RIM CEO: 'There's Nothing Wrong With the Company' 230
redletterdave writes "Research In Motion is in trouble. The BlackBerry maker has been suffering from an identity crisis for the last six months, which has resulted in mass layoffs, lots of job shuffling, dramatic drop-offs in market share and a quickly decaying portfolio for investors. But not according to Thorsten Heins! The newly-appointed CEO published an op-ed in the Toronto Globe and Mail on Tuesday, and also appeared on a radio program the same morning, to deliver one message: 'There's nothing wrong with the company as it exists right now.'"
Monty Python references, please! (Score:5, Funny)
"I'm not dead yet... I'm happpeeeeeeee!"
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We Are A PERFECTLY GOOD Company (Score:3)
It is only our PHONES that SUCK.
Re:We Are A PERFECTLY GOOD Company (Score:4, Insightful)
Want email AND contacts AND calendar? Well, then BlackBerry server is for you. It is another item your corporation has to sink money into and IT resources in.
What? Your phone lost connectivity to our server? Well, the fix is simple! A security wipe of the phone and a reset of your Blackberry server account by your IT will do the trick!
Nothing could be more simple!
Had an app you needed for work on the phone? Well, lets hope you backed it up, or your organization will have to pay for it again.
No other email service offers remote wipe like we do. Oh wait, they do? Well, we also offer encryption, wait they do natively?
What about our cool mouseball, no one else has that patented feature! Or our mini-thumb-track system, which is so annoying only the pains in your thumb know it is the real thing!
WEEEEEE!
Yeah... they were doomed when smart phones started supporting Exchange.
Re:We Are A PERFECTLY GOOD Company (Score:5, Funny)
The only solution is for Microsoft to acquire RIM.
Then, the shitstorm will be perfect.
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Yeah, it's not a spiral. It's more of a straight line, right down the drain.
Re:Monty Python references, please! (Score:5, Funny)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4
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We're just pining for the fjords of Norway!
o.O (Score:2)
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You mean except for the partwhere he never said what was attributed to him in the summary?
Oh? (Score:2)
CEO: "But this ship can't sink!"
CFO: "She's made of iron, sir! I assure you, she can... and she will. It is a mathematical certainty."
CEO (to shareholders and public): " Everything will be juuuuuust fine, folks! "
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Then it was off to the bar for his usual afternoon rounds of Maalox martinis and his gin and Alka-Seltzer.
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Read your signature as part of the conversation, wasn't out of place.
Denial (Score:5, Funny)
Why am I reminded of the Iraqi Propaganda Minister?
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Both the Holy Grail and Baghdad Bob...
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I was reminded of the President saying the private sector is doing fine.
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If you look at public hiring vs. private hiring, it's actually not doing too bad:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6tijg8WBl30/T2VQ7JzycYI/AAAAAAAAMd0/It-UpJrEni0/s1600/YoYChangePayrollFeb2012.jpg [blogspot.com]
Although it's still worse than other recessions.
Re:Denial (Score:4, Funny)
It sounds like he is stuck on step one on the "12 Steps For Fucked Companies Program." Step one, admitting that your company is fucked.
"Hi, my name is Thorsten, and my company is like totally fucked."
Now, what is step two . . . ?
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Re:Denial (Score:5, Insightful)
Because you believe the media's portrayal of RIM -- a company with no debt, $2 billion in assets, positive cash flow, extensive global market share in enterprise and military markets, and a newly reshuffled leadership and pared-down workforce -- as hopelessly crippled merely because they're losing market share in the US consumer market, an area where they have never been a stellar performer.
People said the same thing about Apple not that long ago, and that demise seemed at least as imminent, if not more.
That said, RIM has done a spectacularly bad job of marketing itself, which only fuels the fires of the doom-sayers. And the decision to delay the release of their new phones until after the gloriously profitable Christmas season because they want to make sure that the new OS integrates seamlessly with embedded systems in cars which don't yet exist has to be one of the stupidest strategic moves in modern business history, right up there with New Coke.
But RIM's self-defeating strategic, tactical, and marketing debacles aside, the reports of its death really are quite exaggerated.
Re:Denial (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't confuse them with facts. The Slashdot parrots need memes. Facts tempt them to reason and form options, a sin of the highest order.
Try this instead: "Huur! Durrr! RIM is teh dead! Everything they've ever done sucked, lol!" -- That'll even get an AC a +5 Insightful.
Re:Denial (Score:5, Funny)
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If they were, they'd be doing well. Which they obviously aren't.
Nonsense.
I don't know how many posters here have told me that just having the better technology isn't enough and point out the zillions of superior technologies that have flopped in the market. Now I get this, the other side, that says that having the superior technology is a guarantee of success!
Besides, RIMs user-base is still growing (every quarter, there are MORE blackberry users than the previous quarter, not less.) What's hurting RIM in NA are their poor marketing and training efforts, not their tec
But there is no plausible future (Score:3)
RIM has yet to present any vision where it has a plausible future as anything but, at best, a marginal maker of nice "feature phones", and even that's unlikely, given their cost structure. Yes, they have cash on hand now, but what good is it doing them? What can they invest it in, beyond the new software, to rescue the company from the death spiral? RIM is in the same boat as Nokia right now, only without the MS-funded lifeline; they are a company with an expensive cost structure selling a shitload of ph
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Also, their marketshare is dropping like a rock. It is almost unbelievable how quickly people have stopped buying blackberries. And I say that as someone who likes Blackberries.
Re:Denial (Score:5, Informative)
Let's see...
- Smartphone market share that's been dropping like a stone? Check
- Quarterly losses reported? Check
- Large layoffs? Check
- Other providers offering remote wipe, encryption of the devices that users love? Check
- IT departments begrudgingly allowing users to bring their own phones instead of buying a BB for each and every user? Check
- Messaging service, that was supposed to take like a wildfire on other devices "because everyone wants BB Messaging" failing to catch on? Check
- PlayBook, that was supposed to be mega-popular with everyone who had BB device failing to sell, costing company shitload of money? Check
- New Holy Grail Operating System Demo having just one "major sexy feature" which is a camera feature? Check (bonus - made by company that ended up being bought by Nokia)
- That very same Holy Grail Operating System being delayed, thus no phones in the biggest holiday shopping season? Check
- New release timeframe being after new iPhone 5 and way after Android Jelly Bean and thus playing catch-up? Check
Am I missing something? RIM seems to be super-widely off-mark, been off-mark ever since the situation in consumer smart-phones changed enough to require some sort of a response, and so far everything that they can say is "our next product is surely to be a hit" and coast on the current one. Um... oookay....
Bonus: remember what RIM said about switching platforms? "No other technology company other than Apple has successfully transitioned their platform. It's almost never done, and it's way harder than you realise. This transition is where tech companies go to die." Balsillie, April 2011. (see here [guardian.co.uk]). And now they're switching platforms. Do I believe RIM 2011 or RIM 2012?
Sure, it's not dead just yet. But they're not in a "death spiral", they are in a "death nosedive" and keep on firing thrusters to the max. Unless they provide a new super-phone now (and not in half a year with, I bet, yet another "but we really-really need to make sure everything is polished so we delay until Q2 2013" announcement coming in January) the only way is down. Less market share, less interesting products. They could probably survive by cutting staff as much as possible, dropping to 1% of market share and not even try to make phones for non-military use. But that would be a different company.
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Why am I reminded of the Iraqi Propaganda Minister?
“The Apple infidels are committing suicide at the gates of ...” ... wait, let me check where they're incorporated ... ...
Wait, what? “Waterloo”? God, this is the good stuff
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"We have destroyed 2 tanks, fighter planes, 2 helicopters and their shovels - We have driven them back."
I think we were pretty much finished off when our shovels were destroyed.
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"We have destroyed 2 tanks, fighter planes, 2 helicopters and their shovels - We have driven them back."
I think we were pretty much finished off when our shovels were destroyed.
Although, to be fair, he got work fairly quickly when he hung the "Mission Accomplished" banner for Bush.
RIM .. no problem (Score:3)
They're as good at positioning and marketing in the mobile information technology market as Microsoft is in the on-line advertising market.
Of course (Score:2)
Of course he's going to say that, he's the CEO and he's expected to say that.
Coming out and saying "we're screwed" may be technically more accurate - but it'll only hasten the demise of the company even more. Who knows? Maybe BB10 is amazing - but if he says anything other than "we're doing just fine" then he's running the risk of his careless talk meaning that it'll never ever see the light of day.
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Of course he's going to say that, he's the CEO and he's expected to say that.
A good CEO in this situation would say rah-rah things like "Our team has great people working hard on our brilliant strategy to return to market dominance" or somesuch. Yes, a CEO should be eyeing a pie the sky but the given quote is head in the sand.
The next Blackberry ad (Score:3)
"I'm Thorsten Heins! Try our new Blackberry. I liked the phone so much - I bought the company!"
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I wonder if anyone remembers that old Remington shaver ad? A lot of people weren't even born yet.
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Unfortunately, I'm old enough that I was in the target demographic for that ad...
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I bought the company!
Given the way their stock price is headed, all lot of folks will be able to buy the company, like, real soon.
"Nothing Wrong" (Score:3)
Sure, there's nothing wrong with RIM. You could argue that. Just as you could argue with any company that's seen their market disappear from under them due to inaction. If things simply hadn't changed, they'd still be rolling along nicely.
But that's the problem: Things change.
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That's the Apple reply. Moron customers, always holding their products wrong...
Sensationalist Headline (Score:5, Informative)
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Well, there's "hopeful for future", and there's "blowing sunshine up the market's and shareholders' collective asses".
History will tell which is which in this case.
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It honestly doesn't read like that. As the GP said, it's a very sensationalist headline. It'd be more accurate to say that the CEO takes the view that there is nothing wrong with the company that cannot be fixed.
They don't have any debt, they still have revenue and while they have problems, there's plans in place to deal with them.
Something is wrong (Score:4, Insightful)
Well I think we just found one thing wrong with the company: The CEO is delusional, a liar, or both.
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Wrong?
Both are required for any modern CEO.
Investors disagree (Score:3)
I feel for RIM... I really do... this whole iphone thing has f'ed them. And the android isn't helping... and a resurgent interest in smartphones by microsoft is just more bad news.
The competition for the smartphone has increased exponentially and RIM might well not have a place in the future of it.
I don't see how they compete with the cool factor of the iphone or the adaptability of the android.
They still have a pretty solid lock on having the most secure phones but how long is that going to last? And more importantly, will the IT departments that care be able to enforce a RIM only standard over the cries of "But I want an iphone!!!"
The whole situation is pretty desperate and I don't know how RIM gets out of it.
The G&M is a national newspaper (Score:2)
Slightly off-topic, but to avoid making Toronto even more of the center of the Canadian universe than it already is...
The Globe & Mail is only a Toronto newspaper insofar as it's published in Toronto and is utterly obsessed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It would be much more appropriate to label it a national newspaper, as it's read and distributed throughout Canada, and attempts (not always successfully) to provide a balanced perspective from all regions.
Hello, Mr Iraqi Minister (Score:2)
http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/images/07-minister.jpg [welovethei...nister.com]
Could be worse... (Score:2)
At least he didn't announce, "Good news! The company is now safe. Microsoft has decided to invest $1bn in RIM"...
Phillip.
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Soon. (Score:2)
And there'll be nothing wrong with the company as it won't exist in the near future.
Thorsten Heins, Pharaoh of Both Egypts (Score:3)
It's lonely at nation's only BlackBerry store (Score:2)
Those alarms must be the everything is ok alarm (Score:2)
Hard to regain lost market (Score:2)
The brilliant thing about apps, from a manufacturer's perspective, is they lock the consumer into using a particular platform. Apple users are reluctant to abandon their app libraries, as are Android users. Folks who have already left RIM for the others over the past couple of years won't be be coming back without something really extraordinary coming from RIM. Which does not appear likely. At best they can hope to mitigate the exodus in order to buy enough time to win some market share back. Personally, I
False material statement (Score:2)
CEO doing what he is good at (Score:2)
There's Nothing Wrong With the Company... (Score:2)
...that the bankruptcy courts can't fix.
Of course (Score:2)
And then he leapt onto his mighty unipeg and flew off into the night shouting "second star to the right and straight on till morning!".
RIM will rise again. (Score:5, Interesting)
...although I doubt they'll ever rise back to pre-iPhone prominence.
Allow me to preface this by noting that I'm not a fan of RIM's current devices or software. I don't own a Blackberry, or any other cell phone for that matter (I truly have no desire to talk to on the phone. I have a 3G iPad and an iPod touch for messaging and Internet access). I find their phones uninspired, and their existing OS lineup and development environment to be highly fragmented, with older OS based devices often available at the same time as newer OS based devices, and little upgradability to newer OS's on older devices -- not exactly the most developer-friendly sort of environment.
I'm also not a fan of how they cow-tow to carriers, particularly here in North America. Specifically here in Canada (RIM's home country), newer phones and devices are often available elsewhere first, and Canadians frequently have to wait months for newer models to be made available, after they've already launched elsewhere.
All that being said, RIM still has over $2 billion sitting in the bank, and they still have a lot of talented people, and own some impressive technologies. I was particularly heartened when I had heard they bought QNX Software Solutions. QNX is quite the powerhouse of an OS that most PC users aren't familiar with, but which has made quite the name for itself in the embedded space as an efficient and extremely stable microkernel based RTOS (Real Time OS) which has powered PC's, vehicles telematics systems, and carrier grade routers, along with a variety of industrial embedded systems. In short, it's an excellent OS for driving smart phones and tablets.
So RIM has the money, they have the technology, and they have the talent -- and now they have an excellent POSIX compliant OS to base their devices off. I think they're in the right space -- assuming they can execute successfully. They really need to get their software game up, make the OS front and centre, provide best-of-breed development tools and systems, and wean themselves off the idea that the carriers are their device customers. Where Apple really succeeded with the iPhones was in their being able to tell carriers how things were going to work, and in many regions selling their devices directly to customers completely unlocked (which was a real breath of fresh air here in Canada), cutting the carriers out of the loop when it came to device features and functionality. RIM needs to play hardball with the carriers, and if the carriers don't want to play by their ground rules, they too needs to sell unlocked devices directly to consumers, so that their biggest fans don't have to wait for nearly a year (or more) to get the latest and greatest devices. And if they're not going to take older devices out of the sales channels as soon as they're replaced, they at least need to ensure those devices can be upgraded to the latest OS (i.e.: they shouldn't be permitting the retail sale of new devices that can't run the latest and greatest OS. A mishmash of BB OS options available simultaneously on new devices isn't good for a software ecosystem).
If they can do those things, they have all the things they need to persevere and even return to some form of prominence. Their devices could be great and even desirable once more, and even the Playbook could find a useful niche. But they have to get their software strategy on track, based on a standard OS core across devices and device families, make it friendly and easy to develop for, and start putting the end-user first, and the carriers second. Then they'll be able to produce devices more people will actually want.
As such, I don't feel the death spiral is inevitable. The pieces are all there for them to get back on track, and as a Canadian I hope they get their development plans in order, get the right people working on the right projects, and execute a smart plan to make devices people want to own.
Yaz
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I wish I had points to mod you up. The writing is most definitely NOT on the wall. They have a chance to redeem themselves with their new line of phones based on QNX and their new mobile management server software appears to be very promising. We'll know by next summer.
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RIM have a strategy, at least, with QNX, Qt and HTML5 plus android app player.
We should at least give them credit for trying where HP (pre 3) & Nokia (n9) abandoned their dreams.
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Right! Where would any of these devices be without the carriers? And just because it worked for Apple, because there was pent up demand for something new, doesn't mean RIM can be successful with a similar attempt, after Apple and Android have sucked up so many customers.
I think that RIM has to do it precisely because Apple did it. Apple changed the game by putting end-user interests first. The failings of RIM and others were in putting the carriers first, and high-end customers who go after smart phones now expect to be able to buy unlocked, new models on the day they are released, with little or no carrier-specific restrictions.
You have to go with end-user expectations. Go against those expectations, and people are going to go with the device that meets them. It is si
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Unlocked, carrier independent smartphones were common in many places around the world before Apple, pioneered by companies like Nokia. Given how long Apple's phones were carrier locked, all Apple really did was to replace one evil overpriced corporate master (AT&T) with another one (Apple). For the US, that may seem like an advantage, in the rest of the world it was a step back.
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Unlocked, carrier independent smartphones were common in many places around the world before Apple, pioneered by companies like Nokia. Given how long Apple's phones were carrier locked, all Apple really did was to replace one evil overpriced corporate master (AT&T) with another one (Apple). For the US, that may seem like an advantage, in the rest of the world it was a step back.
I never made any claim that Apple was the first to do this -- but they certainly popularized the concept in the minds of consumers, at least here in North America. And if you read back in the thread, you'll note I mentioned which country I live in (hint -- it's not the US).
Having spent quite a good bit of time in Europe and Asia these last few years, I'm well aware that in many countries, SIM unlocked phones are common. However, in regions where they aren't (like pretty much all of North America, no thank
Lord of All Mobile Email... (Score:2)
RIM had it once.
Then Apple opened up truly mobile computing and RIM didn't respond.
End of story.
Great phones with crippling permissions (Score:2)
Shitty phones may be the problem. (Score:2)
There is something wrong with the company. They produce phones with minimal storage, especially for applications, and outdated interfaces. The browser is especially terrible.
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Curious why you say the browser is terrible? It's a webkit browser and compliance wise ranks among the top mobile browsers out there.
Usually statements like these indicate that someone has had experience with a device from a couple-few years ago - os5 or earlier -and hasn't ever looked back at the platform since.
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I had a Blackberry Torch 9800 for 2 years and switched to a Samsung Galaxy S2 in March. I was really sad to lose BBM and the physical keyboard, but I find that I like the Galaxy a lot.
My main problem with the browser stems from the phone's hardware now that I think about it actually. The browser was constantly asking me to close pages because it "ran out of memory". Interestingly enough this happened most on Slashdot, but wasn't limited to just this site. Pretty much any graphically intense page also had
We must not allow a mine shaft gap! (Score:2)
I basically see a lot of this [youtube.com] happening right now.
That guy gives me the creeps. (Score:2)
I forget... (Score:2)
Denial comes before anger and acceptance, right?
Or, in this case perhaps, denial comes before the golden parachute.
Reminds me of the scene in Airplane (Score:2)
Re:CEO's job is to sell... (Score:5, Interesting)
Maybe it's better to have a credible CEO who says things are going poorly than an untrustworthy CEO?
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Those are big promises, I know; and some doubt whether RIM can pull it off. I am the first to admit that RIM has missed on important trends in the smart-phone industry - especially in the consumer domain, focusing on its core value system for successful products and services. We are working diligently on BlackBerry 10 in order to provide a compelling experience for our loyal enterprise customers and consumers. While we are in a very competitive and constantly changing market, customers benefit from this competition and continued innovation.
Which sounds just like a normal PR.
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"We're fully behind yet another software release that nobody will care about, nor will have any impact on the company's future success.
Nobody cares RIM. Unless you're working to get android on your hardware, you might as well pack it up and go home right now.
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Unless you're working to get android on your hardware, you might as well pack it up and go home right now.
Yeah, being a "me too" player in a crowded market with a second-rate OS is a great plan. A shame that they're sticking with the most advanced mobile OS in the industry. That'll kill 'em to be sure...
Honestly, what on earth could possibly make you think moving to Android would be a good move for RIM?
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Unless you're working to get android on your hardware, you might as well pack it up and go home right now.
Yeah, being a "me too" player in a crowded market with a second-rate OS is a great plan. A shame that they're sticking with the most advanced mobile OS in the industry. That'll kill 'em to be sure...
Honestly, what on earth could possibly make you think moving to Android would be a good move for RIM?
You're right. I don't think anything can be a good move at that point. It's just over.
Re:CEO's job is to sell... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:CEO's job is to sell... (Score:5, Informative)
As we prepare to launch our new mobile platform, BlackBerry 10, in the first quarter of next year, we expect to empower people as never before...am the first to admit that RIM has missed on important trends in the smart-phone industry...RIM is undertaking a corporate overhaul that we expect will reduce annual operating expenses by more than $1-billion by the end of our fiscal year...
I read that to mean pretty much what you think a good CEO should say.
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I read that to mean pretty much what you think a good CEO should say.
^ this. No where did he say nothing was wrong, everything is fine. He said they are reducing expenses, launching a new platform, and new products, etc, etc, etc.
That's the opposite of saying nothing is wrong.
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A CEO is a salesman, not an auditor or an engineer. Sure they will not deny the obvious (or what they are legally bound to disclose), but they will hide non-obvious right until they file for chapter 11 : first, that would be idiotic to expose your weaknesses to your competitor and secondly the CEO, as a leader, need to keep its troupe focused and motivated.
Seriously, what good would that do if he said: we are aware of the problem and made lot of changes, however, there is little chance it will work out a
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The last time I saw this much press about a tech company swirling around the drain, it was Apple in the mid-to-late 90s. There's a huge contrast between Jobs' approach in interviews and keynote addresses right after his return to Apple and what we're seeing here (this guy is reminding me of Gil Amelio, the CEO of Apple that preceded Jobs' return). Jobs was up front about the fact that the board of directors was almost entirely abysmal, that their executive team had become a wreck, and that they had too many
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> RIM can still recover, but it needs to stop flailing and actually
> start swimming in a direction.
I'd recommend they swim away from the burning oil platform. There's nothing but "fail" back that way.
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When do his options vest? He'll keep applying the duck tape and whitewash until that happens.
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Some small differences:
Apple in 1997 actually had a viable roadmap, and succeeded. They also completely shook out the incompetent CEO once Jobs came back.
Microsoft in 2006 had a metric shitload of money still sitting in the bank, and a lock on the desktop.
It is possible for a business to come back from the brink, but RIM has shown absolutely no sign that they'll be a business that does so. All they really have coming up is BlackBerryOS 10, and even that's not much to trumpet, considering the far more fluid
Re:Well considering (Score:5, Interesting)
It is possible for a business to come back from the brink, but RIM has shown absolutely no sign that they'll be a business that does so. All they really have coming up is BlackBerryOS 10
You're obviously unaware of what RIM is doing except for what the doomsayers are trumpeting. RIM understands the work/life balance issue and the paradigm shift away from a work provided device to the BYOD [wikipedia.org] model. Despite this companies still have to be able to keep their data secure. RIM has introduced two new technologies recently to address these issues. BlckBerry Mobile Fusion [blackberry.com] is RIM's replacement for the BES/BIS. Mobile Fusion allows an enterprise to manage thousands of devices running anything from BB OS to Android to iOS all from one web console. In case you were wondering RIM has indeed incorporated ActiveSync connectivity into their repertoire. The second thing RIM has introduced is called BlackBerry Balance [blackberry.com] which let's you keep your pictures of your family vacation and the slides of your upcoming presentation on the same device while being secured separately. With this technology you can walk into a new job with your own device and get it activated on their BES/BIS/Mobile Fusion server and it will create a secure work related partition on the device separate from your personal data. When you leave the company they simply wipe the work partition remotely leaving your personal data intact.
I'm sure you're probably saying that won't be enough to save them and you are right it won't which is why they are making the switch to BB OS 10. A lot of people are asking...even demanding that RIM just adopt Android and move on but as is evidenced in the market today none of the players in the Android space are making any money except for Samsung and they are making money on the handsets they sell as well as the chips they sell to their competitors.And despite the death knells being sounded by every industry "expert" developers are still lining up every day to develop for the PlayBook/ BB OS 10 because the few people using the PlayBook are actually paying to get the apps they want unlike the majority of Android users who want their apps to be free.Do they have a tough road ahead? Hell yes but considering they still sold more handsets in 1Q 2012 then they did in 1Q 2009 despite the RIM faithful all holding out for a BB 10 device I'd say they are far from toast. Most government agencies can't even consider another device because there aren't any that are FIPS 140-2 validated. There are a few here and there and there are third party solutions to make devices secure but they are far from optimal. We have a program where I work where they bolt on a security layer to iOS to meet the security standards and it is the biggest PITA I have ever experienced. Not to mention cumbersome and intrusive. Even people here who love their Apple device can't stand using it to access the network because of the hoops they have to jump through.
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corporate IT doesn't get to make purchasing decisions, the end users get to make those decisions,
Actually corporate IT makes the purchasing decisions BASED on the criteria set forth by the business. In most mid to large size business that criteria is vetted through some type of security/legal department to mitigate problems before they can happen. If the business says we want iPhones then by the time IT gets involved the request is more like We must identify any and all possible attack vectors that might be exploited on the iOS platform and shore them up either through third party software or hardw
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You're obviously unaware of what RIM is doing except for what the doomsayers are trumpeting. RIM understands the work/life balance issue and the paradigm shift away from a work provided device to the BYOD [wikipedia.org] model.
Honest question here... do you work for them? I ask because honestly, that's not what I was shooting for when I wrote what I did. When I'm saying is that RIM has nothing coming that will make the world at large sit up and take notice. Nothing. A BES bolt-on and a pseudo-VM/app thingy isn't going to make the public cream their pants and line up for hours to buy it, like they would a new iPhone. It isn't going to make gadget-heads stumble over each other trying to get their hands on one, like a high-end Andro
Re:Well considering (Score:5, Funny)
Have you used one? There is no comparison.
After using a PB for any length of time, trying to use any Android or iOS device is like stepping back in time.
Apple uses know that "it's all about the experience". Well, RIM has that nailed as far as tablets are concerned, and all signs point to a revolutionary UI on the new BB10 handsets.
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. You actually did a decent write-up on BES before, but your posts about BB10 and PB do read like mindless fanboi drivel, unfortunately.
Yeah, I quit caring. Facts don't mean shit to anyone here. I'd rather not get in to a flame war over tedious, unimportant, issues with irrational idiots on slashdot.
I could compare their suite of gestures, for example, to iOS and Android but I'd just be wasting my time.
Now, with you specifically, I don't think I'll get anywhere. I don''t believe there is anything that I can write that could possibly sway you from your current position. I encourage you to take a second look at the PlayBook's UI and compa
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Their choice of locations speaks volumes...though it doesn't SELL volumes!
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Their CEO isn't very well plugged into reality. Somehow they went from being THE phone for business customers to going out of business in just a few short years. Bravo!
I'll bet he has a college degree.
He's only been CEO for six months. The problems didn't happen on his watch and he has an impossible task to fix them.
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they're betting it all on it, because that's all there is.
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Lol! Developers are flocking the the new platform, which is very developer friendly. RIM is also having a great deal of success with their developer outreach programs.
That is, the facts don't seem to support your assertion.
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I remember I had this discussion with a friend when RIM announced that the Playbook relied heavily on Flash.
That never happened. Well, the discussion may have happened, but he announcement never did.
Adobe AIR was one of several different ways to develop for their new platform, and still is, but the PlayBook does not and has never "relied heavily on Flash". Again, no announcement was ever made, that was all in your imagination.
On Flash:
However, having good flash support on the tablet is fantastic. Lots of sites are accessible to me that are not accessible on iOS (due to Apples hubris) or Android (due to shitty