5 ms·
RIM is mercy to the fatal inability to self-reflect and be self-critical. As an iPhone user, just looking at a Blackberry is cringe-inducing. I'm not a Blackber
by tomkin 15y ago
RIM is mercy to the fatal inability to self-reflect and be self-critical. As an iPhone user, just looking at a Blackberry is cringe-inducing. I'm not a Blackberry fan, so I don't know what the latest, greatest is, but I've tried a Bold and a Torch and they are both terrible. By terrible, I mean relative to 2012. And by terrible I don't mean non-iPhone terrible, because, unlike using a Blackberry, I can use an Android phone and not get pissed off after 30 seconds.
In 2006 these devices would have been great. So it takes roughly 4 years (taking R&D, production, etc into account) for them to admit they are wrong and adhere to, or create new features. "What can we possibly innovate on?"
I think companies like RIM get stuck because they see themselves as innovators – and they were – when we were all using flip phone Nokias. In that relative time period, a Blackberry was today's iPhone/Android. So you get self-righteous. People are calling you an industry titan. "Now don't change anything because this is working great!". First mistake.
RIM would have done well by suffering from Imposter's Syndrome. In this mentality, being told you're an industry titan stays in your head as a compliment for about a day.
- edwinnathaniel 15y agoA country in South East Asia with 200 millions people and probably 10 millions of them are BB users would probably disagree with you. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17521908 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17521908
- tomkin 15y agoI think if RIM was an Asian-based company, that might hold true. RIM's culture is tied to North America. Developers for their platform are mostly in North America/Europe. When there's no apps, there's no users - eventually.
- edwinnathaniel 15y agoYou may be right when it comes to the lack of apps. But let me share a story about that particular topic: In Indonesia, people aren't rushing to iPhone or Android because they don't care apps. They'll use whatever that comes with the phone and most local distributors are smart enough to package them with common apps such as Twitter and Facebook. Most websites in Indonesia support BB and develop apps for BB because they know BB is king there. Once BB is done, they'll move to a generic Android based smartphone that will definitely have a few common apps: 1) Mail Reader 2) Browser 3) Facebook 4) Twitter 5) Whatsapp Done. The people who installed other apps are the very very very tiny minority.
- icefox 15y ago"so I don't know what the latest, greatest is ... By terrible, I mean relative to 2012" Might want to tweak that statement
- tomkin 15y agoNope. An iPhone 3GS isn't terrible...even in 2012.
- stcredzero 15y agoI think companies like RIM get stuck because they see themselves as innovators – and they were – when we were all using flip phone Nokias. In that relative time period, a Blackberry was today's iPhone/Android. So you get self-righteous. People are calling you an industry titan. "Now don't change anything because this is working great!". First mistake. This is an instructive roadmap. Apple might well follow it one day.
- tomkin 15y agoI agree. I'm no allegiant. In fact, I think we're already starting to see a bit of that unfolding.