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This is a welcome change. Ever since I worked there back in 2004 as a co-op, the incessant jokes about having a "RIM job" were funny at first, but got tiring.

This is a welcome change. Ever since I worked there back in 2004 as a co-op, the incessant jokes about having a "RIM job" were funny at first, but got tiring. Ignoring that, this makes total sense from the consumer perspective. Nobody knew who RIM was, all they knew was BlackBerry. It is going to simplify a lot of things for them in terms of marketing and communications. I've been anticipating this launch since last April, when I first heard about the Dev Alpha prototype devices. After having used them for over 8 months, and actively developing for the platform, I can say that I was pretty happy with today's launch announcement. I didn't really expect it to be Earth-shattering, and it wasn't. It will be a long time before BlackBerry has the impact that Apple has in the marketplace. Today's launch wasn't going to have the pomp and flair everyone expected. Sales are not going to be a huge spike. Rather, things will ramp up slowly for BlackBerry. More and more people will try it out, and be wooed by the much improved interface. Your stalwart users of legacy BlackBerry will likely move over in droves though. I actively develop for Android as well, and I can say that BlackBerry development has done so many things right. It is really a dream to develop apps for. As a user, it's fantastic too. In the future, I really think RIM will be competing against Android/Google, rather than Apple. Android 4.2 is a thing of beauty, and really raises the bar. I don't think BB10 is quite there, but all the pieces are in place. The next 6-12 months will see a rapid evolution of BB10, and we can better assess how things will progress.

parasubvert 14y ago
> It will be a long time before BlackBerry has the impact that Apple has in the marketplace. That's a tad optimistic, no? Pretty much impossible, unless you expect them to reinvent two or three multi billion dollar markets in the coming decade. I'm ex-Waterloo too and remember Mike Lazaridis showing me the first model of BlackBerry in my entrepreneurship class 13 years ago. It was a fantastic time, but sadly long gone. > In the future, I really think RIM will be competing against Android/Google, rather than Apple. Considering the huge penetration the iPad has had in the enterprise, they'd better be competing with both. Underestimating Apple has got them to where they are now.
nwh 14y ago
> incessant jokes about having a "RIM job" were funny at first They didn't exactly help themselves. $ whois rim.jobs [...] Registrant: Domain Administrator Research In Motion Limited 295 Philip Street Waterloo ON N2L3L3
bertzzie 14y ago
> I actively develop for Android as well, and I can say that BlackBerry development has done so many things right. It is really a dream to develop apps for. As a user, it's fantastic too. I haven't seen and tried BB's SDK, but could you elaboreate more? Didn't they still use Java ME (which sucks compared to Android's IMO)?
- ampersandy 14y ago
  BB10 is nothing like the older platforms, which kinda sucked. You couldn't even run code on a test device without getting it signed by RIM, and the service crashed frequently.

parasubvert 14y ago

> It will be a long time before BlackBerry has the impact that Apple has in the marketplace. That's a tad optimistic, no? Pretty much impossible, unless you expect them to reinvent two or three multi billion dollar markets in the coming decade. I'm ex-Waterloo too and remember Mike Lazaridis showing me the first model of BlackBerry in my entrepreneurship class 13 years ago. It was a fantastic time, but sadly long gone. > In the future, I really think RIM will be competing against Android/Google, rather than Apple. Considering the huge penetration the iPad has had in the enterprise, they'd better be competing with both. Underestimating Apple has got them to where they are now.

nwh 14y ago

> incessant jokes about having a "RIM job" were funny at first They didn't exactly help themselves. $ whois rim.jobs [...] Registrant: Domain Administrator Research In Motion Limited 295 Philip Street Waterloo ON N2L3L3

bertzzie 14y ago

> I actively develop for Android as well, and I can say that BlackBerry development has done so many things right. It is really a dream to develop apps for. As a user, it's fantastic too. I haven't seen and tried BB's SDK, but could you elaboreate more? Didn't they still use Java ME (which sucks compared to Android's IMO)?

ampersandy 14y ago
BB10 is nothing like the older platforms, which kinda sucked. You couldn't even run code on a test device without getting it signed by RIM, and the service crashed frequently.