[Bobfeta]

I'm a stranger here, having joined just to chime in.

Despite all wisdom directing me to believe Blackberry OS 10 is a dinosaur waiting for the asteroid, there's something telling me that a lot has changed in the mobile device market lately, and that BB OS could make a reprise. It's a long shot, but not unhinged. Hear me out.

The world is awash with paranoia --- the devices in our pockets are milking our data until it hurts, and little is to be trusted as political cycles thrash about the collective newspaper headline. Android is under billions of dollars of scrutiny as the EU investigates Google's allegedly consumer-privacy violating business practices, Facebook is tumbling to bits as foreign interference risks to collapse its ad-space ecosystem and the walled-garden of Apple devices is nothing short of joining a cult.

I stand to say, people are increasingly aware of what they have to loose pawning away their digital life, and some are seeking a way out. That is where I see BB OS filling a gap.

Look at the Punkt2 phone. Perhaps not a practical alternative for the average salary worker, as it lacks most any app ecosystem, but it promises total device security (underwritten by Blackberry), android-free operation, and great promise that who ever uses it will be comforted by the knowledge that not one silicon-valley executive will be chiming in on tomorrows buying habits. That's a powerful and appealing statement in a world awash in Orwellian foreshadowing.

When the Punkt phone grows up, what is that going to look like? Blackberry OS. It's a simple and reasonable extension of what the Punkt phone is promising: a rejection of the superficial and arrogant attempt by the silicon cabal to take dominion of his own pocket and leave him a mere serf to the interests of industrial open-pit data mining.

There was a time, not so long ago, when to own your own ideas carried they charming label of "heresy". To think for yourself was to question the authority of the robed friar piping virtue from the Vulgate.

We are at a cross-roads as to whether we own our thoughts, or allow them to be owned, and we need to think about where Blackberry positions itself on the matter.

For the creator, for the doer, let them keep their pocket.

[Bla1ze]

I think you grossly overestimate the number of people who would turn to such a device. And the Punkt phone doesn't lack an app ecosystem. It could have one if it was desired. It was intentionally left out as it runs Android. No one is turning back to BBOS, and this thinking serves no purpose, it's a waste of time. There's validity in oferring something new, and something minmal to the market with security and privacy behind it, something simlar to how BBOS once was but I assure you, it's NOT going to be BBOS.

[Halifax Guy]

For the creator, for the doer, let them keep their pocket.

You wasted a lot of time typing out this line of thought and I wasted a lot of my time reading it.

You missed the point of the Punkt phone is not meant to approach the realm of a smartphone, it was designed to take us back to a simpler time, while allowing us the option of using it to connect a laptop to the Internet if we so desire that capability. This something that I am seriously considering, while having a pocket sized phone once again.

Q10 Powered

[joeldf]

I'm a stranger here, having joined just to chime in.

Despite all wisdom directing me to believe Blackberry OS 10 is a dinosaur waiting for the asteroid, there's something telling me that a lot has changed in the mobile device market lately, and that BB OS could make a reprise. It's a long shot, but not unhinged. Hear me out.

The world is awash with paranoia --- the devices in our pockets are milking our data until it hurts, and little is to be trusted as political cycles thrash about the collective newspaper headline. Android is under billions of dollars of scrutiny as the EU investigates Google's allegedly consumer-privacy violating business practices, Facebook is tumbling to bits as foreign interference risks to collapse its ad-space ecosystem and the walled-garden of Apple devices is nothing short of joining a cult.

I stand to say, people are increasingly aware of what they have to loose pawning away their digital life, and some are seeking a way out. That is where I see BB OS filling a gap.

Look at the Punkt2 phone. Perhaps not a practical alternative for the average salary worker, as it lacks most any app ecosystem, but it promises total device security (underwritten by Blackberry), android-free operation, and great promise that who ever uses it will be comforted by the knowledge that not one silicon-valley executive will be chiming in on tomorrows buying habits. That's a powerful and appealing statement in a world awash in Orwellian foreshadowing.

When the Punkt phone grows up, what is that going to look like? Blackberry OS. It's a simple and reasonable extension of what the Punkt phone is promising: a rejection of the superficial and arrogant attempt by the silicon cabal to take dominion of his own pocket and leave him a mere serf to the interests of industrial open-pit data mining.

There was a time, not so long ago, when to own your own ideas carried they charming label of "heresy". To think for yourself was to question the authority of the robed friar piping virtue from the Vulgate.

We are at a cross-roads as to whether we own our thoughts, or allow them to be owned, and we need to think about where Blackberry positions itself on the matter.

For the creator, for the doer, let them keep their pocket.

Being new here means you've missed the hundreds of threads discussing the dream revival of BB10 and why it will never happen.

So I suggest doing a search and see just how many times this topic comes up.

I won't get to that discussion... yet again. So I'll focus on the idea that people have become paranoid and clamoring for such an OS.

What people say they are worried about, and what they actually do about it, are overwhelmingly two different things.

I don't hear the public outcry for a more "secure" phone OS. Neither do the phone makers. The big sellers will continue to be iPhones and Samsungs. They may each offer their own flavor of security bit by bit, but there will not be one big secure game changer that everyone will suddenly flock to.

All the actual big security breaches in the last few years have been on the Internet connected server side of things. The only effect they've had on the public is either changing passwords, or getting new credit cards. All the mobile device security holes that have been found the past few years have all been "theoretical", with few, if any, actual direct phone breaches. Certainly not enough to panic the public who see no effect these holes have on them. The iCloud account breaches were all brute force hacks directed at the main servers too. Access the the related iPhone not needed.

This is all very different from the data mining that does indeed go on, but the result is the usefulness and convenience that people find using Siri, Alexa and Hey Google and the related services more and more.

A total societal shut down is what will change things. But until then, no one will care. Certainly not enough to make a difference any time soon.

[thurask]

We are at a cross-roads as to whether we own our thoughts, or allow them to be owned, and we need to think about where Blackberry positions itself on the matter.

They're firmly Team Orwell.

[Chuck Finley69]

They're firmly Team Orwell.

I come here for the intellectual humor like no other

[thurask]

I come here for the intellectual humor like no other

Besides, even if Chen ground up his entire medicine cabinet (including the cabinet) and snorted it to revive BB10, the most he could do with having divested manufacturing to TCL is to give TCL the keys to BB10; I'm confident that a below-the-barrel Chinese OEM running the show will assuage all of the privacy concerns of the remaining BB10 faithful.

[larryjb1120]

I would be willing to purchase a phone the size of my Q10 and be happy with phone and texting. I'm sure e-mail could be done using a revised stripped down version of OS10. It would need updates for email security. But everyone is right, my wishes are in the minority and there is no market for BlackBerry to make any money on such a device. Everyone is addicted to large screens and surfing. Just look around you. No one looks up anymore. No one says hi. No one acknowledges my existence anymore. (Okay, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but not far from the truth. )

Posted via CB10

[CrackNutRun]

It's really funny and astonishing how time changes the culture of people. A few years - and a few blackberry devices (by TCL) - ago, the opinions I see now in various threads would have been condemned and disapproved.

[DWonder]

No one looks up anymore. No one says hi. No one acknowledges my existence anymore. (Okay, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but not far from the truth.

Funny, sad and true. Lol.

[nucks26]

It’s your choice to own a smartphone and opt-in to data sharing and OS permissions. At the end of the day BlackBerry is a business and they’re not going to operate a business that isn’t going to be profitable. The consumer market has proven time and time again that they do not want a BlackBerry, never mind one running BBOS. From a business point of view, it makes 0 sense for BlackBerry to produce those devices anymore.

[Emaderton3]

Data mining happens with non-OS apps too.

[Martin Haughton]

I would be willing to purchase a phone the size of my Q10 and be happy with phone and texting. I'm sure e-mail could be done using a revised stripped down version of OS10. It would need updates for email security. But everyone is right, my wishes are in the minority and there is no market for BlackBerry to make any money on such a device. Everyone is addicted to large screens and surfing. Just look around you. No one looks up anymore. No one says hi. No one acknowledges my existence anymore. (Okay, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but not far from the truth. )

Posted via CB10

"Long live BBRY Q10!"

[jamescarruthers]

Would put money on Bob being one of our very optimistic Crackberry members with another name! Or am I just being cynical?

Posted via CB10

[TrumpetTiger]

Besides, even if Chen ground up his entire medicine cabinet (including the cabinet) and snorted it to revive BB10, the most he could do with having divested manufacturing to TCL is to give TCL the keys to BB10; I'm confident that a below-the-barrel Chinese OEM running the show will assuage all of the privacy concerns of the remaining BB10 faithful.

thurask, does this mean you're admitting the security weakness in GooBerrys? If so, I'm pleasantly surprised....

[TrumpetTiger]

I'm a stranger here, having joined just to chime in.

Despite all wisdom directing me to believe Blackberry OS 10 is a dinosaur waiting for the asteroid, there's something telling me that a lot has changed in the mobile device market lately, and that BB OS could make a reprise. It's a long shot, but not unhinged. Hear me out.

The world is awash with paranoia --- the devices in our pockets are milking our data until it hurts, and little is to be trusted as political cycles thrash about the collective newspaper headline. Android is under billions of dollars of scrutiny as the EU investigates Google's allegedly consumer-privacy violating business practices, Facebook is tumbling to bits as foreign interference risks to collapse its ad-space ecosystem and the walled-garden of Apple devices is nothing short of joining a cult.

I stand to say, people are increasingly aware of what they have to loose pawning away their digital life, and some are seeking a way out. That is where I see BB OS filling a gap.

Look at the Punkt2 phone. Perhaps not a practical alternative for the average salary worker, as it lacks most any app ecosystem, but it promises total device security (underwritten by Blackberry), android-free operation, and great promise that who ever uses it will be comforted by the knowledge that not one silicon-valley executive will be chiming in on tomorrows buying habits. That's a powerful and appealing statement in a world awash in Orwellian foreshadowing.

When the Punkt phone grows up, what is that going to look like? Blackberry OS. It's a simple and reasonable extension of what the Punkt phone is promising: a rejection of the superficial and arrogant attempt by the silicon cabal to take dominion of his own pocket and leave him a mere serf to the interests of industrial open-pit data mining.

There was a time, not so long ago, when to own your own ideas carried they charming label of "heresy". To think for yourself was to question the authority of the robed friar piping virtue from the Vulgate.

We are at a cross-roads as to whether we own our thoughts, or allow them to be owned, and we need to think about where Blackberry positions itself on the matter.

For the creator, for the doer, let them keep their pocket.

Bob, I don't disagree with many of your points, and many of the BB10 faithful (who are silent here mostly to avoid the types of reactions your post has received) would too, to say nothing of those you're describing who are more aware than ever of the consequences to not having privacy and security.

With that said, as you've no doubt discovered Crackberry is not a welcoming environment for such speculation these days.

I will point out one important distinction: "BB OS" refers to Blackberry OS 7 and before, the operating system that ran the Storm, Bold, Curve, etc. Blackberry 10 is an entirely separate OS, rewritten from the ground up, and runs the Z10, Z30, Passport, etc.

[RWIndiana]

Good Lord, you guys are mean. Whether the OP was writing fiction, whimsy or prophecy, it was an enjoyable read and I found myself very sympathetic. Telling someone that their wishes, dreams, short stories, or whatever is a waste of time is rather ironic, because to someone else, your whole life is, technically, a waste of time. Be nice.

[RWIndiana]

PureOS and the Librem 5 phone might be a suitable answer for many who have these concerns. I'm watching it as it develops. Hopefully it does well.

[thurask]

thurask, does this mean you're admitting the security weakness in GooBerrys? If so, I'm pleasantly surprised....

I'm not getting that vibe from this post, so I guess you're not surprised, then.

[TrumpetTiger]

I'm not getting that vibe from this post, so I guess you're not surprised, then.

Well, when you call out TCL as a below-the-barrel Chinese OEM.....well heck, a guy can dream....

[conite]

With that said, as you've no doubt discovered Crackberry is not a welcoming environment for such speculation these days.

If a "welcoming environment" means we have to check our brains at the door, it's just as well.

Once again you conflate preference with sound business practices.

[TrumpetTiger]

If a "welcoming environment" means we have to check our brains at the door, it's just as well.

Once again you conflate preference with sound business practices.

Well, there are many fans of GooBerrys who use them extensively, so....

As for conflating preference with sound business practices, neither I nor the OP are doing anything of the kind.

[thurask]

Well, when you call out TCL as a below-the-barrel Chinese OEM.....well heck, a guy can dream....

Oh, they are (very much so), but even with a two-bit operation at the helm, BlackBerry Android is still the only BlackBerry-related operating system with a pulse. Arguing minute facets of security rendered irrelevant when the phone is placed in the hand of the average user anyway matters less when January 1, 2020 is inching closer by the day.

All of these threads about prophesied returns of BB10 are speculative fiction, and generally the bad fanfic version at that. That the "latest" (from February 2018) and "greatest" (open a browser sometime) 10.3.x is right now officially end of sales/development means that threads of this ilk will continue to be speculative fiction, and that BBOS/BB10 will join the great cavalcade of tech also-rans de jure come 2020 (de facto 2015 give or take), taking its place between Atari and Commodore.

[Bla1ze]

Good Lord, you guys are mean. Whether the OP was writing fiction, whimsy or prophecy, it was an enjoyable read and I found myself very sympathetic. Telling someone that their wishes, dreams, short stories, or whatever is a waste of time is rather ironic, because to someone else, your whole life is, technically, a waste of time. Be nice.

Has nothing to do with being nice. This was OP's very first post and the topic has been discussed ad nasuem. There's only so many posts on the same topic one can indulge before the conversation goes from 'Gee, that's interesting'.. to 'Yeah, that's not going to happen'.

At some point, people tune out and just skip to the point, because it's a road with a well beaten path, that leads to nowhere. BBOS and BB10 are well on their way out, chances for a revival are slim to none and the sooner people realize that the better.

As I noted in my post, I think it's fair to say some people are wanting and looking for alternative options but again, BBOS and BB10 are not it. The powers that are currently in control of those things want nothing to with them, and if the people in control of it want nothing to do with it, what makes anyone think they'll suddenly change their mind on it?

John Chen is NOT going to wake up one day, read some headline about Facebook being hacked yet again and think 'Gee, I got some money in the bank. Let's fire up the BBOS production lines again'. If anything, he's hoping those remaining on BlackBerry device service contracts bail early so he doesn't have to worry about hardware and can get them to reup their software contracts with any Android, or iOS hardware of their choosing.

It's why everything BlackBerry offers now is largely device agnostic. He doesn't want to be the supplier of hardware. It was a losing battle. He wants BlackBerry to be the software behind the hardware, no matter which hardware it is.

Want to use an iPhone? Cool, run it on UEM. Want to use a Pixel? Cool. BlackBerry has you covered there as well. Mac/Windows.. doesn't matter, BlackBerry can cover it. Still need a physical keyboard? Great, our partners have great BlackBerry Android devices to choose from and they work with BlackBerry software just finnne.

Meanwhile, you're lucky if you can find an IT admin who will even support / allow a BBOS/BB10 device on their network. Sometimes speaking the truth comes off as not sounding nice, but that doesn't make it any less true. Conversation is always welcome, but don't expect everyone to sugar coat things either, especially on a already well discussed topic such as this one.

[johnny_bravo72]

Has nothing to do with being nice. This was OP's very first post and the topic has been discussed ad nasuem. There's only so many posts on the same topic one can indulge before the conversation goes from 'Gee, that's interesting'.. to 'Yeah, that's not going to happen'.

At some point, people tune out and just skip to the point, because it's a road with a well beaten path, that leads to nowhere. BBOS and BB10 are well on their way out, chances for a revival are slim to none and the sooner people realize that the better.

As I noted in my post, I think it's fair to say some people are wanting and looking for alternative options but again, BBOS and BB10 are not it. The powers that are currently in control of those things want nothing to with them, and if the people in control of it want nothing to do with it, what makes anyone think they'll suddenly change their mind on it?

John Chen is NOT going to wake up one day, read some headline about Facebook being hacked yet again and think 'Gee, I got some money in the bank. Let's fire up the BBOS production lines again'. If anything, he's hoping those remaining on BlackBerry device service contracts bail early so he doesn't have to worry about hardware and can get them to reup their software contracts with any Android, or iOS hardware of their choosing.

It's why everything BlackBerry offers now is largely device agnostic. He doesn't want to be the supplier of hardware. It was a losing battle. He wants BlackBerry to be the software behind the hardware, no matter which hardware it is.

Want to use an iPhone? Cool, run it on UEM. Want to use a Pixel? Cool. BlackBerry has you covered there as well. Mac/Windows.. doesn't matter, BlackBerry can cover it. Still need a physical keyboard? Great, our partners have great BlackBerry Android devices to choose from and they work with BlackBerry software just finnne.

Meanwhile, you're lucky if you can find an IT admin who will even support / allow a BBOS/BB10 device on their network. Sometimes speaking the truth comes off as not sounding nice, but that doesn't make it any less true. Conversation is always welcome, but don't expect everyone to sugar coat things either, especially on a already well discussed topic such as this one.

Spot on.