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Research In Motion is doomed to failure?
Research In Motion is doomed to failure? As with all holy wars, there is always two sides to the battle. The Christians against the Muslims in the Crusades. Catholics vs. Protestants in Ireland. Windows vs. Mac world. Ford vs. Holden (if you're Australian:). And, of course, BlackBerry vs iPhone. And like anyone with expertise in a particular area, I constantly get asked "So what should I get? A BlackBerry or iPhone?". Personally I am fairly IT device agnostic. If all you've ever used, a hammer, it feels like the right tool for every job and every job is looking like a nail. And that is why I try to decent amount of time on each device before I spend my personal choice. If I'm in agreement with a telecom provider (another bad) for a minimum of 24 months I want to make sure that the device I choose will fit what I need today, and be able to add functionality when I need them in the future. In my 23-ish years in the IT industry I've learned one thing: no one device does everything for every person every time. This is particularly true in the PDA space. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, RIM. It tolls for you. Death Clock is found. And unless RIM makes some dramatic changes, the BlackBerry will be downgraded to an "also ran" device. There are five areas that Research In Motion must address quickly lost the battle completely to Apple. Ask almost any random Joe or Josephine in the IT sector on this question "Who is Steve Jobs? "and you're assured of an almost 100% correct response worldwide. Depending on which side of the Holy War, you ask, can a mixture of "savior", "miracle worker", "Satan in the flesh ", or" the personification of evil. "Now, the question of sampling the same people" What do Jim Balsillie? "and you usually get empty cans outside the U.S. and Canada. You could possibly be an Earful of the American hockey fans, the Jim's attempt to take over the Phoenix Coyotes. RIM needs to a public face, a picture to connect. A quick Google search seems to show international whistle-stop tours through one of the top dogs RIM, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, nor is such information to appear on news of RIM's press release pages. Either Jim and Mike are afraid of flying, or their feet nailed to the floor. Or is it simply a lack of respect for the international market. In fact, I tend to believe that the latter factor, a lack of respect for the international market, the key cultural issue that RIM needs to address. On April 1, almost 5 months ago, the BlackBerry App World was released to the world of BlackBerry users. Well, no, not really. Only if you're lucky to live in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. The App "World" was recently extended to more European countries, but still no joy anyone who lives in the southern hemisphere. Perhaps the world should be App name App hemisphere N. .. App or Nemesis. Even Apple has managed to release of the App Store in all countries where The iPhone was released. The App world must have been a great opportunity for the sale or distribution of BlackBerry-compatible applications, but no. World must put the app on BlackBerry a level playing field for consumers comparison between the iPhone and the BlackBerry, and providing a professionally managed repostiry. As it is, I have to hunt for new programs Google or the many others blog sites. Ridiculous. Come on RIM! Release App World where you sell BlackBerries. Do it now. Or completely closed. And take a long, hard look at the application development of tools for the BlackBerry, while you. The desktop management of the iPhone is another area that RIM really needs to take a lesson from Apple. I'm not a fan of iTunes, not the attempt to escape the designation of Safari as a mandatory update. But iTunes, on either PC or Mac, is the same. You can integrate the synchronization of music, pictures, applications, whatever, and there is an implicit statement on your desktop OS of choice. There is a Mac version, there is a PC version. Oh and there is even open source versions of your favorite Linux derivative. But what Operating System you use a BlackBerry to upgrade. Windows. And even with the latest version of software tools upgrade, what browser you use? Windows Internet Explorer. Come on RIM. If you even half a grain of salt values of wisdom here had, you would have written the last update tool for Firefox, which has at least run on Windows, Mac and Linux. I had not heard that Canada the land of Windows. And while the decision making mode, how about you nail the products you are selling. Apple, theres the iPhone or 3G or 3G's. They look the same, works the same, run the same software, same input adapters. RIM BlackBerry sells four styles of - Full keyboard, reduced keyboard, no keyboard, and the flip phone. Oh, and software for the Storm (no keyboard) will not easily run on something else. Oh, and just change the power adapter of the new "standard". And each new BlackBerry functions seem dependent on the phase of the moon, the availability of the Vestal Virgins, buckets blood of goats, red candles, and a silver bell. Why, oh why, RIM, not all your current 3G devices? Wireless? GPS? External SD Card slot? Flash on the camera? I desire to understand the different products for different markets, but there are some things that just should be standardized and then left ALONE! You're just making it harder for your internal Control systems development teams. Choose a standard feature set, and then stick to it. If it's hard for me to recommend that thereafter BlackBerry get to be almost impossible for the Telco's they sell. Recently, an Australian telco had a large advertisement in a newspaper for BlackBerrys, and the specs were wrong (No, no storm has Wifi, you know who you are, my favorite Telco you!) Perhaps the lack of clarity in the product direction that that issue - a lack of causes innovation. I mean, how easy is it to come with new features when the target platform keeps changing? I found an old BlackBerry to around 7-Series. After managing to find even third variant of the USB connector cable and load it up, lo and behold, the 3.x version of the OS and the interface is almost identical to that of my Vet the latest O / S. I think there is an old adage "If it is not broken, do not fix it", but that old saying is exactly that: old. There are many areas where time is made up and broken the BlackBerry, and shows its age. Web Browsing on a BlackBerry is about as pleasant as giving yourself a papercut and dip in lemon juice and salt. Compare this experience to the native web browsers on an iPhone, or even a Windows Mobile device, and the experience is clearly different. HTML e-mail is another area where time has tired the BlackBerry - also BlackBerry hardset I wanted to download e-mail based on images, I can not. And do not get me started on reducing the size of attachments - If I want to annex Download let me download. Streaming media, its time to get over. AJAX and Web 2.0 - it's more cutting edge. So, how long can Research In Motion keep serving up more cans Who-hash? Yesterdays software is not going to cut into the workplace of tomorrow. Hey, it is hardly cut it today. Steve Ollis is a self-professed geek, who is surprised that He gets paid for something he loves so much. His blog can be found at the IT Juggler
As with all holy wars, there is always two sides to the battle. Christians against Muslims in the Crusades. Catholics vs. Protestants in Ireland. Windows vs. Mac world. Ford vs. Holden (if you're Australian:). And, of course, BlackBerry vs iPhone. And, as everyone with expertise in a certain area, I constantly get asked "So what am I? a BlackBerry or iPhone?".
Personally I'm fairly IT device agnostic. If all you've ever used a hammer, it feels like the right tool for every job and every job is looking like a nail. And that is why I try to spend a considerable amount of time on each device before my personal choice. If I go into an agreement with telecom provider (another bad) for a minimum of 24 months than I want to ensure I choose the device that will fit my needs today, and I can type as they need to add in the future. In my 23-ish years in the IT industry I've learned a thing: no one device does everything for every person every time. This is particularly true in the PDA space.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls, RIM. It tolls for you. Death Clock is beaten. And unless RIM makes some dramatic changes, the BlackBerry will be downgraded to an "also ran" device. There are five areas that Research In Motion must quickly address before completely losing the battle to Apple.
Ask almost any random Joe or Josephine in the IT sector this question "Who is Steve Jobs?" and You are assured of an almost 100% correct response worldwide. Depending on which side of the Holy War you ask, would you also a mix of "savior", "miracle worker", "Satan in the flesh", or "the personification of evil. Now, Ask the sampling of the same people "What do Jim Balsillie?" and you get mostly empty cans outside the U.S. and Canada. You could possibly be an Earful of the American hockey fans, the Jim's attempt to take over the Phoenix Coyotes. RIM needs a public face, a picture to connect. A very quick Google search seems to show international whistle-stop tours of one of the top-RIM dogs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, nor is such information appearing on news from RIM or press release pages. Either Jim and Mike are afraid of flying, or their feet nailed to the floor. Or is it simply a lack of respect for the international market.
In fact, I tend to believe that it is this last factor, a lack of respect for the international market, the key cultural issue that RIM needs to address. On April 1, almost 5 months ago, the BlackBerry App World released to the world of BlackBerry users. Well, no, not really. Only if you're lucky to live in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. The App "World" was recently expanded with more European countries, but still no joy for anyone who lives in the southern hemisphere. Perhaps the world should be App name App hemisphere N. .. App or Nemesis. Even Apple has released the App Store in all countries where the iPhone was released. The App world must have been a great opportunity for the sale or distribution of BlackBerry-compatible applications, but no. App of the world would have been BlackBerry on a level playing field for consumers comparison between the iPhone and the BlackBerry, and providing a professionally managed repostiry. As it is, I have to hunt for new programs through Google or the many third blog sites. Ridiculous. Come on RIM! Release App World where you sell BlackBerries. Do it now. Or completely closed. And take a long, hard look at the tools for application development while at the BlackBerry.
The desktop management of the iPhone is another area that RIM really need to take a lesson from Apple. I'm no fan of iTunes, not the attempt to escape the designation of Safari as a mandatory update. But iTunes, on either PC or Mac, works same. You can integrate the synchronization of music, pictures, applications, whatever, and there is no implicit decision on your desktop OS of choice. There is a Mac version, there is a PC version. Oh and there is even open source versions of your favorite Linux derivative. But Operating System you use a BlackBerry to upgrade. Windows. And even with The latest version of software tools upgrade, what browser you use? Internet Explorer on Windows. Come on RIM. If you even half a grain of salt values of wisdom here had you could have written the last update tool for Firefox, which has at least run on Windows, Mac and Linux. I had not heard that Canada the land of Windows.
And while you in decision mode, how about you nail the products you are selling. Apple, theres the iPhone or 3G or 3G's. They look the same, works the same, performs the same software, same power adapters. RIM BlackBerry sells four styles - full keyboard, reduced keyboard, no keyboard, and the flip phone. Oh, and software for the Storm (no keyboard) will not easily run on something else. Oh, and just change the adapter of the new "standard". And the new features for each BlackBerry seems to depend on the phase of the moon, the availability of the Vestal Virgins, buckets of blood of goats, red candles, and a silver bell. Why, oh why, RIM, do not present all of your devices have 3G? Wireless? GPS? External SD Card slot? Flash on the camera? I understand the desire to have different products for different markets, but there are some things that just should be standardized and then left ALONE! You're just making it harder for your internal Control systems development teams. Choose a standard feature set, and then stick to it. If it's hard for me to recommend who should get BlackBerry then be almost impossible for the telcos that they sell. Recently, an Australian telco had a large advertisement in a newspaper for BlackBerrys, and the specs were wrong (No, the storm has no Wifi, you know who you are, my favorite Telco you!)
Perhaps the lack of clarity in product direction that the latter problem - a lack of innovation causes. I mean, how easy it is to come with new features when the target platform keeps changing? I found an old 7-series BlackBerry on about. After managing to find even one third variant of the USB connector cable and load it up, lo and behold, the 3.x version of the OS and the interface is almost identical to that of my Vet the latest O / S. I think there is that old adage "If it not broken, do not fix it ", but that old saying is exactly that: old. There are many areas where time is made up and broken the BlackBerry, and shows its age. Web Browsing on a BlackBerry is about as pleasant as giving yourself a papercut and dip in lemon juice and salt. Compare this experience to the native web browsers on iPhone, or even a Windows Mobile device, and the experience is clearly different. HTML e-mail is another area where time has tired the BlackBerry - even if I wanted hardset for the BlackBerry downloading e-mail based on images, I can not. And do not get me started on reducing the size of attachments - If I want to download the attachment let me download. Streaming media, its time to get over. AJAX and Web 2.0 - it is no longer cutting edge.
So, how long can Research In Motion keep serving up more cans of Who-hash? Yesterdays software is not going to cut into the workplace of tomorrow. Hey, it's hardly cutting today.
Steve Ollis is a self-professed geek, who is surprised that He paid for something he loves so much. His blog can be found at the IT Juggler
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