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I agree that they've tried too hard, for my taste anyway, to attract non-business customers. However, from RIM's point of view, I'm not convinced they made a ba

by corin_ 16y ago

I agree that they've tried too hard, for my taste anyway, to attract non-business customers. However, from RIM's point of view, I'm not convinced they made a bad decision. I now have friends who don't need a phone for business reasons, yet they chose Blackberries. In addition, you see people like Justin Bieber using blackberries - while I haven't seen anything on this subject, I'm confident that there are thousands of teenagers out there who'd happilly chose a phone based on what he uses. As to it no longer being a business staple, I disagree. Personally I think the Bold was their best phone ever, and the Bold 2 repeated that feat. It could and should be better, and there are many improvements I would make, but mostly in areas that the older models (such as the 7520) hadn't even imagined offering.

blhack 16y ago
In my opinion, though, the market of people who would buy a phone just based on what Justin Bieber has are extremely volatile. Unlike businesspeople, they'll switch to whatever the newest, hippest thing to come out is. Honestly, look at a blackberry bold (which is a $500 phone, wtf?) then look at an HTC evo (the same price). You would have to be absolutely out of your mind to get a blackberry unless you were using BES. I doubt that the justin bieber crowd is using BES.
- corin_ 16y ago
  The Justin Bieber crowd will pick it because it's used by him, not because they particularly care about the product itself. Obviously not all his fans would value his choice over their own, but there will be many. And sure, they're volatile, but I'm not saying that Justin Bieber is the reason their consumer-friendly approach wasn't neccesarily a bad idea, just that it currently does, and will in the future, produce more celebrity (non-verbal) endorsements (by using them).
- meursault 16y ago
  Sure, it's volatile. But do you think Justin Bieber chose BlackBerry because he wants one, or because he got a huge paycheck to use it? Product placement does not end at television and movies.
  - chunkbot 16y ago
    You might be right about the product placement, but a BlackBerry is still a sensible choice for Mr. Bieber's line of work: touring the world, constantly meeting with people, etc.
meursault 16y ago
The Bieber effect is an important point. I think RIM realized that they don't need bleeding edge tech to stay competitive. That's how you sell to people like Bob Lefsetz and David Pogue, but those guys aren't even close to representative of the largest segment of the consumer smartphone market. The way to sell to the everyday smartphone user? Influence. Product placement, both in media and the real world (i.e. putting new units in the hands of celebrities), is an extremely powerful trick. I think it's worked, and will continue to work, very well for RIM. Think about BlackBerry as a brand. Take the wealthiest and most powerful people in America: CEO's, celebrities, politicians. Mostly BlackBerry users. Hell, they even got Obama using one. They've married the ideas of affluence and power to their brand. Sure, those of us who care about innovation and moving tech forward want them to do something groundbreaking like they did with mobile email, but isn't it cheaper to just comp a 15 year old popstar a phone and watch the money roll in? The market rewards big companies with well-marketed mediocrity, so that's what we get. I mean shit, just look at Microsoft.
gamble 16y ago
Blackberries are surprisingly popular with younger people, but I think that's largely a function of how cheap they are compared to other full-keyboard phones that aren't a pain to text with. You can easily get a BB free on contract, and they don't require a data plan. They may not remain popular as other smart phones move downmarket.
- spacemanaki 16y ago
  I think on Verizon you need a data plan, not sure exactly and not sure about other carriers.

by corin_ 16y ago

blhack 16y ago

In my opinion, though, the market of people who would buy a phone just based on what Justin Bieber has are extremely volatile. Unlike businesspeople, they'll switch to whatever the newest, hippest thing to come out is. Honestly, look at a blackberry bold (which is a $500 phone, wtf?) then look at an HTC evo (the same price). You would have to be absolutely out of your mind to get a blackberry unless you were using BES. I doubt that the justin bieber crowd is using BES.

corin_ 16y ago
The Justin Bieber crowd will pick it because it's used by him, not because they particularly care about the product itself. Obviously not all his fans would value his choice over their own, but there will be many. And sure, they're volatile, but I'm not saying that Justin Bieber is the reason their consumer-friendly approach wasn't neccesarily a bad idea, just that it currently does, and will in the future, produce more celebrity (non-verbal) endorsements (by using them).
meursault 16y ago
Sure, it's volatile. But do you think Justin Bieber chose BlackBerry because he wants one, or because he got a huge paycheck to use it? Product placement does not end at television and movies.
- chunkbot 16y ago
  You might be right about the product placement, but a BlackBerry is still a sensible choice for Mr. Bieber's line of work: touring the world, constantly meeting with people, etc.

meursault 16y ago

The Bieber effect is an important point. I think RIM realized that they don't need bleeding edge tech to stay competitive. That's how you sell to people like Bob Lefsetz and David Pogue, but those guys aren't even close to representative of the largest segment of the consumer smartphone market. The way to sell to the everyday smartphone user? Influence. Product placement, both in media and the real world (i.e. putting new units in the hands of celebrities), is an extremely powerful trick. I think it's worked, and will continue to work, very well for RIM. Think about BlackBerry as a brand. Take the wealthiest and most powerful people in America: CEO's, celebrities, politicians. Mostly BlackBerry users. Hell, they even got Obama using one. They've married the ideas of affluence and power to their brand. Sure, those of us who care about innovation and moving tech forward want them to do something groundbreaking like they did with mobile email, but isn't it cheaper to just comp a 15 year old popstar a phone and watch the money roll in? The market rewards big companies with well-marketed mediocrity, so that's what we get. I mean shit, just look at Microsoft.

gamble 16y ago

Blackberries are surprisingly popular with younger people, but I think that's largely a function of how cheap they are compared to other full-keyboard phones that aren't a pain to text with. You can easily get a BB free on contract, and they don't require a data plan. They may not remain popular as other smart phones move downmarket.

spacemanaki 16y ago
I think on Verizon you need a data plan, not sure exactly and not sure about other carriers.