1. Blackberry_Boy's Avatar
    I just got back aftera few days of business in DC. BB is still the one used by the serious doers inside the beltway. Amazed at all the BBs I saw in Georgetown. I also was in the West Wing and BB is being used by those guys too. The stated perception is that serious people use BB; others use the rest. Seemsto me there isa natural marketing nkche and therefore campaign to exploit for RIM.

    Anyway, rumours of RIM's death seem exaggerated.
    VanCity778 and black-dash like this.
    02-04-12 10:04 AM
  2. DannyAves's Avatar
    I just got back aftera few days of business in DC. BB is still the one used by the serious doers inside the beltway. Amazed at all the BBs I saw in Georgetown. I also was in the West Wing and BB is being used by those guys too. The stated perception is that serious people use BB; others use the rest. Seemsto me there isa natural marketing nkche and therefore campaign to exploit for RIM.

    Anyway, rumours of RIM's death seem exaggerated.
    Perhaps those people were government employees and they can only use FIPS approved devices.
    02-04-12 10:33 AM
  3. Blackberry_Boy's Avatar
    so? Precisely my point.
    Dapper37 likes this.
    02-04-12 12:13 PM
  4. cfx_will's Avatar
    I think the argument that danny aves is trying to make is that if they had the chance to choose another phone they will; the only reason they have bb is not because bb is a serious phone, it's because no other phones are certified.

    Again, how long before other are certified. Will it be before bb10 comes out? If not, US government might be jumping ship as well.
    02-04-12 12:28 PM
  5. belfastdispatcher's Avatar
    I think the argument that danny aves is trying to make is that if they had the chance to choose another phone they will; the only reason they have bb is not because bb is a serious phone, it's because no other phones are certified.

    Again, how long before other are certified. Will it be before bb10 comes out? If not, US government might be jumping ship as well.
    As long As google and apple have back doors and can be jail broken it will never happen.
    02-04-12 12:37 PM
  6. app_Developer's Avatar
    Governments are very, very slow to change. So, yes, this will likely be a good (but small) market for RIM for some time.

    Good Technology is making some progress here, though. I know of one very large agency that is deploying Good for iOS. And there is one very high security group that has rolled it out for iPad already. RIM should roll Mobile Fusion out there quickly before Good takes a chunk of this market.

    And then of course you have the Army's own Android implementation.
    Last edited by app_Developer; 02-04-12 at 12:40 PM.
    02-04-12 12:37 PM
  7. cntrydncr223's Avatar
    Governments are very, very slow to change.
    Truer words....
    02-04-12 01:58 PM
  8. southlander's Avatar
    It's not just government that uses BlackBerry. Hollywood is filled to the brim with stars toting BlackBerrys. They are in all the TV shows/movies, etc.

    Yet RIM somehow fails to make hay from all this. (?)

    Or perhaps it does help and they'd actually be worse off. Who knows.
    02-04-12 02:03 PM
  9. Laura Knotek's Avatar
    In the US, whether one is a liberal, conservative, moderate, Tea Party, Occupy Wall St, or anything else, there is a common denominator. Nobody likes the government officials in Washington. All political offices (President, Senate, House) have very low approval ratings.

    If ordinary citizens dislike these offices, marketing a product these folks use will not get more consumer sales.
    Last edited by lak611; 02-04-12 at 02:26 PM.
    02-04-12 02:10 PM
  10. dagerlach's Avatar
    We all still have Blackberry's in DC if you work for the Gov't; not for long though. The environment is changing rapidly. Apple products are moving in very quickly. Supposedly, my new gov't issued iPad will be ready for me on Monday. I had the choice of an iPhone or an iPad.

    Of course I still have my own Blackberry Bold 9900 and Playbook which will be a superior product when 2.0 is released.

    That being said, RIM has to step up their game in the gov't and show they aren't going out of business and are still capable of providing a competitive and secure product. RIM really needs to come brief U.S. Gov't IT departments when they get the Playbook 2.0 and Bold 9900 working together as they have recently advertised. I personally would like RIM to come to my office and explain why they have a better product than Apple.

    Open invitation to RIM!!!

    David
    02-04-12 02:23 PM
  11. AlienSlacker's Avatar
    I just got back aftera few days of business in DC. BB is still the one used by the serious doers inside the beltway. Amazed at all the BBs I saw in Georgetown. I also was in the West Wing and BB is being used by those guys too. The stated perception is that serious people use BB; others use the rest. Seemsto me there isa natural marketing nkche and therefore campaign to exploit for RIM.

    Anyway, rumours of RIM's death seem exaggerated.
    If you have ever been to the Pentagon it's the same thing. All you see is BB. For fast and secure communications BB is the best.
    black-dash likes this.
    02-04-12 03:11 PM
  12. Blackberry_Boy's Avatar
    not all these people work for govt. they were lobbyists, and others. the point I'm trying to make is that there is an aura of exclusivity with BB users. my client said, "you just look serious" to me. thus should be exploited by rim.
    02-04-12 05:30 PM
  13. Laura Knotek's Avatar
    not all these people work for govt. they were lobbyists, and others. the point I'm trying to make is that there is an aura of exclusivity with BB users. my client said, "you just look serious" to me. thus should be exploited by rim.
    That is true, and I do see where RIM should market to folks who work for the government or influence the government (like lobbyists).

    However, the fact that those people use Blackberry will not impact the average US consumer, who probably has more disdain for lobbyists than actual government officials.
    02-04-12 05:36 PM
  14. app_Developer's Avatar
    That is true, and I do see where RIM should market to folks who work for the government or influence the government (like lobbyists).

    However, the fact that those people use Blackberry will not impact the average US consumer, who probably has more disdain for lobbyists than actual government officials.
    I can see the tagline now:

    "Blackberry. The choice of the most dysfunctional and out of touch institution in America."
    Cleveland likes this.
    02-04-12 05:52 PM
  15. anthogag's Avatar
    I think BB10 phones will be out before the other phones are 'approved'
    02-04-12 07:17 PM
  16. lax42's Avatar
    If you ever ride the metro you'd see like a 7:1 ratio of iPhone to bb
    black-dash likes this.
    02-04-12 10:52 PM
  17. Blackberry_Boy's Avatar
    I am quite sure I would. I am pretty sure i never said that BB was the "only" one. My point is that there were lots of BBs being used and there is an air of seriousness about those using them. That air of seriousness is something that RIM can and should exploit. Washington is full of people who are highly paid professionals who may be lobbyists, associated with organizations like the World Bank, etc. Kids in Georgetown for sure all had their iPhones. Wealthy preppy kids.
    02-05-12 03:08 AM
  18. qbnkelt's Avatar
    I think the argument that danny aves is trying to make is that if they had the chance to choose another phone they will; the only reason they have bb is not because bb is a serious phone, it's because no other phones are certified.

    Again, how long before other are certified. Will it be before bb10 comes out? If not, US government might be jumping ship as well.
    What would be the gain *to the government* to engage in a wholesale swap out away from a trusted platform and tool such as BES in favour or a lesser tool such as Good Technology which supports phones that have shown to be more vulnerable to attacks?
    What is the justification for the government to spend the money to make such a switch?

    There are sandboxed projects that use other platforms. Those devices, such as the recently approved Samsung Galaxy phones, use stripped down versions of the Android platform. But to completely swap out one platform to another would show no gain *to the government.* And any instance of any Android or iOS device on the network behind firewalls, say, in my agency, would be severely curtailed in its abilities and functions. Example - no downloads would be allowed. App Market would not be allowed.

    So....would a person choose an Android device or an iPhone that has been stripped down of those functions that consumers love in these devices? Perhaps, for the bigger screen and increased resolution. But to think that my Samsung Galaxy II Skyrocket could be put on the network AS IS is completely wrong.

    For the government to change en masse away from BES and to something else there would have to be a remarkable gain. What is that gain *to the government?*
    Last edited by Qbnkelt; 02-05-12 at 06:14 AM.
    02-05-12 05:11 AM
  19. qbnkelt's Avatar
    If you ever ride the metro you'd see like a 7:1 ratio of iPhone to bb
    I ride the DC Metro four days a week. As you get closer to Union Station the amount of BB changes drastically as federal employees come in.
    02-05-12 05:15 AM
  20. missing_K-W's Avatar
    The day the US government and US military adopt iOS or Android as the primary platform, is the same day that Chinese intelligence kick back and have a good laugh amongst each other saying," their just making this WAY too easy for us"
    AlienSlacker likes this.
    02-05-12 05:42 AM
  21. Blackberry_Boy's Avatar
    perhaps it is motivated by planted insiders associated with foreign entities who'd like to see a lessening of security in government
    02-05-12 09:33 AM
  22. ADozenEggs@aol.com's Avatar
    The day the US government and US military adopt iOS or Android as the primary platform, is the same day that Chinese intelligence kick back and have a good laugh amongst each other saying," their just making this WAY too easy for us"
    From your mouth to the Government's ears:

    http://m.cnn.com/primary/wk_article?...droid-phones:1

    You don't have to be looking at the car racing up the road for it to hit you.
    Last edited by [email protected]; 02-05-12 at 06:20 PM. Reason: typo
    02-05-12 06:19 PM
  23. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    perhaps it is motivated by planted insiders associated with foreign entities who'd like to see a lessening of security in government
    This is definitely it. Moles and double agents.

    Mobile post via Tapatalk
    02-05-12 06:45 PM
  24. Sandman333's Avatar
    The day the US government and US military adopt iOS or Android as the primary platform, is the same day that Chinese intelligence kick back and have a good laugh amongst each other saying," their just making this WAY too easy for us"
    Times are changing: U.S. government, military to get secure Android phones - CNN.com
    02-05-12 06:57 PM
  25. AlienSlacker's Avatar
    It's a Darpa funded test. According to the article they chose to test Android first because Google already allows anybody to freely tinker with their software. They will eventually be testing BB and Apple as well.
    02-05-12 07:38 PM
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