Research In Motion, The Downward Spiral

[WelshBloke]

Why not? Everything you write for 7 will still run on 8

Presumably 8 will have some added features and (hopefully) a much bigger install base. Why then limit yourself to being compatible to the handful of people who are running 7 when you could use the added features of 8?

 

[SickBeast]

How would that have changed anything? Right now they'd just be another company not making any money and watching Samsung eat up all of the profit.

It would have saved them an undisclosed amount, probably at least $100 million.

Not only that but they would have had a proven stable smartphone OS and they would have been able to release some new phones instead of having to wait for OS10.

 

[mammador]

How would that have changed anything? Right now they'd just be another company not making any money and watching Samsung eat up all of the profit.

None of the other Android makers have released quality phones. HTC was the rage 2 years ago, but have gone backwards since then. Samsung simply has seized opportunities. IMO, the original Galaxy was no better than the top HTC of the time.

 

[Mopetar]

It would have saved them an undisclosed amount, probably at least $100 million.

Not only that but they would have had a proven stable smartphone OS and they would have been able to release some new phones instead of having to wait for OS10.

That's pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

What they would have had was a proven stable smartphone OS that doesn't differentiate them in any way from their competition. They could probably try to tack BBM on top of that, but I've heard some of the problems with the BB OS 10 delays are due to getting all of that to work with the new OS, so I don't know if Android would have sped things up.

If they were going to go with Android, they'd almost need to take Amazon's approach if not go further and make their own fork.

None of the other Android makers have released quality phones. HTC was the rage 2 years ago, but have gone backwards since then. Samsung simply has seized opportunities. IMO, the original Galaxy was no better than the top HTC of the time.

I question if RIM would have been able to release decent hardware to compete with Samsung, or even some of the other Android manufacturers. Their software has been a major problem for them, but their hardware design has also been pretty lackluster as of late as well.

 

[shortylickens]

I'd like to request we consolidate all the RIM hate threads.

 

[dagamer34]

That's pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

What they would have had was a proven stable smartphone OS that doesn't differentiate them in any way from their competition. They could probably try to tack BBM on top of that, but I've heard some of the problems with the BB OS 10 delays are due to getting all of that to work with the new OS, so I don't know if Android would have sped things up.

If they were going to go with Android, they'd almost need to take Amazon's approach if not go further and make their own fork.



I question if RIM would have been able to release decent hardware to compete with Samsung, or even some of the other Android manufacturers. Their software has been a major problem for them, but their hardware design has also been pretty lackluster as of late as well.

I still think Elop said it best "Do not take a device to battle in an ecosystem war." Or something to that effect.

 

[Mopetar]

I'd like to request we consolidate all the RIM hate threads.

There might be a little schadenfreude, but I doubt much outright hate.

 

[Bateluer]

None of the other Android makers have released quality phones. HTC was the rage 2 years ago, but have gone backwards since then. Samsung simply has seized opportunities. IMO, the original Galaxy was no better than the top HTC of the time.

Huh? HTC and LG both have plenty of very good quality Android phones. HTC's problem is that they did too much pandering to carriers, releasing a slew of similarly spec'd devices with retarded names are different carriers. There was no brand recognition. Most of them were well built and quality phones, but they didn't generate any public interest. Rezound, wat?

The HTC One line is easily a top tier smartphone though.

 

[SickBeast]

It will be interesting to see RIM's new OS10 Blackberries. I'm interested to see what they will come out with. Their back is against the wall and it's really make-or-break at this point.

 

[s44]

If they were going to go with Android, they'd almost need to take Amazon's approach if not go further and make their own fork.

Yeah, but why not? That would have gotten app compatibility without this "well you can easily port your Android apps to BB10" half-baked crap they're going with now. Then they could play up some security stuff, hooks to BBM, etc., their own business-safe appstore.... I dunno, something like that.

But yeah, hardware is an issue for them too. Really they (like Nokia) lost it several years back, resting on their laurels while Apple and Google and Google's hardware partners were iterating like crazy.

 

[SickBeast]

I think that RIM just wanted to lock down the entire OS from a security standpoint.

 

[Dari]

The main problem was the fat co-CEO. Bastard looked disgusting and walked around RIM's campus with armed guards. Says a lot about his mentality.

 

[corkyg]

S-p-l-a-t!

 

[lothar]

The main problem was the fat co-CEO. Bastard looked disgusting and walked around RIM's campus with armed guards. Says a lot about his mentality.

Which one of them was that?

The only thing I remember about the RIM executives:
One has gray/silver hair and the other is bald.

 

[TheStu]

It will be interesting to see RIM's new OS10 Blackberries. I'm interested to see what they will come out with. Their back is against the wall and it's really make-or-break at this point.

I just got a work issued Curve 9360 (I think?) and after having used modern all-touch smartphones for the past 2-3 years, I feel like I have been dragged like 10 years into the past in a lot of ways. Tiny little screen, no touch, Palm/WinCE UX paradigms, and a laughably worthless auto-correct (I turned it off, which is the default).

I don't know, maybe I am late to the BB bashing party, but it's good to be here.

I will say this much, it has dumbphone level battery life, seriously, it is stupidly good.