[HereticHermit]

Few days ago I decided to head over for a late night coffee and also to check out if my local Starbucks branch got the stock of single serve French Press they promised me a month ago. They had 4 cup Bodum which was no use for me. I mostly go there as 'last customer in' and pack-up with the staff on closing; since the store manager knew me well, he insisted that I have a coffee on the house as I had wasted my round looking for that French press.
I sat down noticing there were just three customers, including me. Waiting for my coffee I fished out my White Passport to punch off an email. Some 2 or 3 minutes later this gentleman two tables away walks up to me and says "very nice color, is it Blackberry?"
Yes it is Blackberry
Realllyyy what kind of Blackberry it is? (and he waves his 9900) I have never seen something this big from Blackberry.
It runs on BB10, a new OS based on QNX platform, the one you use is Java based.. running on OS 7
Yeah yeahh they even stopped making these anymore I know, what a fantastic phone it was, if Blackberry wasn't dead ......
Blackberry isn't dead, yet ...... (wave my passport)
Err but.... can I have a look ( i gave him the locked phone and he surveys the phone with eyes wide and stunned look at his face) Wow ....this thing look so beautiful, tell me more.... what it is about, where can I buy this, is it available in INDIAAA.. this is a cool looking phone.
I can tell you about the phone depending on what you are looking for, if you just want a cool looking phone with facebook and snapchat on your phone I can sum it up in 1 min and if you tell me what do you do with phone and what your 9900 means to you..... I might give you a rundown for 15 mins
So this gentleman comes around telling me how he is a regular corporate chap, working on his 9900 as much, loves it to death and last he HEARD that Blackberry is up for grabs and was 101% sure Blackberry died, leaving the legacy of OS 7.1 and physical keyboard phones. The last phone ever they launched was some (z10) full screen device which was a disaster and Blackberry packed up.
I thought Okay if this guy knows 7.1 it is worth investing time over a coffee and explain him BB10. So there I set, explaining how Blackberry is still around, Z10 was overpriced but it is a different OS known as BB10, how initial (in Indian context) price shock+new glitch ridden OS+bad press killed Blackberry.... but not really.
Then I gave him a little demo during the whole coffee session.... starting with super difficult picture password protection and safety features, onto the mighty HUB and Hub actions. How android apps runs, ability to grant permissions whenever possible, swipe gestures and multiple windows to work .
He finally spoke, I am sold if you vouch for a day long battery life and email solution works just as you explained and I saw. Needless to say I needn't be bribed to vouch for these two things at least!!!!!
I also gave him a caveat about lack of native apps and limited android apps on Amazon. He confessed that he don't have a thing for iphone but he also use the high and mighty of android - a latest nexus phone which gives him some flexibility but none of the ease that he saw on Passport. We exchanged few notes about the situation what he might be losing on app front with BB10 and he said none of workarounds I explained sound as bad and he is sorted out with Hub and emails alone. Right away he sat down browsing for online prices and swore he is ordering the Passport before the day tick over to next.
It is embarrassing to write how many times he thanked me for the demo and answer to his questions and queries. I wasn't me really, but BB10 shines on its own if someone is willing to invest few mins...
BUT ...WILL... BLACKBERRY...EVER... LISTEN... THAT... PEOPLE ...BUY...WHAT... SELLS... IN... THE... MARKET... AND... YOU... CANNOT... SELL... IF... YOU... DO... NOT... MARKET... YOUR... PHONES?

[jaydee5799]

Wow. You see more and more of this. Everyday people having to be the spokespeople for BB

[blambtn]

I agree. I love BlackBerry and their products but it is sad that they will not market their products correctly. I just don't understand it.

Posted via Passport SE - 10.3.2.2339 

[gruv4u]

Great story that ended with the truth. I hope BlackBerry promotes their new wave of devices.

The Z10 STL 100-3 on 10.3.1.2708 BlackBerry owners on AT&T Channel C0032C652

[throat_blister]

Nicely done and concisely stated sir! Hermit, surely a modest handle!

Posted via CB10

[HereticHermit]

Wow. You see more and more of this. Everyday people having to be the spokespeople for BB

Am the last person on earth to hard sell anything, even if there is profit for me!!!! But there are people even if they are n minority, for whom Blackberry phone just works. Call them geeks or boring or insipid mix of all but they use their phones mostly to communicate talk/sms and have mobility to email as well, their life revolve around doing these basic things however mundane it sound. Even if they have no experience with BB10earlier they know by instinct that it is going to work for them without running in app hoops.
I just pitched in when I realise my few mins demo can save this fella lot of man hours and hassles @hub alone... and who knows he might bring in few more like him.