[jr4941]

I was wondering today how things have changed since Thorsten has taken over and the new direction RIM seems to be taking. This reminded me of the infamous 'Open letter to Blackberry.'

Reading through it today, it's interesting to look back at what was said. So many of the larger issues (Focus on User Experience, Recruit senior SW leaders, Developers, Marketing, being nice to the press) have obviously been areas of focus. I wonder how this individual feels about things at RIM 1 1/2 years later.

[AVPTI]

I thought this was written after being fired or quitting...meaning he would only know what we know about RIM.

*I could be very wrong though

[BaconMunch]

Jim Balsillie said it well when he said “No other technology company other than Apple has successfully transitioned their platform. It’s almost never done, and it’s way harder than you realize. This transition is where tech companies go to die.” It's been a gruelling period and it seems like #BB10Believe has been the minority which WILL become a reality. I hope January 30th will indeed reveal how much of a transition has occurred behind closed doors.

[TRlPPlN]

no nothing has changed at all. **rolls eyes**

[chrysaurora]

Did ThorsTEN Heins write that letter?

[G-bone]

Fascinating. I believe that the things this individual wanted have happened ,are continuing to happen .Now we need to get the marketing right. I am sure Monsieur Boulben is aware of the tenet that, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. ". We need to hit them right in the limbic system. BlackBerry : for people who want to succeed. ""
Anybody not want to succeed? Or are you "flash-loving "?
They see us, but they don't see us coming...
#BB10Believe

[brmiller1976]

Jim Balsillie said it well when he said “No other technology company other than Apple has successfully transitioned their platform. It’s almost never done, and it’s way harder than you realize. This transition is where tech companies go to die.”

I'm not sure that I buy that "no other tech company other than Apple has successfully transitioned platforms." Plenty of old tech names did it multiple times... from early 4/8 bit, to 8 bit, to 16/32 bit in many cases -- e.g. Commodore PET to Commodore 64 to Commodore Amiga; Atari VCS to Atari 400/800/XL/XE to Atari ST to Atari TT.

The difficulty with a transition is when a company waits too long (which is what killed Commodore and Atari) or tries to transition before the product is ready (which is what killed many other tech companies). In terms of timing, RIM is probably late but still "in the game." In terms of having a product ready, I hope they are. The developer alphas seem to indicate a high degree of sophistication, so that's good news for them.

[magutwit]

Wow, I've never heard of this letter before.
Did Rim change to fit it? I hope so and I see no reason why it shouldn't have done so, because every letter in that text is of simple common sense and evidence. I don't take top-managers for fools, they surely understand it as well as we all do.

I still saw some worrying signs of the contrary, like some statements of the marketing director. There were some vague statements about "we should know who is our client" and so on. It's the marketing base, there's no need to say it, but when it is said to a a public or even to journalists it sounds a bit differently like "we will focus on some special groups and we have no deal of all the large public". In Rim context it also makes you think that they will go on speaking to enterprise bosses instead of end-users, which is really no good, because that's what made them sink (as well). I hope it is not so.

We will really see what has changed and what hasn't on the 30th, I think.

[RubberChicken76]

Did ThorsTEN Heins write that letter?

There's dispute over whether or not the letter even came from inside RIM. Some journalists have taken to assuming it did and printing it as such, but it could just have easily been written by an analyst or tech blogger.

As for whether or not things have 'really changed', there's ample evidence of huge changes. The most important question is whether or not they've changed when it comes to launching a product. That test awaits.

[magutwit]

There's dispute over whether or not the letter even came from inside RIM. Some journalists have taken to assuming it did and printing it as such, but it could just have easily been written by an analyst or tech blogger.

Yes. However, if it really was written by somebody inside Rim, I think this should be one of the top-placed managers, not just "an employee".