[Beau79]

From Engadget dot com

While our experience says otherwise, we really hope that the practice of launching buggy smartphones hasn't been institutionalized. The Wall Street Journal just published a report about the "bumpy launch" of the BlackBerry Storm -- a handset that WSJ sources say sold some 500,000 units in the first month following its global release. Not bad, but well off the 2.4 million launch pace seen by the iPhone 3G -- the phone the Storm had hoped to unseat as sales champ. The WSJ speculates that the relatively timid response stems from buggy or otherwise "clunky software" that crippled the user experience and performance at launch only to be (partially) corrected later via software updates. An abysmal scenario which echos the buggy 2.0 software that accompanied the iPhone 3G at launch.

Now, instead of pleading for mercy at the feet of disgruntled consumers, RIM co-CEO, Jim Balsillie, calls the post-launch scramble part of the "new reality" of making complex cellphones in large volumes. A Verizon spokesman noted that return percentages are measurable in single digits (standard for a smartphone) adding, "The sales and performance of the device have lived up to our expectations." Fine, but when expectations are high that the consumer experience will be poor, somehow that doesn't sound like a victory to us.

Same topic posted on Gizmodo

At launch, the BlackBerry Storm was so buggy RIM promised patches before it even landed in consumers' hands. RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie now explains the situation perfectly: Buggy, busted *** smartphones are the "new reality."

That's right, the "new reality" is that your smartphone is going to be buggy as crap right out of the box because the maker scrambled to meet a deadline "by the skin of their teeth." In other words, beta culture is here to stay, and you better like it.

Sorry Jim, but that makes you sound like an ******* (even if you are a nice guy, like your co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, who I very much enjoyed talking to before the Storm launch). Both on the face of it�customers should get used to waiting for a patch to make the phone they just spent a few hundred bucks on actually work?�and because you're the CEO of the company that used to make the most bulletproof smartphones in the business. Granted, you have screwed up your last two major launches�the Storm, obviously, and the Bold, which AT&T held back for months in the States while you tried to work the bugs out�but now you're just giving up on the idea of products that just work right out of the box?

Here's a thought: Ship products that actually work! Google's crap is in perpetual beta and the G1 came out of the gate better than the Storm or the iPhone, phones from companies that are supposedly obsessed with user experience. W.T.F. I know you wanted to hit Black Friday and rushed the Storm to the market for Black Friday�where you managed to sell 500,000 in the first month, according to the WSJ�but think of every customer you lost because they heard how crapfrickintastic the Storm was.

If you're not even gonna bother trying why should we?

Pretty Sad...buggy software is the way of the future?

[rehab0808]

From Engadget dot com

While our experience says otherwise, we really hope that the practice of launching buggy smartphones hasn't been institutionalized. The Wall Street Journal just published a report about the "bumpy launch" of the BlackBerry Storm -- a handset that WSJ sources say sold some 500,000 units in the first month following its global release. Not bad, but well off the 2.4 million launch pace seen by the iPhone 3G -- the phone the Storm had hoped to unseat as sales champ. The WSJ speculates that the relatively timid response stems from buggy or otherwise "clunky software" that crippled the user experience and performance at launch only to be (partially) corrected later via software updates. An abysmal scenario which echos the buggy 2.0 software that accompanied the iPhone 3G at launch.

Now, instead of pleading for mercy at the feet of disgruntled consumers, RIM co-CEO, Jim Balsillie, calls the post-launch scramble part of the "new reality" of making complex cellphones in large volumes. A Verizon spokesman noted that return percentages are measurable in single digits (standard for a smartphone) adding, "The sales and performance of the device have lived up to our expectations." Fine, but when expectations are high that the consumer experience will be poor, somehow that doesn't sound like a victory to us.

Same topic posted on Gizmodo

At launch, the BlackBerry Storm was so buggy RIM promised patches before it even landed in consumers' hands. RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie now explains the situation perfectly: Buggy, busted *** smartphones are the "new reality."

That's right, the "new reality" is that your smartphone is going to be buggy as crap right out of the box because the maker scrambled to meet a deadline "by the skin of their teeth." In other words, beta culture is here to stay, and you better like it.

Sorry Jim, but that makes you sound like an ******* (even if you are a nice guy, like your co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, who I very much enjoyed talking to before the Storm launch). Both on the face of it�customers should get used to waiting for a patch to make the phone they just spent a few hundred bucks on actually work?�and because you're the CEO of the company that used to make the most bulletproof smartphones in the business. Granted, you have screwed up your last two major launches�the Storm, obviously, and the Bold, which AT&T held back for months in the States while you tried to work the bugs out�but now you're just giving up on the idea of products that just work right out of the box?

Here's a thought: Ship products that actually work! Google's crap is in perpetual beta and the G1 came out of the gate better than the Storm or the iPhone, phones from companies that are supposedly obsessed with user experience. W.T.F. I know you wanted to hit Black Friday and rushed the Storm to the market for Black Friday�where you managed to sell 500,000 in the first month, according to the WSJ�but think of every customer you lost because they heard how crapfrickintastic the Storm was.

If you're not even gonna bother trying why should we?

Pretty Sad...buggy software is the way of the future?

Yea real funny until his Doctor tells him his pacemaker might be a little "buggy" too. Hey, it's the new reality Mr. RIM job!!

[David522]

Hahhahahahha

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[gwbulldogs]

WOW............just wow! After reading this, why would anyone in their right mind want to go out next time they release a new phone and be the first to get it? I mean they are admitting to you that they think it's going to be crap when they sell it to you, so what's the point in wasting time/money/effort when they admit what they are going to release to you is crap?

Shocking, truly shocking from a supposed "LEADER" in the industry of smartphones! Corporate America won't stand for that when they are the leading force behind Blackberry!

[destro23]

I've said and have been bashed in here for saying it's buggy and sub-par OS.. But i also have said i love the phone and am rooting for it to get better..


FANBOYS you know who you are please respond.

[SpicytacoTO]

Ah, he's just grumpy because the OSC is looking to fine his *** hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of options backdating by RIM.

[armedtank]

WTF????? It might be true, but you don't say it.
Looks like i'll be shorting RIMM if his statement gets
any traction in the mainstream media. I know the phone
had its issues, but Jobs would have never told his base to expect buggy software.
Unbelievable.....

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Sooks]

PEOPLE, it is true , and i rather them tell everyone so they dont expect a perfect phone out of the box, with "complex" devices this just dosent happen anymore..... find me a phone that is a smart phone that has zero bugs out of box... it dosent happen !

[destro23]

PEOPLE, it is true , and i rather them tell everyone so they dont expect a perfect phone out of the box, with "complex" devices this just dosent happen anymore..... find me a phone that is a smart phone that has zero bugs out of box... it dosent happen !

Thanks Sooks.. I can't count how many people i've told to wait to get the storm till after the summer. And that the Storm is not ready yet. I've told a bunch of current blackberry owners to wait.. and to try my phone out and they agreed. I can deal with the OS the way it is... MOST users cant and will get frustrated And go and get a Palm Pre when it comes out. And i'm sure it will have it's issues.. but i can almost promise you it will have MUCH less issues.

I tell the people to wait only so they aren't dissapointed with the phone. I've had 3 firends return theirs to to laggy and not what expected phone.

[1magine]

The dumbing down of the Global market. Enjoy! Its a race to the bottom of the barrel. Quickest, cheapest to market wins out over quality. Truth is - Storm will be a success (not huge b/c law firms and corps are saying no in record numbers to this BB) b/c people worldwide GENERALLY have come to expect less. Corporations rule and you don't. Accept it. The return rate is in the single digits. If all those who are/were unsatisfied demanded exchanges or refunds than not only would the device be fixed, but it would be a lesson to the industry and perhaps 'industry' in general about how to proceed. (Think of the Tylenol incidents.)

[jdoner1]

Just read the article and the top folks at BB are starting to get flagrant with their lack of 100% usable software. Listen, I understand that there will be bugs, but think about it people, don't we deserve at least a FINISHED product. So after reading that this co-CEO is basically saying "HAHA GOTCHA, NOTHING YOU CAN DO," I would rather sell my Storm (unlocked by Verizon) on eBay for almost 4x what I paid than return it. Just my 2 cents...

PS - My storm is on ebay right now lol...i 80% loved the phone but BB shouldn't openly admit they are idiots and that their customers should follow blindly.

PSS - Plus I'm a Mac user, I guess BB forgot about us. I was given some standard answer at the Verizon Store (I got mine on launch day) to the effect of, "No software yet for Mac, but expect something by January." It just seems like BB and/or VZW (I don't know who so don't flame-either way they are BOTH responsible because their names are on the product) gave up on customer satisfaction starting with the Storm software and this article has just brought everything to the dinner table. I just wish it would have went down differently...

[JRSCCivic98]

WTF????? It might be true, but you don't say it.
Looks like i'll be shorting RIMM if his statement gets
any traction in the mainstream media. I know the phone
had its issues, but Jobs would have never told his base to expect buggy software.
Unbelievable.....

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Yeah, because the iPhone was "perfect" when it came out first.

I think some of you are in denial... or simply just forgot.

I also seem to remember poll and threads on here a few months back about "Just release the Storm now, you can fix the software through updates." Now that you got that, you're crying because it's not perfect.

[bbman1605]

This goes a lot further than just RIM or smartphones. Think of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Releasing a product before it is ready is protocol these days. Companies know that consumers are so in love with the next best thing that they will spend hundreds of dollars on something that doesn't even work right. It' not the companies fault it's the consumers!

[jdoner1]

This goes a lot further than just RIM or smartphones. Think of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Releasing a product before it is ready is protocol these days. Companies know that consumers are so in love with the next best thing that they will spend hundreds of dollars on something that doesn't even work right. It' not the companies fault it's the consumers!

WOW, so true. Let's give it up for single-digit posts newbies!

[lilmoney30]

Wow this kinda makes you wonder if there is something in the os they cant figure out because bugs are not acceptable! lol well atleast from Rim that is!

[ghosthound]

consider the bar lowered.

[armedtank]

Yeah, because the iPhone was "perfect" when it came out first.

I think some of you are in denial... or simply just forgot.

I also seem to remember poll and threads on here a few months back about "Just release the Storm now, you can fix the software through updates." Now that you got that, you're crying because it's not perfect.

I think not, my wife owns a 1g iPhone so I am well aware of the issues that she had and still sometimes has with her device and I have complained very little about the Storm, I think I might have 1 or 2 posts in the rants section and this is my 3rd Storm. I manage developers so I know how the process goes.

My point was that Jobs would have not have told his user base that this is what is to be expected and that buggy software will now be the norm. I am amazed that any CEO would make a statement like that about their product. Also, I am a RIM shareholder, which means I actually have a stake in the success of this company and one thing I know is that as CEO you are your company's biggest advocate, your job is to increase shareholder value and statement like this will do just the opposite. I am hoping not to see his quote on CNBC.

[howardb]

I think not, my wife owns a 1g iPhone so I am well aware of the issues that she had and still sometimes has with her device and I have complained very little about the Storm, I think I might have 1 or 2 posts in the rants section and this is my 3rd Storm. I manage developers so I know how the process goes.

My point was that Jobs would have not have told his user base that this is what is to be expected and that buggy software will now be the norm. I am amazed that any CEO would make a statement like that about their product. Also, I am a RIM shareholder, which means I actually have a stake in the success of this company and one thing I know is that as CEO you are your company's biggest advocate, your job is to increase shareholder value and statement like this will do just the opposite. I am hoping not to see his quote on CNBC.

Agreed! I'm looking at my portfolio right now and every stock in there is up except for RIMM.... Hrm... Imagine that. Something tells me the comments are getting traction. Usually I'd have considered RIMM strong enough that if they took a big down turn I'd buy more shares. But with a downturn caused by ignorance I'm not so certain...

[pjdell]

The storm being buggy is just a matter of RIM and Verizon and all other storm carriers trying to make the most money out of the phone.

Release the phone in February with an amazing OS when everyones pockets are empty from christmas, not to mention a huge loss of profit from people who got phones for christmas that may have gotten storm if it were out

or...

Release a buggy phone prior to the holiday season and make some bank off of it


You can't blame them... its the way our economic system works... you do what you want to do in order to make the most money, you don't have to please people.

[jaybittle]

Release a buggy phone prior to the holiday season and make some bank off of it

And to continue the example, use the bank to improve the phone, which is exactly what RIM has done.

What amazes me the post is that people want honesty out of the companies they deal with, and then are shocked when the receive that honesty. Would you rather RIM kept blowing smoke up our butts and continue the "nothing but blue skies ahead" rhetoric?

[Romple]

Meh. He made a very valid point but just said it fairly poorly.


It's not like they intend on releasing buggy software.

[ryanbg]

It sounds like this was taken out of context, and I really think he meant that with every launch of a new device there are going to be problems. Whatever though, as long as my Storm gets some of it's bugs fixed I'm not complaining.

[fineazngod]

From Engadget dot com

While our experience says otherwise, we really hope that the practice of launching buggy smartphones hasn't been institutionalized. The Wall Street Journal just published a report about the "bumpy launch" of the BlackBerry Storm -- a handset that WSJ sources say sold some 500,000 units in the first month following its global release. Not bad, but well off the 2.4 million launch pace seen by the iPhone 3G -- the phone the Storm had hoped to unseat as sales champ. The WSJ speculates that the relatively timid response stems from buggy or otherwise "clunky software" that crippled the user experience and performance at launch only to be (partially) corrected later via software updates. An abysmal scenario which echos the buggy 2.0 software that accompanied the iPhone 3G at launch.

Now, instead of pleading for mercy at the feet of disgruntled consumers, RIM co-CEO, Jim Balsillie, calls the post-launch scramble part of the "new reality" of making complex cellphones in large volumes. A Verizon spokesman noted that return percentages are measurable in single digits (standard for a smartphone) adding, "The sales and performance of the device have lived up to our expectations." Fine, but when expectations are high that the consumer experience will be poor, somehow that doesn't sound like a victory to us.

Same topic posted on Gizmodo

At launch, the BlackBerry Storm was so buggy RIM promised patches before it even landed in consumers' hands. RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie now explains the situation perfectly: Buggy, busted *** smartphones are the "new reality."

That's right, the "new reality" is that your smartphone is going to be buggy as crap right out of the box because the maker scrambled to meet a deadline "by the skin of their teeth." In other words, beta culture is here to stay, and you better like it.

Sorry Jim, but that makes you sound like an ******* (even if you are a nice guy, like your co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, who I very much enjoyed talking to before the Storm launch). Both on the face of it�customers should get used to waiting for a patch to make the phone they just spent a few hundred bucks on actually work?�and because you're the CEO of the company that used to make the most bulletproof smartphones in the business. Granted, you have screwed up your last two major launches�the Storm, obviously, and the Bold, which AT&T held back for months in the States while you tried to work the bugs out�but now you're just giving up on the idea of products that just work right out of the box?

Here's a thought: Ship products that actually work! Google's crap is in perpetual beta and the G1 came out of the gate better than the Storm or the iPhone, phones from companies that are supposedly obsessed with user experience. W.T.F. I know you wanted to hit Black Friday and rushed the Storm to the market for Black Friday�where you managed to sell 500,000 in the first month, according to the WSJ�but think of every customer you lost because they heard how crapfrickintastic the Storm was.

If you're not even gonna bother trying why should we?

Pretty Sad...buggy software is the way of the future?

I think people should applaud his honesty. With every new device there are going to be issues with it. Every early adopter knows that. There has not been a single device that didn't have issues. The iphone had issues. The G1 had issues. The Storm has issues. The, insert any new device name here, has issues.

Sadly for him he should not have been so honest in admitting that there are issues with new phones at launch. Honesty is business just gets you ripped to shreds in the forum of public opinion.

[Romple]

Consumers don't want honesty they want perfection....

[jdoner1]

Consumers don't want honesty they want perfection....

And why not? Don't get me wrong the storm looks awesome, but it seems like a majority of storm users either (1) settled for mediocre software, (2) don't care if the software is mediocre, or (3) about to flame me. lol