Seriously, who would buy a Blackberry?

[Mojo]

BlackBerry has its highlights. It is a great messaging device for IM, eMail, text, etc... I believe that RIM is not concerned with making the best normal consumer device, more so making a great business device that will also work to satisfy the needs of a personal device as well. I do not think that they will ever become the company that is great at both. However RIM is working on giving their devices a better browser and even working on giving a better UI for the customer to use. I think that we will start to see the fruits of their efforts in the upcoming year. But BlackBerry will always remain a BlackBerry at its core.

Android on the other hand has taken a different approach by going after the normal consumer, with some business flavoring in it. Hence the built in exchange support in Android 2.0. I believe that Android will find a happy medium in both. Google is innovative and it shows. It really amazes me how far Android has come in the short time it has been available. Now they have grown beyond basically a single carrier support we should see even a further expansion of Android capability. At a even more accelerated rate. But this is just my personal opinion. So we will see in time

 

[Jzaga053]

imo, the LACK of customization is doing well for blackberries - business users find a familiar interface, etc

plus, it just works. Email support is MILES higher than droid imo - i have dropouts, my notifications keep coming on even when i read all the messages, it takes forever to get an email or they come in bunches of 10, etc

the email accounts on blackberry is so much better.

IMO - 2 different markets.

 

[brianr0131]

That age survey is definitley a surprise to me. I figured it would be more like 50-50% in the 20-29 range. Just goes to show you what is does to assume.

 

[LordKastle]

For those who pretend Blackberry did not drop the ball, stop being so naive. They had the potential to be the #1 cellular brand on the market, bar-none. Don't give me the excuse, "well they should stick to the corporate consumer." They had an opportunity to not only cater to the corporate consumer but to make one of the top all-in-one phones, period, with their expertise in business/corporate/communication related apps and software and had the potential to make a device capable of internet, multimedia and much more. Can you explain to me why a corporate consumer would reject the idea of a better all in one device? If anything they were ahead of the game when it comes to producing phones compared to any other company. They had a business/corporate/communication related segment of phone software and apps that was almost up to perfection.

You people make it seem like it would be impossible for RIM/BB to produce a phone with both aspects covered. It is a phone, all it takes it correct pre-production planning and quality and they would be all set. Instead they came out with a laggy OS on the Storm and a browser experience that was an embarrassment.

It's like saying, well instead of winning a championship..we decided to ignore one aspect of our game and pretend ignorance.

Blackberry had a chance to make the greatest all in one device, PERIOD. And they failed...

Also, how can you say they are catering to the corporate consumer when they are clearly targeting everyone else besides it in their ads when they give away free and 1/2 off phones...and this has been going on for about a year now on all carriers.

Blackberry still has potential down the line to come out with a device that blows the lid off most others, but with all the sales and buyouts rumors I guess they'd rather become complacent and not go for the kill-shot.

 

[cereal killer]

The subject of RIM is a sore spot for me.

right before the Storm release (or maybe it was shortly after?) Balsillie makes the assanine comment that "buggy" software is the new reality. Well that would explain the Storms launch but not the shoddy hardware.

So that didn't sit right at all with me. Even though I didn't own the Storm I was a longtime BB user and I was supporting the company. The QC was definitely on the decline but then his comments and then the Storms launch almost pushed me over the edge, as far as dropping the product.

Then news came out about the Tour. Looked good to me. Figured I'd pick it up. I mean RIM already went through the mess with the Storm they certainly wouldn't release another device with a ton of hardware problems. Not a chance.....the company would get it right this time around.

Tours released and the battery door and trackball problems flood the web. Even though mine was good that was the last straw. I even commented on a forum that because of Balsillie and their poor QC my Tour would be my last BB.

They will never get my money again.

There is an article about Balsillie in Macleans. It's totally unrelated to RIM but it's about him losing the bid for the Coyotes.

There is a reason he didn't get the hockey team and it has a lot to do with his reputation.

 

[LordKastle]

For those who pretend Blackberry did not drop the ball, stop being so naive. They had the potential to be the #1 cellular brand on the market, bar-none. Don't give me the excuse, "well they should stick to the corporate consumer." They had an opportunity to not only cater to the corporate consumer but to make one of the top all-in-one phones, period, with their expertise in business/corporate/communication related apps and software and had the potential to make a device capable of internet, multimedia and much more. Can you explain to me why a corporate consumer would reject the idea of a better all in one device? If anything they were ahead of the game when it comes to producing phones compared to any other company. They had a business/corporate/communication related segment of phone software and apps that was almost up to perfection.

You people make it seem like it would be impossible for RIM/BB to produce a phone with both aspects covered. It is a phone, all it takes it correct pre-production planning and quality and they would be all set. Instead they came out with a laggy OS on the Storm and a browser experience that was an embarrassment.

It's like saying, well instead of winning a championship..we decided to ignore one aspect of our game and pretend ignorance.

Blackberry had a chance to make the greatest all in one device, PERIOD. And they failed...

Also, how can you say they are catering to the corporate consumer when they are clearly targeting everyone else besides it in their ads when they give away free and 1/2 off phones...and this has been going on for about a year now on all carriers.

Blackberry still has potential down the line to come out with a device that blows the lid off most others, but with all the sales and buyouts rumors I guess they'd rather become complacent and not go for the kill-shot.

Please RIM/BB defenders...answer me. Why is it okay to become complacent when you have the opportunity to go for the jugular on the cell industry?

 

[qoncept]

I think RIM had the opportunity to be the premier cell phone company just like anyone else did. They made a half-assed attempt with the Storm. They didn't just make a new device that did what they thought it should do, they made what they thought everyone wanted. Turns out... not so much.

They got the mile high, less than a complete sentence stuff right. Clicky touchscreen, Blackberry name. But the interface is still basically old hat. The keyboard sucked. They tried to do what made the iPhone so popular and failed.

And I think they'll continue to fail because of a couple fundamental flaws. They don't 'get' the importance of the UI on a personal use smart phone. They'll see a million people saying the iPhone and Android UIs are better, completely rework their interface, but they still won't give it the attention it needs. Maybe they'll rework the interface with the same employees they have, or maybe they'll hire the wrong people or not enough.

The attributes of the Blackberry UI is a reflection of the company. Changes in philosophy and attitude like that have to come from the top and 1) they arent, 2) they take a long time to propagate.

I'm not knocking RIM or Blackberry, but I just don't see them being real players in the personal market, and the degree to which they are right now really surprises me.

 

[RW-1]

Yes, another outage. Couldn't get a hold of my boos for aday, sent him an email:

"Blackberry outage? There's a Droid for that!"

He wants one sooo bad after seeing mine. (Likely after new years)

 

[Martin030908]

5.0 = Epic Fail.
This was supposed to be the saving grace for BB in the consumer market... it's a joke of an OS... still not stable to this day. Storm was a big nail in the coffin for BB's consumer experience. (and the last BB I'll ever purchase)
The business world will always have a spot for BB because of the security involved but the phone's all look alike, and the OS is clunky.
Someone else already posted this but this past year has been non-stop BOGO's for BB and other deals... they're pushing way too hard for a device that's supposed to sell itself.

and BB data outages!! Why on Earth do I want a smart phone that uses a third party server (RIM) to use data? Just gimme the straight pipeline thru VZW with my Droid

 

[qoncept]

That's another thing I forgot about. I had an app on my BB just to make it reboot itself every night. Because it needed to be rebooted every night. And BIS just plain shouldn't exist. BES makes sense for all of the corporate control, but BIS is a proxy with no purpose.

 

[KingDroid]

I used to have a BlackBerry as well and I never did what I do now on my Droid. I used the BB to text, email, and call. That was pretty much it. If I used the internet, I used Opera Mini. I liked my BB and I was used to it. But after having an Android-based phone, I don't think I could switch back. It's crazy how much this phone can do!

 

[boatman2220]

I've had Curve, Storm, and was checking out Storm 2 when I became aware of the Droid. I had gotten used to battery pulls and restarting the phone. Just normal operating procedure. But the text, email, messaging, phone worked. I also wondered when a new browser, and other things would come around. Always checking everywhere for a clue that things were going to improve.
Everybody using them as a phone and email client, calendar, alarms, reminders seem to be pretty satisfied. But trying anything else was a pain. They rested and let the marketing crowd sell, instead of new ideas that sold themselves. There is a lot of things they could update and improve without losing their core features.

 

[hookbill]

I've had Curve, Storm, and was checking out Storm 2 when I became aware of the Droid. I had gotten used to battery pulls and restarting the phone. Just normal operating procedure. But the text, email, messaging, phone worked. I also wondered when a new browser, and other things would come around. Always checking everywhere for a clue that things were going to improve.
Everybody using them as a phone and email client, calendar, alarms, reminders seem to be pretty satisfied. But trying anything else was a pain. They rested and let the marketing crowd sell, instead of new ideas that sold themselves. There is a lot of things they could update and improve without losing their core features.

I don't think they don't do it because they don't want to. I think because they keep themselves within the format of the blackberry OS that is so familiar to them they simply are not capable of it.

BTW there was a definite improvement on the browser with the Storm 2, however it is no way in the same league as the Storm.

 

[phatkat66]

I just hope that Blackberry is strong enough to stay in business in these days.... I do not want them to become like Palm.

To stay in business, they need to cater to everyone and not just in corporate.

This is a misconception IMO. When you try to cater to everyone, things become too fragmented. They need to do what they do, and be the best at it. And, for the most part they are.

The corporate market will always be a huge area for them. They also attract comsumers who want things a little more simple.

I think the Android OS is catering to a much younger crowd for the most part. I happen to be a mid 30s business user (and personal) and I would NEVER go back to BB, but I understand I am a part of a small group in the grand scheme of things.

Smartphones themselves are growing exponentially, but keep in mind that while Android is growing at a fast rate as well, there are a lot of dumb phone converts too. It'ss not like every (or even most) Android user came from a BB.

RIM will be fine. They have some nice things coming in the future and they are, for the most part, a very well run company.

I definitely agree with this. I actually know quite a lot of people that are turned away from the droid because of how much it can do. The droid isn't a phone you can just buy and go it actually takes some learning and demands attention from its user. Some people are just not interested in a phone that needs updates, syncs contacts, touchscreen only, etc etc. Some people just want a PHONE.

I tried to get my mother onto a droid but she went with a BB 8530, I just switched from my Nextels BB 8350 and we are both extremely happy with our choice. Im interested in the customization of the droid while my mother is very happy with the simplicity of a blackberry. Even now shes actually still getting use to BBM vs Text while im syncing my computer desktop and controlling streaming live control through my droid.

My point is some people just dont have the attention span for these phones, they just want something they can dial and talk.

 

[takeshi]

This is a misconception IMO. When you try to cater to everyone, things become too fragmented. They need to do what they do, and be the best at it. And, for the most part they are.

A lot of people (fanboys) don't seem to get that. It's really just a variation of the old "jack of all trades, master of none" saying.

Can you explain to me why a corporate consumer would reject the idea of a better all in one device?

Are you kidding? You don't know the corporate world if you expect reasonable answers for why a corporate consumer would reject any given device. Take my company: we use Blackberries and do not allow any other devices.

...and what does "better all in one device" mean, anyway? Better integration of corporate and consumer features? Why should a corporate customer care about consumer features on a business device? We don't give our BB's to our employees for their entertainment -- they're electronic leashes.

For those who pretend Blackberry did not drop the ball, stop being so naive.

No one said that except you. What was said was that RIM probably should focus on its core user base -- the corporate world -- since it's what they know and do well.

Someone also said something along the lines of you can't be all things to all people without consequences. That makes perfect sense. Can you name one current device that does? No, and I really don't expect to see a "holy grail" of devices any time soon. Market niches are still valuable as not all potential customers are looking for the exact same thing from a wireless device. A Blackberry, for example, will always be valued by IT for BES management tools. Apple will always have its Kool Aid drinkers. And so on and so on.

Please RIM/BB defenders...answer me. Why is it okay to become complacent when you have the opportunity to go for the jugular on the cell industry?

There's quite a bit of difference between complacency and failure to innovate. RIM certainly tried but their efforts just haven't been enough given the current competition in the consumer wireless device market.

I think because they keep themselves within the format of the blackberry OS that is so familiar to them they simply are not capable of it.

The OS really needs to be completely reworked IMO. They've really pushed it about as far as it can go, looking at recent releases. The "improvements" have been quite minor recently.