[Q10Bold]

Install the old BBM.bar it works!

Posted via Q10Bold

[DOCTOREVIL8]

You're misguided.....they were very clear about monetizing bbm...did you miss the public memo?

I did get the memo. I just read through it so fast, I only missed every single detail. I don't blame BlackBerry for trying to get money back on BBM. Ads, personal PIN, and features. I just don't think a monthly subscription for a simple feature makes sense for a company trying to 'get back into the game'. Outside of work where everyone has a BlackBerry, I know very few people using BBM. And as the days go on, I lose more and more BBM contacts as non-BlackBerry users are moving away from BBM. It's telling me that there's nothing that BBM offers that beats the competition. So adding annoyances and forcing monthly subscriptions to keep features will only push people away. No one has the 'need' for BBM anymore. BlackBerry needs to stop acting like it's the golden egg of IM.

So, I choose to not pay for these features. And if BlackBerry continues on the path to make BBM less enjoyable to use, I will switch to another IM platform. It's simple, really.

[anon(6038817)]

They have to monetize BBM somehow, and they've been very transparent about this.

If it upsets you that much, then find an IM app that has what you want. If enough people feel the same way you do and start leaving, BB will change their model.

You're not going to find a cross-platform IM app with the same overall functionality, though, let alone the security/privacy features.

Typed with much precision and clicky-ness on my BlackBerry Bold 9930

[Doggerz]

Dramatic much. Don't like it, don't pay. Easy peasy.

Posted via CB10

You're right of course. But BlackBerry is wrong. They are not going to suddenly become Samsung because a few people are actually going to pay a monthly fee for these things. They won't even make enough money to get a tank of gas for Chen's jet.

They should have the best messenger quality and features for free. Like they always have in the past. If they cared at all about attracting users. If they wanted to be what they were in 2008.

But that's not what they want. The monthly fees and charging for every little bbm "luxury" is their plan to kill off the company.

Chen is the harbinger of death. His job is to lead BlackBerry to its end.

Z30STA100-5 / 10.3.1.2708 / T-Mobile USA

[Doggerz]

I'll just add this. BlackBerry should have the guts to make bbm optional as it was on BB 7.1. Because if given the chance I'd delete the thing in a second since they seem to take pride in their over exaggerated lies about the number of users they have. And number of visits to the bbm sticker shop which are only people who want to get rid of the spark notification.

Monthly fees for the luxury of no ads? For stupid stickers? To be able to retract things? Features they are free on other services? Hey BlackBerry hates it's users more than any company I've ever seen.

It's like BlackBerry users are the women of 50 shades of grey and get off on a company that puts big red spanking welts on our collective asses. As far as I'm concerned they owe me for paying 700 bucks for a PlayBook. They owe me for a Z10 that gave up the ghost in one year. They owe me for sending me an update for the Z30 that caused me to have to buy and replace my screen.

Is it my fault for being loyal to a crappy company.? Yes. I keep waiting for the good old days of the 9900 or the 9810 where the devices were made like tanks and.the software was super customizable. Sure the CEOs were shortsighted and arrogant back then and led the company to where it is now. But at least they didn't openly hate their fans the way they do now.

I'd say I'm more disgusted than dramatic. I certainly don't care about any of their bbm features they want to make money from. So from my point of view it IS easy peasey. The problem is. They are ruining the bbm brand by doing this. Because it's a huge turn off. And if their goal is to make sure no one uses bbm by charging for things that any sane company would have for free then they're succeeding.

I'm just hoping BlackBerry doesn't go belly up before I get one last chance to be screwed again by buying the slider. I want one more good kick in my teeth by Chen before he finished nailing the coffin shut and high tailing it out of Canada with the cash he's earned for being a bbm vampire.

Z30STA100-5 / 10.3.1.2708 / T-Mobile USA

[Q10Bold]

I hate the new BlackBerry too.
I dont get the glued phones like Passports screen, the whole Classic is glued together..., the non removeables batteries, the low specs(ok we had this with the Bolds and Curves too) but come on- the Leap and Classic is old! The new BBM adds and 'subscriptions'. Sorry chen- my friends are using WA :/ the hidden messages is a cool feature. Maybe I could turn some friends into BBM, but they wont pay any $ for this kind of stuff :/


Posted via Q10Bold

[anon(9188202)]

IMHO, it would have made a lot more sense to communicate directly with BlackBerry your disagreement with the direction they were taking with BBM when they initially indicated that they had plans to monetize it than to start a complaining thread on CrackBerry after they did what they said they were going to do. Maybe not always, but sometimes companies actually change course when they get enough "push back" (negative feedback) from their customer base, and had thousands shared your concerns and written in to BlackBerry, it might have given them pause to further consider the issue. Unfortunately for you and your issue, no one seems to have cared.

[conite]

This is the final play of the game.

Like it or not, the play has been selected, the ball has been handed off, and the running back is heading up the field - head down, going for broke.

There is no more time for second guessing, and nothing to gain from arguing about how we got here.

This is going to work, or it won't.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.2.680

[MollyMorton]

Doesn't Chen have Twitter now? I don't, but why don't those with it tweet him their views on this dumb bbm pricing?

Posted via CB10

[Bbnivende]

Given that most BBM users are in places like Jakarta and Lagos using their old BBOS devices , I can not see much of a demand. Maybe at a $1 a month for BB10 users.

Posted via CB10

[fschmeck]

Things is, the vocal minority here may complain, but the majority of BBM users I suspect are not even aware of these changes.

Is there a breakdown available of bbm users per region? Are those running BlackBerry 7 also getting subscriptions?

BBM is quickly becoming irrelevant, and to me the only hope to stem the tide is to offer what the competition does not: privacy, cross-platform video, and no or very minimal fees. Businesses will pay for BBM Meetings and enterprise features, but they won't gain traction without taking a loss on the consumer market (IMO) to get a foothold.

Posted via CB10

[fxrs]

Yawn...I've been a BBM user for for years, never a hitch, as far as digital crap goes. Retractable messaging?... maybe think about what one posts first. JMO
Cheers, Jeff

Posted via CB10

[fschmeck]

Retractable messages are definitely not a necessity, but there is a mind share to worry about as well. When others offer something for free that you charge for, even if you don't use it much, it does give a negative impression I think.

Of course, in the end I would think someone at BlackBerry has done focus testing on all of this stuff, so I'm sure they have data to back up their decisions which is certainly worth more than my opinion.

Posted via CB10