RIMM is one of the few companies that can actual compete based on it's hardware specs, as opposed to it's software. People who use blackberry's love their keyboards. They also love their email functionality. They should have switched over to Android based devices running on their hardware with their email client, with BBM thrown in. It could have been a killer device with a ton of apps available from the get go.
This really could have, and should have, been done a while ago, but it's seems like Mike Lazardis is on some kind of a ego trip.
Funny you should say that. I remember when reading the interview with Mike Lazardis in "Founders at Work" it struck me how much he boasted about himself and his pals being cool, smart, and innovative. It was somewhat off-putting, and also surprising how someone with so little humility and self-awareness made it so far.
> This really could have, and should have, been done a while ago, but it's seems like Mike Lazardis is on some kind of a ego trip.
No, he's just doing what any good CEO of a large enterprise should do - increase shareholder value. They've pushed strong numbers from 2007 and have only recently started to plummet. (for now obvious reasons) Innovator's dilemma at its finest.
Could you elaborate on this some more, particularly the email client?
I had a Blackberry 8830 a few years ago and, even at that time, I thought it was a barebones POS. The email client was pretty unremarkable, as I recall.
It's unremarkable to me as well, but people who I know who have switched over from a Blackberry to a iPhone are typically happy with their decision, but the only thing they claim the Blackberry was better with is email. Maybe this is primarily for corporate environments, where they use the enterprise server.
This really could have, and should have, been done a while ago, but it's seems like Mike Lazardis is on some kind of a ego trip.