Holy crap, have you seen this open letter from a RIM employee?

[dougp]

So they gave him a free phone and offered to pay for the service, but only if it was a Microsoft device? That's a MUCH different story than him "having to give up" the iPhone, or even denying non-MS phones access to corporate email. I stand by my statement earlier.

Microsoft, Google, Apple, HP or otherwise, if the company's paying your phone bill, they have every right to tell you what kind of phone to use if you want to take advantage of that policy. This is true at a lot of companies, and not just the OS giants. This isn't Microsoft ordering people to get rid of their iPhones.

Funny, my company gives me a monthly allowance for a cell phone, yet doesn't tell me what to use ...

And I have no idea if MS allows non-corporate devices to connect to their Exchange, so you'd just be speculating.

 

[kubani1]

I'm not apple hating, I get along with apple. Its just that letter, while the points he/she made are accurate, reads like an applephanboi. If its an open letter, reveal the name. Otherwise its just propaganda for the sake on shining on apple.

Now, if RIM has any business brain cells left they should sell their tech (email) to the highest bidder and reap $$$ from licensing. They, IMO, are too late for devices to save their ass. One thing RIM does and still does better than anyone else is email. So, sell the tech, remain alive financially, take a couple of years and to some R&D and maybe then come out with a competing product.

if the way the letter reads is accurate, revealing his name could get him in trouble, this way he is safe and he still gets to light a fire under his company's ass, but yes, apple is mentioned too often without the mention of android, although apple is the most similar company, so that might be part of it.

i think BB could still come back, a lot of people still have their devices, and they have some good things going for them, they just need to be patient and deliver one killer product to get them back into the swing of things.

no one likes a premature launch, and yes i mean that in every possible way.

 

[Oyeve]

Me thinks you are way too paranoid.

There is absolutely no way this person could be disgruntled with RIMM and actually, shocking I know, admire the way another company works? Noo, this is a piece of propaganda inserted by apple!!

Give me a break.

Cheezy, CTFO, no one said apple sent this.

 

[Sheep]

Funny, my company gives me a monthly allowance for a cell phone, yet doesn't tell me what to use ...

And I have no idea if MS allows non-corporate devices to connect to their Exchange, so you'd just be speculating.

My company has a deal with Sprint. If you're at a relatively high level and want the company to pay for your phone and data service, you have to use a Sprint device that's on the "approved" list so that IT can support it. You're welcome to use other devices on other networks but the company makes it clear that they have no obligation to pay for it or provide technical support for it.

Microsoft not allowing non-corporate devices to connect to their Exchange server is not the same as "get rid of your iPhone and use a WP7 device". You're the one speculating that they have some evil edict out indicating their employees can't use non-Microsoft phones.

 

[dougp]

My company has a deal with Sprint. If you're at a relatively high level and want the company to pay for your phone and data service, you have to use a Sprint device that's on the "approved" list so that IT can support it. You're welcome to use other devices on other networks but the company makes it clear that they have no obligation to pay for it or provide technical support for it.

Microsoft not allowing non-corporate devices to connect to their Exchange server is not the same as "get rid of your iPhone and use a WP7 device". You're the one speculating that they have some evil edict out indicating their employees can't use non-Microsoft phones.

Not really, it's my friend that made it seem that way.

 

[Deeko]

Funny, my company gives me a monthly allowance for a cell phone, yet doesn't tell me what to use ...

And I have no idea if MS allows non-corporate devices to connect to their Exchange, so you'd just be speculating.

Does your company make cell phones or mobile operating systems? If so, that's rare, not the rule.

If a company is paying for both the phone and the service, I'd say that regardless of their reasoning, they're perfectly justified in dictating which devices are available.

 

[purbeast0]

Uh no, I'm pretty sure when they said they'd pay for his phone bill, it was only if he'd change devices. Granted, he didn't have to pay for the device, but he had to switch in order to get the $.

umm ... thats pretty much what Deeko said.

 

[MrX8503]

25 million iPad users don’t care that it doesn’t have Flash or true multitasking, so why make that a focus in our campaigns? I’ll answer that for you: it’s because that’s all that differentiates our products and its lazy marketing. I’ve never seen someone buy product B because it has something product A doesn’t have. People buy product B because they want and lust after product B.

Also an important note regarding our marketing: a product’s technical superiority does not equal desire, and therefore sales… How many Linux laptops are getting sold? How did Betamax go? My mother wants an iPad and iPhone because it is simple and appeals to her. Powerful multitasking doesn’t.

I couldn't have said this better myself. I just don't get it...why do competitors believe that having flash instantly makes their smartphone/tablet better? It doesn't.

Hardware superiority does not equate to success and the bad part is tablet/smartphone competitors aren't that much more powerful than its iDevice counterpart. If competitors want to stay relevant they have to beat Apple at their own game and then some.

Barely beating the iPhone/iPad isn't good enough.

 

[dougp]

Does your company make cell phones or mobile operating systems? If so, that's rare, not the rule.

If a company is paying for both the phone and the service, I'd say that regardless of their reasoning, they're perfectly justified in dictating which devices are available.

I'll concede I was in the wrong on my wording, but we need to keep this on track. We severely derailed the thread.

umm ... thats pretty much what Deeko said.

No shit? Read the thread before you post! ()

 

[Oyeve]

Does your company make cell phones or mobile operating systems? If so, that's rare, not the rule.

If a company is paying for both the phone and the service, I'd say that regardless of their reasoning, they're perfectly justified in dictating which devices are available.

at one of my older gigs they did the adverts for VZW and tried like hell to convince me to switch from my tmo phone to vzw and they would pay 20% of my monthly bill. I told them hell no because 1. Other than switching services and phones I would pretty much have to be on call 24/7 because they have the # 2. even with 20% off tmo was still cheaper on my 2 line, grandfathered in data plan.

They even had the gall to tell me not to have my tmo phone out just in case a vzw client was in the office. Now, if this was the ONLY client they dealt with I may have been somewhat OK with that but it was just one of many, and yes, it was a main client, but I felt like they were just kissing up to them (they lost vzw anyway, but for other reasons) so I refused. I ended up leaving a few months anyway because direct marketing is just so nauseating.

 

[yllus]

I doubt this is from someone very senior at RIM (probably a technical lead or thereabouts at most) but it's a decent list of action items.

Point number five is something that I've noticed myself and have cringed at. I don't mind the television ads, and I think that the PlayBook plays Flash is a major selling point worthy of air time. My issue is with things like the demos they've recorded for their products recently. This video showing the Android App Player on the PlayBook is functional but otherwise atrocious. Use a good-looking set (yes, invest in a set) and really produce the hell out of videos like that. There's no excuse for sloppy crap like this.

Point number six is also interesting. Someone on Hacker News mentioned that it appears that most of RIM's top employees have moved on after cashing in on their stock options years ago, and that it's incredibly difficult to retain talent at RIM while they're based in the rather putrid town of Waterloo. Attracting top software talent and opening up a sizable Toronto office are sorely needed actions.

 

[Ns1]

Point number five is something that I've noticed myself and have cringed at. I don't mind the television ads, and I think that the PlayBook plays Flash is a major selling point worthy of air time. My issue is with things like the demos they've recorded for their products recently. This video showing the Android App Player on the PlayBook is functional but otherwise atrocious. Use a good-looking set (yes, invest in a set) and really produce the hell out of videos like that. There's no excuse for sloppy crap like this.

I was thinking something very similar yesterday when I saw an iPad commercial - the iPad commercials consist of many different uses for the iPad.

IIRC, in television advertisements the Xoom/PlayBook only come across as multimedia consumption devices.

XOOM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmG3GXFxH3w

PlayBook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYmHId9kJP4

Apple
http://www.youtube.com/user/Apple#p/u/4/Um4gLMZDXkA


Basically from the Ads the Xoom/PlayBook come across as useful for media consumption junkies only, whereas the Apple ads show people like my parents "hey, you could find a use for this too"

 

[cheezy321]

Cheezy, CTFO, no one said apple sent this.

You used the word propaganda.

Here is the definition from wikipedia: Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself.

Benefit oneself. Who would benefit from this 'propaganda'? Apple. I connected the dots using the words you chose. Don't write propaganda because that insinuates that you believe apple planted this open letter.

 

[Oyeve]

You used the word propaganda.

Here is the definition from wikipedia: Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself.

Benefit oneself. Who would benefit from this 'propaganda'? Apple. I connected the dots using the words you chose. Don't write propaganda because that insinuates that you believe apple planted this open letter.

W dude. Leave the basement much?

 

[cheezy321]

W dude. Leave the basement much?

There is this belief in phandroid community that anything positive written about apple in an article is either propaganda planted by apple or is written by an uninformed idiot.

Sorry if I lumped you into that category, but you are the one using strong words like "propaganda".

 

[corkyg]

From an investor's perspective, RIM is in trouble.

http://www.minyanville.com/dailyfee...n/?camp=syndication&medium=portals&from=yahoo

 

[Deeko]

RIM's response:

An “Open Letter” to RIM’s senior management was published anonymously on the web today and it was attributed to an unnamed person described as a ‘high level employee”. It is obviously difficult to address anonymous commentary and it is particularly difficult to believe that a “high level employee” in good standing with the company would choose to anonymously publish a letter on the web rather than engage their fellow executives in a constructive manner, but regardless of whether the letter is real, fake, exaggerated or written with ulterior motivations, it is fair to say that the senior management team at RIM is nonetheless fully aware of and aggressively addressing both the company’s challenges and its opportunities.

RIM recently confirmed that it is nearing the end of a major business and technology transition. Although this transition has taken longer than anticipated, there is much excitement and optimism within the company about the new products that are lined up for the coming months. There is a fundamental business reality however that following an extended period of hyper growth (during which RIM nearly quadrupled in size over the past 5 years alone), it has become necessary for the company to streamline its operations in order to allow it to grow its business profitably while pursuing newer strategic opportunities. Again, RIM’s management team takes these challenges seriously and is actively addressing the situation. The company is thankfully in a solid business and financial position to tackle the opportunities ahead with a solid balance sheet (nearly $3 billion in cash and no debt), strong profitability (RIM’s net income last quarter was $695 million) and substantial international growth (international revenue in Q1 grew 67% over the same quarter last year). In fact, while growth has slowed in the US, RIM still shipped 13.2 million BlackBerry smartphones last quarter (which is about 100 smartphones per minute, 24 hours per day) and RIM is more committed than ever to serving its loyal customers and partners around the world.

 

[Oyeve]

There is this belief in phandroid community that anything positive written about apple in an article is either propaganda planted by apple or is written by an uninformed idiot.

Sorry if I lumped you into that category, but you are the one using strong words like "propaganda".

NP dude. The whole Apple Vs. Android is very reminiscent of the old Apple Vs. PC and Nintendo Vs. Genesis and 360 Vs. PS3 (except 360 rocks PS3) and Disco Vs. Rock and Japanese food Vs. Chinese food and King Kong Vs. Godzilla. Its all good, but we all need to light a candle, drink some jack and sing kumbaya......

 

[WelshBloke]

There is this belief in phandroid community that anything positive written about apple in an article is either propaganda planted by apple or is written by an uninformed idiot.

Sorry if I lumped you into that category, but you are the one using strong words like "propaganda".

WTF has this got to do with "phandroids" the artice is about RIM and mentions Apple.

If your so against rabid fans and trolling why did you feel the need to start ranting about phandroids in this topic?

 

[dlock13]

I'm not apple hating, I get along with apple. Its just that letter, while the points he/she made are accurate, reads like an applephanboi. If its an open letter, reveal the name. Otherwise its just propaganda for the sake on shining on apple.

Now, if RIM has any business brain cells left they should sell their tech (email) to the highest bidder and reap $$$ from licensing. They, IMO, are too late for devices to save their ass. One thing RIM does and still does better than anyone else is email. So, sell the tech, remain alive financially, take a couple of years and to some R&D and maybe then come out with a competing product.

This right here can never happen. I don't really want to get into details, but just think how far along the Google/Apple/MS ecosystem will be. Google is developing it's own music, social network, and it already has email. Apple has music down, has apps down, has the whole ecosystem down (their devices connect to everything ever). MS is just starting, but in a few years, they can be a huge player if people latch on like they should because it definitely is an awesome OS.

Regardless, if you leave the game for a few years and just try and do R&D, you're going to fail. Everyone will have moved onto what they've already purchased. They'll have 500$ invested in apps on their iPhone over that few year absence while the BB users are... left dwindling away..

Anyway, that's just my view of what would happen if RIM stepped out. As a company, you have to stay in the game the entire time whilst trying to do R&D. Apple does it perfectly. They release 1 device every year. Think about it.. 1 device. That 1 device sells to a shit ton of people. That 1 device has made them the top manufacturer (if I'm not mistaken). They build the device and the software in house, and it comes out and people love it.

Android devices.... are a plethora, and I hate to say it, but I feel as though they're throw away devices. Sure, one might be better than the other technical-wise, but it's still a toss up to whether it will sell well and have the community latch onto it. Think about the OG Droid. That guy was the first HUGE Android phone. Everyone I knew had it or an iPhone. Every developer out there LOVED that phone and the community was enormous (probably extremely close to the iPhone at one point). Then they released.... 12239105945603690436 devices and then you have only a handful of developers (I'm speaking of those in the community) working on that one phone to get it to do what you want, etc..

RIM... well, RIM doesn't have that at all. They have the OS/hardware like Apple, but it's so subpar to almost everyone anymore. They definitely lost most of their community (in my eyes). They're losing their main business which is the corporate/business world... to Android/iOS. I just honestly cannot see them pick it up anymore.

It feels like what happened to Palm will happen to RIM. They'll come out with a killer OS (QNX-based) and then release mediocre hardware/the same they've been delivering forever, and just have to sell off to someone and become absorbed.

 

[finbarqs]

I didn't get the feeling that the article was an Apple fan at all, but rather a person who respects the success of what Apple has come to be. The video he had in the article also shows that a younger steve jobs in the position where RIM is right now, and the drastic change made Apple who they are today.

I think RIM really needs to focus on some of the points the person made and realize that you REALLY can't deliver a product half-assed at this point in time, especially if it's CONTRIBUTING to what is an already established market (established by the iPad).

When the FIRST iphone came out, it was half assed. No MMS being among some of the features missing in the original iPhone, people still went crazy over the device because it offered a completely different experience other "touch screen" smartphones didn't. I agree with the person: Multitasking is NOT going to appeal to the MASSES (though us techies could NOT live without it) and wouldn't care about it much at all.

Oh yeah, I have a friend who worked for MS at their mobile department, and almost EVERYONE had an iPhone. Of course, he left MS and started at Google.

 

[WelshBloke]

I didn't get the feeling that the article was an Apple fan at all, but rather a person who respects the success of what Apple has come to be. The video he had in the article also shows that a younger steve jobs in the position where RIM is right now, and the drastic change made Apple who they are today.

I think RIM really needs to focus on some of the points the person made and realize that you REALLY can't deliver a product half-assed at this point in time, especially if it's CONTRIBUTING to what is an already established market (established by the iPad).

When the FIRST iphone came out, it was half assed. No MMS being among some of the features missing in the original iPhone, people still went crazy over the device because it offered a completely different experience other "touch screen" smartphones didn't. I agree with the person: Multitasking is NOT going to appeal to the MASSES (though us techies could NOT live without it) and wouldn't care about it much at all.

Oh yeah, I have a friend who worked for MS at their mobile department, and almost EVERYONE had an iPhone. Of course, he left MS and started at Google.

Absolutely that.

RIM and Apple have a lot in common in their mobile branches (apart from success). They both control the hardware and software, and thats why he was praising Apple rather than Google.

Oh and Apple were aloud to have been a bit half arsed with the first iPhone. There wasn't really anything to compete with it. Every other smartphone OS was obsessed with functionality rather than user experience and the general public didnt have any idea what a smartphone could or should do. Thats one of the reasons MS got lambasted for not having CP when Apple got away with it. People now expect all the functionality as well as a great user experience.

 

[badb0y]

That video that he provides the link to is absolutely 100% correct. You need to give people a reason to buy your stuff and that reason can't simply be because it's new or it has the better features then previous/other devices. People need to believe in your vision and philosophy. Every Apple iPad 2 commercial starts with "We believe" while every Playbook commercial starts with "FLASH! OHHHHHH."

L2Market

 

[Oyeve]

Android devices.... are a plethora, and I hate to say it, but I feel as though they're throw away devices. Sure, one might be better than the other technical-wise, but it's still a toss up to whether it will sell well and have the community latch onto it. Think about the OG Droid. That guy was the first HUGE Android phone. Everyone I knew had it or an iPhone. Every developer out there LOVED that phone and the community was enormous (probably extremely close to the iPhone at one point). Then they released.... 12239105945603690436 devices and then you have only a handful of developers (I'm speaking of those in the community) working on that one phone to get it to do what you want, etc..
.

I've always wondered, where the hell are all of these phones? I mean seriously, I myself get at least 2 new phones a year. Granted I keep a box with all of my old phone and donate some to the military, but if, say the average person buys a new phone a year and 150,000,000 phones are sold a year, where are they? I know we hand them down to our kids or store them in a box but really, there must be millions of these phone either sitting in our home or sold on ebay to china. I predict that in a few years this will become a disposal landfill issue. That gorilla glass is gonna sit in a landfill for decade. Are there any recycling of phone laws? Yes, I didnt take my ritalin today (seriously) so i am rambling on.

 

[WelshBloke]

I've always wondered, where the hell are all of these phones? I mean seriously, I myself get at least 2 new phones a year. Granted I keep a box with all of my old phone and donate some to the military, but if, say the average person buys a new phone a year and 150,000,000 phones are sold a year, where are they? I know we hand them down to our kids or store them in a box but really, there must be millions of these phone either sitting in our home or sold on ebay to china. I predict that in a few years this will become a disposal landfill issue. That gorilla glass is gonna sit in a landfill for decade. Are there any recycling of phone laws? Yes, I didnt take my ritalin today (seriously) so i am rambling on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste

Its pretty crappy the way the west deals with its waste. You can look up the gory details yourself.