[riholder]

Fresh off a week in Canada that featured stops in Montreal and Toronto, I decided to post some thoughts and observations about Blackberry in Society. This first post will detail my random observation through an airport with the second part being my in-store experience. Before I begin let me acknowledge that my background is neither technical nor am I a self proclaimed analyst/expert but I am intrigued by technology and its ability to change the future so I do my best to stay up to date. I have always followed Crackberry and was going to become a member when the phone was released last year. However, all the delays meant that I had to wait and wait until finally in 2013 I was able to join to be part of the new era of mobile computing. Sure I could have joined earlier but like Kevin and his hair, this was my decision as I was "Waiting for Godot", who finally came on 1/30/2013. I have been a BBRY user since 2008, first device was an 8330 which was retired in Nov. 2012 for an iPhone 4. The change was necessitated due to the fact that I needed to go back to the GSM capabilities (love unlocked freedom) and also was no longer on contract and picked up the same plan for almost half what I paid Sprint. Sad to say the iPhone lasted about 2 months before I switched to a 9700. These multiple device switches only occurred because I, like many others, am waiting patiently for the Z10 in the US. Even though I am able to purchase it unlocked in Canada I am fine with waiting.

BBRY is clearly a Canadian product, born and bred in the country, so it is not surprising to see people carrying around the devices. On a flight from Montreal to Toronto we suffered a delay as we sat on the plane. After being notified by the pilot that it was ok to use cellular devices while we waited, I counted 9 people within my range of view that pulled out BBRY devices (none of which were a Z10 of course). Apart from a playbook which would make 10 devices, everyone else had a Qwerty device (no Torch or Storms sighted) in their hands. Now granted this is a small sample and I was in Canada but being seated in a middle row aisle seat (2x3x2 style aircraft) and having witnessed this, I am sure I could have walked the entire plane and found more devices. I thought to myself, things were supposed to be much worse according to the "gurus" and "analysts". People had swapped out these ancient devices for either iPhones or Android devices, RIM was dead in the water, etc. Well to be fair they were right about RIM being dead because it is dead. But BlackBerry is the not so new name.

My arrival in Toronto prompted me to now observe as many people as I could between when I deplaned and when I got picked up at the curb. This observation would include Iphone, Android and BlackBerry devices. Using MemoPad on my Ipod touch I recorded the following results:
iPhone: 19, Android: 23, BlackBerry: 21 (31 total if you add the 10 from the plane).

So what do these numbers tell us? Nothing that is enough to bet the farm on but enough to confirm that even in the small sample of 63 people in an airport filled with hundreds of people if not thousands, many consumers still possess a BlackBerry device. Whether or not these users are Canadian or otherwise, business owners, CEOs, CFOs, I don't knows, etc, they are still using an "outdated", "soon to be dead" piece of equipment that has "no chance" of ever winning a battle because it is "too little, too late" in a market where all everyone cares about is Apple and Android. These are not the cards BlackBerry was dealt, its the type of game they played with what they had but now with a reshuffled deck and a growing pot, the future seems bright for BlackBerry in Society.

[spinnaker190]

Thank you, well written.

[RussBerry007]

I pulled lol out my bb 9310 in the Dr.'s office yesterday to enter my next appt...the (young) receptionist asked me if that was a bb?
She was telling me that she loves hers. Gave me her pin...ahhhh ya know what I mean? a bb is a bb. I'm proud to stand apart
from other sheep in public. I noticed since I got the 9310...I get stuff done!!

[Deu2e]

Love this. I can't wait to get back to a BlackBerry device! Hopefully I'll get the Z10 for my birthday next month! When and if I do get another BB, I can't WAIT to see the look on people's faces when I use the device!

[RubberChicken76]

Even though i'm hard on how Canadians support their own, they do somewhat show the love compared to other places. I've been on several flights recently and seen a surprising number of PlayBooks in airport lounges. Often a half dozen or so, including several with keyboards. I've definitely never seen that in the States but every time I travel in Canada, there are usually several besides me who have them.