[antoscimento]

If we like to watch objectively what BlackBerry has done with its new OS 10 it is really easy to conclude it didn't try enough. For three years now:

1- none of the phones released were ever updated
2- they have assumed people only want apps and just tried to compete with android and ios leaving their own customers
3- I love each and every device of bb10 and I find the Os highly elegant.
4- I do not need all the apps of Android and ios and I believe there are many people like me
5- the first lesson in adopting a platform is that we need to cater from underrated producers to satisfy left clients. We became left clients now with no interest in android (I really have tried to live with an android but hated it, got a Sony, a Samsung and an iphone).
6- blackberry is lacking consistency in its offerings and it gets me mad to like a product and then find myself having to buy it again because they did not upgrade it. BlackBerry OS did not build it's clout over a year but over 10 years of consistency and evolution of products perfecting them. While on BB10 we just got different devices with little in common between them and waited for developers to make apps for us.
7- I have no idea what to get now after 1 year and a month with the classic. Another classic? Going back to q10?

Blackberry is forcing us to adopt android, if I want android I can get any phone for 100$, I won't get BlackBerry. I guess BlackBerry should at least keep a phone (hybrid between classic and passport) that caters for all of us with bb10 and update it every year, practically like apple does with iPhone. It will sell 500 or 600 000 a quarter or whatever but at least it will keep it in the hardware business without losing much since it will be only an evolution of 1 product instead of working on 2-3 everytime.

Posted via CB10

[spacemanZ10]

I sort off agree, it worked for apple, two phones a year/cycle no more or less and keep updating. Thought this for a while BB10 ended up with a mixed bag (apart from the beautiful passport).
Should have been a top pkb and vkb only, done!
I'm not interested in android either and will probably go ios when the time comes tho I always liked the look of Sony phones if I was.
I think apps are an issue and it does annoy me some of my apps are work arounds ie fitness tracker to connect to strava, but for now I manage, but in future if I change it will be for the full on app experience.

Swiped on my beautiful Passport!

[Bbnivende]

If we like to watch objectively what BlackBerry has done with its new OS 10 it is really easy to conclude it didn't try enough. For three years now:

1- none of the phones released were ever updated
2- they have assumed people only want apps and just tried to compete with android and ios leaving their own customers
3- I love each and every device of bb10 and I find the Os highly elegant.
4- I do not need all the apps of Android and ios and I believe there are many people like me
5- the first lesson in adopting a platform is that we need to cater from underrated producers to satisfy left clients. We became left clients now with no interest in android (I really have tried to live with an android but hated it, got a Sony, a Samsung and an iphone).
6- blackberry is lacking consistency in its offerings and it gets me mad to like a product and then find myself having to buy it again because they did not upgrade it. BlackBerry OS did not build it's clout over a year but over 10 years of consistency and evolution of products perfecting them. While on BB10 we just got different devices with little in common between them and waited for developers to make apps for us.
7- I have no idea what to get now after 1 year and a month with the classic. Another classic? Going back to q10?

Blackberry is forcing us to adopt android, if I want android I can get any phone for 100$, I won't get BlackBerry. I guess BlackBerry should at least keep a phone (hybrid between classic and passport) that caters for all of us with bb10 and update it every year, practically like apple does with iPhone. It will sell 500 or 600 000 a quarter or whatever but at least it will keep it in the hardware business without losing much since it will be only an evolution of 1 product instead of working on 2-3 everytime.

Posted via CB10

BlackBerry loses money on every BB10 phone they sell. A small manufacturer can not afford their own OS.

Posted via CB10

[conite]

To say they didn't try is ridiculous. They spent billions of dollars on the BB10 exercise.

Managerial mistakes in the process is simply noise compared to the fact BB10 was late to the party by a few years.

[RMRuk]

Blackberry is the perfect example how management can destroy a great company with bad decisions and poor judgement.

posted by either my Passport or S6 Edge, depending on my mood.

[conite]

Blackberry is the perfect example how management can destroy a great company with bad decisions and poor judgement.

posted by either my Passport or S6 Edge, depending on my mood.

The only "mistake" that actually mattered was being caught at the wrong stage of a product life cycle when the iPhone and Android devices came out. BBOS was not technically capable of responding, and they waited too long to start fresh. Like I said, the rest is just noise.

[bakron1]

If Blackberry OS10 would have been released a year before it officially was, then they might have had a chance, but as other folks have stated. The bar was already set by then and Android and IOS where well on their way of being the dominant platforms.

[donnation]

They tried, unfortunately I think it was more in the way that they tried. The launch was terrible, with no direction, confusing marketing, and misleading information about how many apps they had available. The whole thing was just a mess from day 1.

[JeepBB]

They tried, unfortunately I think it was more in the way that they tried. The launch was terrible, with no direction, confusing marketing, and misleading information about how many apps they had available. The whole thing was just a mess from day 1.

Yes, I agree.

Whilst Conite is correct in that BB threw in a lot of time, money and effort in launching BB10, it was all kind of unfocused as if they really didn't know who their sales target really was... consumer? business? both?

I think there was also the arrogant assumption that all BBOS users would adopt the new BB10 platform pretty much from day 1. In a kind of "if you build it, they will come" way. Unfortunately "Field of Dreams" was a fantasy, and so it turned out was any hope of the millions of BBOS guys switching to BB10 - many (most?) still haven't!

IIRC : of the 30M BB userbase, 20M are still on BBOS.

Introducing a new OS platform, with few Apps, and with an entirely new group of users (having abandoned millions of your existing BBOS users) was always going to be an uphill struggle and the reality is that it was likely over for BB10 before the end of 2013.

[Avenzuno]

It's still not too late. If I were running BlackBerry, I would start by ordering development of application support for Qt 5 for a future 10.4 or 10.5. BB10 Android runtime to support Marshmallow 6.0 is critical and necessary for BB10 to survive. Getting Google Play Services on BB10 would be nice, too, but BlackBerry would have to convince Google to play along.

Posted via CB10 | SQC100-4 Classic in Cobalt Blue

[Q10Bold]

If we like to watch objectively what BlackBerry has done with its new OS 10 it is really easy to conclude it didn't try enough. For three years now:

1- none of the phones released were ever updated
2- they have assumed people only want apps and just tried to compete with android and ios leaving their own customers
3- I love each and every device of bb10 and I find the Os highly elegant.
4- I do not need all the apps of Android and ios and I believe there are many people like me
5- the first lesson in adopting a platform is that we need to cater from underrated producers to satisfy left clients. We became left clients now with no interest in android (I really have tried to live with an android but hated it, got a Sony, a Samsung and an iphone).
6- blackberry is lacking consistency in its offerings and it gets me mad to like a product and then find myself having to buy it again because they did not upgrade it. BlackBerry OS did not build it's clout over a year but over 10 years of consistency and evolution of products perfecting them. While on BB10 we just got different devices with little in common between them and waited for developers to make apps for us.
7- I have no idea what to get now after 1 year and a month with the classic. Another classic? Going back to q10?

Blackberry is forcing us to adopt android, if I want android I can get any phone for 100$, I won't get BlackBerry. I guess BlackBerry should at least keep a phone (hybrid between classic and passport) that caters for all of us with bb10 and update it every year, practically like apple does with iPhone. It will sell 500 or 600 000 a quarter or whatever but at least it will keep it in the hardware business without losing much since it will be only an evolution of 1 product instead of working on 2-3 everytime.

Posted via CB10

This!

Posted via Q10Bold

[conite]

IIRC : of the 30M BB userbase, 20M are still on BBOS.

I think it's worse than that.

June of last year, there were 10 million BB10 users and 10 million BBOS users according to the earnings report of the day.

Extrapolating those numbers, we probably have half those numbers today.

[JeepBB]

It's still not too late.

Yes, it is.

There is no money and no will for further BB10 development. BB have clearly stated the future is Android.

BB10 Android runtime to support Marshmallow 6.0 is critical and necessary for BB10 to survive. Getting Google Play Services on BB10 would be nice, too, but BlackBerry would have to convince Google to play along.

Even if BB were minded to do either of the above, why would Google play ball? What's in it for Google?

IMO, the most likely outcome if BB were to update the Android RT in BB10 would be for Google to declare BB in violation of the OHA agreements (recall Google is judge and jury in deciding what constitutes a violation) and insist that the Priv remove access to the Google Play Store... which would kill the Priv deader than dead!

[donnation]

It's still not too late. If I were running BlackBerry, I would start by ordering development of application support for Qt 5 for a future 10.4 or 10.5. BB10 Android runtime to support Marshmallow 6.0 is critical and necessary for BB10 to survive. Getting Google Play Services on BB10 would be nice, too, but BlackBerry would have to convince Google to play along.

Posted via CB10 | SQC100-4 Classic in Cobalt Blue

Why would Google play along and why would BB even bother? That ship has sailed and BB doesn't need to do any of that since they've clearly indicated they are going to be producing Android only phones.

[DrBoomBotz]

It's still not too late. If I were running BlackBerry, I would start by ordering development of application support for Qt 5 for a future 10.4 or 10.5. BB10 Android runtime to support Marshmallow 6.0 is critical and necessary for BB10 to survive. Getting Google Play Services on BB10 would be nice, too, but BlackBerry would have to convince Google to play along.

Posted via CB10 | SQC100-4 Classic in Cobalt Blue

Is this what the the bargaining phase looks like?

[JeepBB]

Is this what the the bargaining phase looks like?

Yes, could be.

Thing is, it doesn't really matter how far along each individual is in wrestling towards an acceptance that BB is done with BB10 because it won't change the reality that BB is done with BB10.

So it's probably best if everyone just hustles along to "acceptance", you'll feel better when you do.

Trust me. He's a Doctor!

[early2bed]

BlackBerry should at least keep a phone (hybrid between classic and passport) that caters for all of us with bb10 and update it every year, practically like apple does with iPhone. It will sell 500 or 600 000 a quarter or whatever but at least it will keep it in the hardware business without losing much since it will be only an evolution of 1 product instead of working on 2-3 everytime.

So 2 million handsets per year, worldwide, keeps you in the smartphone business with your own platform? Of course, you can forget about any of the carriers as they have no need for that kind of volume. That leaves you trying to serve a bunch of smartphone non-traditionalists who buy unlocked phones off the internet. That doesn't even mesh with your core business. It would be better to sell the handset division to Oppo or some other company in that kind of business.

[co4nd]

The only "mistake" that actually mattered was being caught at the wrong stage of a product life cycle when the iPhone and Android devices came out. BBOS was not technically capable of responding, and they waited too long to start fresh. Like I said, the rest is just noise.

Agree the lateness of BB10 was the primary mistake, however when it was released I think another big mistake was how the Z10 alienated the faithful, and the Q10 when it finally came out didn't really help. They needed to have a phone like the classic right out of the gate. They could have better stopped the bleeding of existing BBOS customers.

[tdyhedge]

Is this what the the bargaining phase looks like?

Ha! Yep... 5 Stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

Definitely bargaining. A lot of anger though in other threads still. Those who have moved on to Priv's have made it to acceptance.


Q10SQN100-2/10.3.2.2876

[DrBoomBotz]

Agree the lateness of BB10 was the primary mistake, however when it was released I think another big mistake was how the Z10 alienated the faithful, and the Q10 when it finally came out didn't really help. They needed to have a phone like the classic right out of the gate. They could have better stopped the bleeding of existing BBOS customers.

I think original idea was to make a new platform that was going to be so great that it was going to appeal to everyone.
During the preliminary design phase it was decided to make a new OS with gestures+vkb.
All accommodations to legacy were seen as adding aerodynamic drag to the sleek new OS.

Android and apple users would see this new OS was so sexy, that they just dropped their old devices and clambered aboard the BB10 juggernaut.

BBOS users would upgrade from their antiquated technologically debt ridden devices to the new hotness without a backward glance.

Everyone would have blind faith that the app ecosystem vacuum would be filled at ludicrous speed.

Then they started to hedge their bets.
They tried to make a BBOS runtime for BB10 and failed.
They made an android runtime which hampered their efforts in courting developers to their platform.
They hedged again with pkb and square screen support(Q10).
Then they basically gave up when they came out with the classic(the toolbelt).

The pure concept of a next gen OS got diluted along the way but it was all insignificant compared to the app gap.

[donnation]

It also didn't help that 10.0 was not ready to be released. I get they had to get it out but no way that version should have been the public release. It was beta at best and needed SERIOUS work.

[anon(9607753)]

The disastrous release of BB10 proved one thing...BlackBerry had millions of BlackBerry users in 2013, NOT millions of loyal and patient BlackBerry customers that were willing to drop a thousand bucks on a paperweight in the hopes that some day they would have apps.

Posted via CB10

[GadgetTravel]

I think original idea was to make a new platform that was going to be so great that it was going to appeal to everyone.
During the preliminary design phase it was decided to make a new OS with gestures+vkb.
All accommodations to legacy were seen as adding aerodynamic drag to the sleek new OS.

Android and apple users would see this new OS was so sexy, that they just dropped their old devices and clambered aboard the BB10 juggernaut.

BBOS users would upgrade from their antiquated technologically debt ridden devices to the new hotness without a backward glance.

Everyone would have blind faith that the app ecosystem vacuum would be filled at ludicrous speed.

Then they started to hedge their bets.
They tried to make a BBOS runtime for BB10 and failed.
They made an android runtime which hampered their efforts in courting developers to their platform.
They hedged again with pkb and square screen support(Q10).
Then they basically gave up when they came out with the classic(the toolbelt).

The pure concept of a next gen OS got diluted along the way but it was all insignificant compared to the app gap.

Yeah. I remember how pissed I was when I purchase a Q10 shortly after release and found that not only couldn't run Android apps I couldn't even run BBOS software like Pocket Informant on it.

[grover5]

It also didn't help that 10.0 was not ready to be released. I get they had to get it out but no way that version should have been the public release. It was beta at best and needed SERIOUS work.

It wasn't that bad. Beta at best is a pretty big exaggeration.

[donnation]

Yeah. I remember how pissed I was when I purchase a Q10 shortly after release and found that not only couldn't run Android apps I couldn't even run BBOS software like Pocket Informant on it.

You just took me back. I used to love that app.