Even as a BlackBerry fanboy, I have little hope for the future

[WelshBloke]

A product may be in high demand, but this doesn't mean it's not outdated. I only SMS people that have dumb phones.

Do you phone them first to ask what phone they are using?

 

[zerocool84]

I still send sms and mms messages to people probably because I've always had unlimited texting plans so I didn't have to worry. iMessage is obviously only good if you have an Apple device unless they make it for everyone and I highly doubt that. Not special at all just cool to have.

 

[Anubis]

with real 4G and LTE coming soon and the phone having just one data connection for data and voice is traditional SMS even going to be around? how much will the back end cost carriers to run to connect SMS from real 4G phones to old phones?

wouldn't be surprised if the carriers want something like imessage so they could concentrate on the next profit center which seems to be wifi hotspots/tethering

it already doesn't cost them shit, they will still charge you for it

 

[MrX8503]

I still send sms and mms messages to people probably because I've always had unlimited texting plans so I didn't have to worry. iMessage is obviously only good if you have an Apple device unless they make it for everyone and I highly doubt that. Not special at all just cool to have.

From what it seems like iMessage is going to be a transparent experience. All iOS5 users will receive iMessages while everyone else (iOS4 and below) will receive a plain SMS.

Think of iOS5 users as having an upgraded SMS application built in.

 

[foghorn67]

Honestly, what is there to argue about? Some forum members either didn't know the difference or claimed it was the same as SMS.

I'm simply stating that SMS != iMessage/BBM.



I got gchat mixed up with gvoice sms. Can gchat send videos, share locations?

Honestly, I rarely agree with you. Sometimes I do. But this is the first time I've seen argue for the sake of...arguing.

 

[zerocool84]

From what it seems like iMessage is going to be a transparent experience. All iOS5 users will receive iMessages while everyone else (iOS4 and below) will receive a plain SMS.

Think of iOS5 users as having an upgraded SMS application built in.

It's cool but if it was cross-platform it'd definitely be a killer app.

 

[rchiu]

Not an industry insider or expert, but I feel the demise of RIM is because iPhone and Android have evolved to general purpose gadget while RIM remains email/txt client. Sure RIM is great at what they do, but it's nice have a device with hundreds of thousands app to do all kinds of stuff.

That's why BB is losing market share, same with Nokia. Unless they have an open OS or large development resource behind like Apple, it will be hard to compete.

 

[silverpig]

RIM woke up and figured it out a while ago, it's just taking them a long time to rebuild and redefine their ecosystem. QNX based phones are coming out in 2012 and should rock. They'll get Playbook 2 right from the get-go, and they'll still have all their corporate clients.

Everyone says RIM is dead or dying. From what I understand, they are growing quickly and sell more and more devices every month. Marketshare-wise they are losing out, but that's because the market is being redefined. Joe Q Public didn't used to be in the market for a smartphone that could do email. Now he is.

 

[MrX8503]

It's cool but if it was cross-platform it'd definitely be a killer app.

If only Apple made their apps cross platform, but that would never happen.

I normally just find replacement apps such as Tango for facetime. Unfortunately there isn't a good 3rd party cross platform messaging app.

 

[silverpig]

If only Apple made their apps cross platform, but that would never happen.

I normally just find replacement apps such as Tango for facetime. Unfortunately there isn't a good 3rd party cross platform messaging app.

BBM is apparently coming to Android and maybe eventually iOS too...

 

[DivideBYZero]

RIM woke up and figured it out a while ago, it's just taking them a long time to rebuild and redefine their ecosystem. QNX based phones are coming out in 2012 and should rock. They'll get Playbook 2 right from the get-go, and they'll still have all their corporate clients.

Everyone says RIM is dead or dying. From what I understand, they are growing quickly and sell more and more devices every month. Marketshare-wise they are losing out, but that's because the market is being redefined. Joe Q Public didn't used to be in the market for a smartphone that could do email. Now he is.

Nobody has sung the praises of RIM more than me, even when in places such as this the baying mob would turn on you and mock for not being in their clique, but the delay for QNX will be long, the OS7 specific App scape will be sparse, due to the new GFX pipeline meaning apps need to be re-written to take advantage, all while devs really need to be concentrating on QNX based devices. It's going to be a very rocky 18 months, and as a consumer I cannot wait that long with my current device.

Sure they do well, hell, if I could run a corp that churned $8bn in profit per qtr I'd be a very happy man (I work for a corp that does $2bn in revenue per year to put that into perspective..!). Thing is that does little for me. I have to make a choice in the next three to four months on this platform, and yet it's going to change significantly, so I should wait, but that 18 month wait is just too long, and current products are not engaging me.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

RIM woke up and figured it out a while ago, it's just taking them a long time to rebuild and redefine their ecosystem. QNX based phones are coming out in 2012 and should rock. They'll get Playbook 2 right from the get-go, and they'll still have all their corporate clients.

Everyone says RIM is dead or dying. From what I understand, they are growing quickly and sell more and more devices every month. Marketshare-wise they are losing out, but that's because the market is being redefined. Joe Q Public didn't used to be in the market for a smartphone that could do email. Now he is.

They are selling more phones because of demand in the developing world. I believe their US sales are declining.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

RIM woke up and figured it out a while ago, it's just taking them a long time to rebuild and redefine their ecosystem. QNX based phones are coming out in 2012 and should rock. They'll get Playbook 2 right from the get-go, and they'll still have all their corporate clients.

Everyone says RIM is dead or dying. From what I understand, they are growing quickly and sell more and more devices every month. Marketshare-wise they are losing out, but that's because the market is being redefined. Joe Q Public didn't used to be in the market for a smartphone that could do email. Now he is.

But as more and more "BlackBerry features" come out on other platforms, why would you stay with RIM? What unique features do BlackBerries have over Android or iOS?

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Oh, one other thing about RIM and my old BB I loved.

It would last for DAYS on one charge in it's sleeve/case thing. Throw it in there and I could easily pull 2-3 days on one charge with same use as my Droid. With my Droid, and SetCPU underclocking it when the screen is off which is most of the time, I barely get 1 day out of it.

I really do miss my BB , too bad they don't really have anything compelling out IMHO.

 

[silverpig]

But as more and more "BlackBerry features" come out on other platforms, why would you stay with RIM? What unique features do BlackBerries have over Android or iOS?

I'll be starting a job at a RIM-only shop

I played with the Playbook and to be honest I was very impressed with the UI and how things run on it. Yes, it's not quite ready for prime time yet, but they have a very good start.

 

[Deeko]

Nobody has sung the praises of RIM more than me, even when in places such as this the baying mob would turn on you and mock for not being in their clique, but the delay for QNX will be long, the OS7 specific App scape will be sparse, due to the new GFX pipeline meaning apps need to be re-written to take advantage, all while devs really need to be concentrating on QNX based devices. It's going to be a very rocky 18 months, and as a consumer I cannot wait that long with my current device.

Sure they do well, hell, if I could run a corp that churned $8bn in profit per qtr I'd be a very happy man (I work for a corp that does $2bn in revenue per year to put that into perspective..!). Thing is that does little for me. I have to make a choice in the next three to four months on this platform, and yet it's going to change significantly, so I should wait, but that 18 month wait is just too long, and current products are not engaging me.

That's the thing, though. RIM has potential to turn things around - their 2011 lineup is a huge step up from last year, and just about everyone that touches it sings the praises of QNX.

Two other members of the "old guard" recently did what RIM is doing with QNX. One failed, one is still going. What's the difference between them? Palm was broke, Microsoft has more money than they know what to do with. RIM, despite faltering market shares, is much closer to Microsoft's position. Sure, it may take 12-18 months you said before they have a compelling, cutting-edge, QNX-based lineup...but they've got the cash to weather that storm.

RIM isn't going anywhere anytime soon. They certainly have work to do, but their strength in corporate and emerging markets is enough to keep them profitable for quite some time.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

That's the thing, though. RIM has potential to turn things around - their 2011 lineup is a huge step up from last year, and just about everyone that touches it sings the praises of QNX.

Two other members of the "old guard" recently did what RIM is doing with QNX. One failed, one is still going. What's the difference between them? Palm was broke, Microsoft has more money than they know what to do with. RIM, despite faltering market shares, is much closer to Microsoft's position. Sure, it may take 12-18 months you said before they have a compelling, cutting-edge, QNX-based lineup...but they've got the cash to weather that storm.

RIM isn't going anywhere anytime soon. They certainly have work to do, but their strength in corporate and emerging markets is enough to keep them profitable for quite some time.

Microsoft has 6% market share after spending $500 million on marketing and who knows how much developing the OS. That's hardly a model anyone wants to emulate.

 

[Deeko]

Microsoft has 6% market share after spending $500 million on marketing and who knows how much developing the OS. That's hardly a model anyone wants to emulate.

Microsoft has a solid product with fantastic customer approval ratings, a rapidly growing app market, and the money for the long haul. The last point is key - Microsoft can afford to make this a marathon, not a sprint. RIM does too. Palm did not. This is why, despite building a solid product in WebOS, Palm failed.

 

[MrX8503]

Microsoft has 6% market share after spending $500 million on marketing and who knows how much developing the OS. That's hardly a model anyone wants to emulate.

These things take time. It'll be an uphill battle for MS, but they got the cash to do it. Apple really pulled the rug from under Nokia, RIM, and MS. These 3 giants use to rule the mobile space and now they scambling around. I really think the AppStore is what did everyone in. Smartphones has never seen such leaps and bounds since the launch of the iPhone in 2007.

I'm sure iOS and Android will continue their spotlight for at least another 3yrs before WP7, webOS, and BBOS are competitive. Remember that even giants fall, such as Symbian.

 

[mammador]

Do you phone them first to ask what phone they are using?

If it's somebody I know well then no, I already know what type of phone they have.

 

[Munky]

it may be seconds, but if you are having a live interaction with someone, it is much easier to do this:

see message
type response
hit enter

than it is to do this:
see email
click email
click reply
type message
click send


also if you do a lot of chatting with people in other countries, the lag on email can indeed be a minute or two

Not much different from:

see sms
type response
hit send

And if you want even more "realtime" communication, there are various IM clients for Google and other services available on various phones other than BB or Apple.

 

[vshah]

Not much different from:

see sms
type response
hit send

And if you want even more "realtime" communication, there are various IM clients for Google and other services available on various phones other than BB or Apple.

right, i was comparing gchat/bbm/imessage/sms style interactions with email, which is a few more clicks on pretty much every platform.

 

[MrX8503]

Not much different from:

see sms
type response
hit send

And if you want even more "realtime" communication, there are various IM clients for Google and other services available on various phones other than BB or Apple.

I've had a conversation with someone over SMS and all of sudden they stopped responding because they got sidetracked with something and forgot about the SMS.

With SMS, I don't know if this person has read it, ignored it, doesn't want to reply, etc. With iMessage/BBM, this mystery becomes a non issue.

 

[BeauJangles]

I'm sure iOS and Android will continue their spotlight for at least another 3yrs before WP7, webOS, and BBOS are competitive. Remember that even giants fall, such as Symbian.

Windows Phone is going to become a player, mostly because it's a solid product that out-of-the-box has fantastic integration with Xbox Live (for gamers) and Office (for corp.). RIM is in trouble because they've fallen out of the consumer's eye and their only even vaguely successful release was the Playbook. Their corporate relationship is being hammered away at by Apple and Microsoft, but more importantly, their hardware has fallen way behind.

Bad hardware combined with surcharges and topped off with absolutely abominable app support is what is killing RIM. They are the last company to receive apps, if they ever receive them, and their apps are more expensive than on either iOS or Android. That is mostly due to the fact that RIM regularly changes the API of its OS and because apps need to support a whole lot of different devices and specifications -- touchscreen / no touch, GPS / no gps, Wifi, form factor, etc.

In June of 2010, Apple had 20 times more app downloads than Blackberry, despite BB having a larger market share than either Apple or Google. Apps are driving people away from RIM.

 

[Deeko]

In June of 2010, Apple had 20 times more app downloads than Blackberry, despite BB having a larger market share than either Apple or Google. Apps are driving people away from RIM.

Well, Apple crushes everyone in terms of app revenue, including Android. Intriguingly, Blackberry actually does quite well in terms of App Revenue, compared to total number of apps available and downloads. For whatever reason (maybe their corporate ties?), Blackberry users are a lot more likely to purchase an app than download the free version.