There's so much mainstream consumption based not only on the quality/usefulness of a company's products, but also on the public perception of that company. Jus

There's so much mainstream consumption based not only on the quality/usefulness of a company's products, but also on the public perception of that company. Just think about Apple and its ability to turn everything it touches to gold. It becomes a self-reinforcing cycle unless something drastic happens to shift the momentum in the other direction (e.g. Netflix now suddenly is starting to go in the other direction after their recent poorly-received decisions). Given RIM's downward momentum in the past couple of years, I don't think its a surprise to see its latest products do poorly. In the tablet industry, they needed something that was revolutionary or at least something very very good in order to have a fighting chance. Releasing something mediocre that lacked some basic features (native email) that Blackberries are based upon portended doom. The $500 price point guaranteed it. Look at the recent launch of RIM's Torch 9850. Received lukewarm reviews at best (CNN destroys it) amid lots of hype from RIM. Can you guess where this is headed? I don't really know what RIM can do to reverse their continuing downfall, but I think it starts with acknowledging that their proprietary OS is not going to work and get on the Android bandwagon. Then hope to get lucky with a blockbuster product. At least they still have most of Corporate America...for now.