And as Gaius says, they love the hell out of the things. (I speak as someone who has had to take one away from its owner.) </anecdotal> The buzz I meant was media buzz. Among users, I think Blackberry has plenty. Their users are fanatical. (Stephen Fry had an article on this a bit back, as I recall.)
- gaius 16y ago
  One of BlackBerry's features is BBM, a private IM network for BlackBerry owners. People love it because it's counted as part of your (fixed price) BlackBerry mail, so there's no extra charge like SMS or a conventional data connection. Apple and Google don't have anything comparable. Sure there's Google Talk but anyone can use that, there's no exclusivity.
  - lftl 16y ago
    Google Voice can be setup to basically give you free SMS, with the added bonus that you can send and receive to anyone, not just BB users.