1. 3Dee's Avatar
    What are the major turning points in the history of BlackBerry/RIM? Specifically, what are the times where, had BlackBerry/RIM chosen a different path, their present could be very different?

    If I were to pick one I'd probably say the decision not to release BBM cross-platform much earlier. Had BlackBerry done this, they could have locked up mobile instant messaging on all platforms in its infancy and guaranteed the continued use and relevance of the BlackBerry name to a huge customer base. (The funny thing is that at the time, I (like many) saw this as a bad move)

    This is not a BlackBerry bashing thread - hindsight is 20/20 and the intent here is not to criticise. Neither is there any implication that the history of BlackBerry has finished being written - we could be in a major turning point right now. This is not an original topic - it's one that's been discussed countless times. But it is interesting, and is definitely 'general BlackBerry discussion' at its finest
    07-19-15 12:59 PM
  2. TheBirdDog's Avatar
    Had they not abandoned the PlayBook, it would have kept many users from turning sour towards the brand. I know many people that picked up a PlayBook and felt it to be a disaster of a product launch.
    Whether the reason being that they never put enough guts into it to have it run BB10 or whatever the case may be, the PlayBook is arguably the most 'obsolete' piece of BlackBerry hardware that you see around. And it's a shame because of the potential that it had.
    Perhaps the fact that BlackBerry cut their losses with it is the reason that they are still able to keep going rather than having to put the last of their resources into keeping it going, but it's still sad. Having a relevant tablet out there rather than one that flopped would have done great things for the brand.
    The Passport might have been a new turning point but we'll see how it plays out as it has brought BlackBerry back into relevance.
    extisis likes this.
    07-19-15 01:06 PM
  3. anon(7808135)'s Avatar
    Launching BBM cross platform in 2008 and making flagship devices years ago.

    Posted via CB10
    07-19-15 01:12 PM
  4. guygardner73's Avatar
    Invent the iphone.

    PassportSQW100-1/10.3.1.2576 O2 UK
    07-19-15 01:23 PM
  5. LazyEvul's Avatar
    Invent the iphone.

    PassportSQW100-1/10.3.1.2576 O2 UK
    They didn't even have to invent it, really - they just had to recognize it as a serious threat to their business and react immediately. Instead they dragged their legs and released a slew of half-baked, unimpressive products that the industry scoffed at.
    07-19-15 01:44 PM
  6. skstrials's Avatar
    They should have released BlackBerry 10 earlier as in 2010 or earlier.

    Posted via CB10
    07-19-15 02:06 PM
  7. Chuck Finley69's Avatar
    Poisoned Steve Jobs 10 years earlier.

    Posted via CB10
    guygardner73 likes this.
    07-19-15 02:20 PM
  8. amazinglygraceless's Avatar
    Wow! After almost a year away I come back to find people are still doing the autopsy on a body that hasn't died.

    The more things change...
    07-19-15 02:28 PM
  9. bakron1's Avatar
    They didn't even have to invent it, really - they just had to recognize it as a serious threat to their business and react immediately. Instead they dragged their legs and released a slew of half-baked, unimpressive products that the industry scoffed at.
    Exactly, it's called complacency and a lack of vision for what the consumer was looking for.

    They should have put their resources into a touch screen device way when they had some market share and their user base would have welcomed the device with open arms, but that's water over the bridge.

    Now the issue is whether anyone here in the USA really cares about the brand which has all but become extinct here.

    I really hoping they release an Android based device with a Blackberry skin. It might be just what the doctor ordered and just might bring some former users back in to the Brand. Only time will tell.
    LazyEvul likes this.
    07-19-15 02:32 PM
  10. 3Dee's Avatar
    Wow! After almost a year away I come back to find people are still doing the autopsy on a body that hasn't died.

    The more things change...
    From my original post (as the OP):

    "Neither is there any implication that the history of BlackBerry has finished being written - we could be in a major turning point right now."

    For the record, I think that similar interesting questions could be asked about the history of Apple and (probably more interestingly) Google
    Last edited by 3Dee; 07-20-15 at 03:45 PM.
    07-19-15 02:34 PM
  11. Soulstream's Avatar
    I actually think that going Android in 2009 or 2010 would have resulted in a healthier company right now.
    techvisor and jmr1015 like this.
    07-19-15 02:51 PM
  12. LazyEvul's Avatar
    I actually think that going Android in 2009 or 2010 would have resulted in a healthier company right now.
    Probably. But if they had the sense to react that early, they could've quite easily competed with their own OS as well. Mobile ecosystems were in their infancy and BlackBerry was in much better financial shape - creating a competitive ecosystem would've been relatively simple.
    Elephant_Canyon likes this.
    07-19-15 03:03 PM
  13. Soulstream's Avatar
    Probably. But if they had the sense to react that early, they could've quite easily competed with their own OS as well. Mobile ecosystems were in their infancy and BlackBerry was in much better financial shape - creating a competitive ecosystem would've been relatively simple.
    But they didn't. As much as it is not a popular opinion on CB, the decisio to develop BB10 instead of going Android, was a bad one financially.
    techvisor likes this.
    07-19-15 03:06 PM
  14. LazyEvul's Avatar
    But they didn't. As much as it is not a popular opinion on CB, the decisio to develop BB10 instead of going Android, was a bad one financially.
    Oh I know, what I'm trying to say is that they were too slow to understand the changing smartphone industry in general. 2009 or 2010 was still potentially early enough to compete on their own, but BB10 wasn't released until 2013. With hindsight, that was far too late to compete on their own.
    07-19-15 03:10 PM
  15. Granrey's Avatar
    BlackBerry took too long to release the playbook plus it did not come properly finished when released.

    BlackBerry took too long for bb10 and when released was also in horrible shape and a horrible ecosystem. Even if Bb10 had been released on day 1 with 10.3, z30 and or the passport. It would not have made a difference.

    What BlackBerry should have done was released a playbook on time and properly finished with a smartwatch as well. Bb10 released at 10.3 couple years early then it would have chance.

    Posted via CB10
    andy957 likes this.
    07-19-15 05:46 PM
  16. FrankUnderwood's Avatar
    Lots of mis-steps along the way but the major one was the release of the Storm - they misread the touch screen market. That stained them in that market for a long time down the road. No matter BB10 or BBOS...it was a flop.

    There's no one reason why it tripped up. I don't think the body is dead by any stretch. People just need to realize BlackBerry is now an enterprise company and not keep comparing it to Apple.

    Posted via CB10 on the President Underwood version of the BlackBerry Classic
    andy957 likes this.
    07-19-15 05:52 PM
  17. wojt7's Avatar
    The biggest failure for me was when they released first BB10 phones with 'also ran' spec but charging an arm and leg for that. That greed is why the ecosystem never stood a chance of gaining momentum.
    I remember when Z10 was released in UK. There were queues in the stores and a lot of media attention. That was BlackBerry last chance to gain any traction.
    Unfortunately as we know the whole launch with system in beta and phones so expensive that you could get Android flagships for that price, all that turned people off.
    07-19-15 06:37 PM
  18. bobshine's Avatar
    The Storm was rushed and a mistake. Back then, they had an exclusive relationship with Verizon since the iPhone wasn't available on their network.

    It was BlackBerry best chance to get a touchscreen in the hands of everyone at verizon and they blew it.

    Posted via CB10
    FrankUnderwood and bakron1 like this.
    07-19-15 06:43 PM
  19. Prem WatsApp's Avatar
    The biggest failure for me was when they released first BB10 phones with 'also ran' spec but charging an arm and leg for that. That greed is why the ecosystem never stood a chance of gaining momentum.
    I remember when Z10 was released in UK. There were queues in the stores and a lot of media attention. That was BlackBerry last chance to gain any traction.
    Unfortunately as we know the whole launch with system in beta and phones so expensive that you could get Android flagships for that price, all that turned people off.
    Ironically, later they had to sell all those Z10s at a price they didn't like anyway, and lost any chance of gaining momentum. *

    If they had factored that huge write-off in as part of a "get a foothold" strategy (right from the start), it may have worked, but the price would have needed to be discounted from day one...

    Cool phone at a cool price,...

    :-D

    (*even devs would have probably [re]acted differently if BlackBerry had gained momentum instead of losing it... )


    �   "BB Android Armageddon: Chenisys is uploading in 5,4,3..."   �
    07-19-15 07:00 PM
  20. guygardner73's Avatar
    Poisoned Steve Jobs 10 years earlier.

    Posted via CB10
    Roflmao!

    PassportSQW100-1/10.3.1.2576 O2 UK
    07-19-15 11:42 PM
  21. dvarnai's Avatar
    Just do what your customers want. Unfortunately they are still not doing that as much as they should

    Posted via CB10
    07-20-15 04:21 AM
  22. Bishkin's Avatar
    Forget the what ifs. Why be trapped with the past when their past is already their failure for its future.
    07-20-15 05:01 AM
  23. kvndoom's Avatar
    I think Storm, Playbook, and BB10 launch were the 3 deadly sins. All 3 were late to the party and underwhelming.

    I didn't know much about the Storm until I read about it here on CB but that was a true disaster. It didn't kill the brand by itself, but it seems to have begun sowing the seeds of doubt.

    Playbook was just horrible. I kick myself for ever buying one. I convinced myself that Bridge would be greatly beneficial for traveling and I think I maybe used it twice. The piece of junk can't even browse the Web. Even an ancient ipad 1 has a usable Web browser!

    If BB10 had been released in its current state at minimum 2 years sooner, I think BlackBerry would still have 10% marketshare. Enough to be relevant. It's a cutthroat market and late=dead. With all the clout and cash Microsoft has, it still can't gain any traction either.

    Posted from BlackBerry Classic, Verizon, no camera, 10.3.2.2205
    ubizmo likes this.
    07-20-15 05:03 AM
  24. Granrey's Avatar
    .


    Playbook was just horrible. I kick myself for ever buying one. I convinced myself that Bridge would be greatly beneficial for traveling and I think I maybe used it twice. The piece of junk can't even browse the Web. Even an ancient ipad 1 has a usable Web browser!

    I think you might be confused. The bridge works great with the previous OS.


    You could adjust the calendar, make/modify notes, send/receive emails on your phone though the playbook which I find better than blend.

    My combo : curve/playbook/bridge was far better than z10/android tablet/ blend.

    Why ?cause blend always freezes on my tablet. It's too dam slow.

    The bridge on the playbook and bb10 only good for texting. Which is a shame.


    Posted via CB10
    07-20-15 01:15 PM
  25. Dunt Dunt Dunt's Avatar
    Wow! After almost a year away I come back to find people are still doing the autopsy on a body that hasn't died.

    The more things change...
    Welcome Back.... lot of things going on these days.

    We are now on the verge of getting Google Play Store on our devices officially... as we have "partners"
    BlackBerry is working on a lot of IoT products.
    Cars can't run without QNX.
    Chen just said that we only need to wait about 18 months to see some results that will turn things around.
    And they guys are still pumping out the charts showing how the stock is about to break out.
    BlackBerry has a new device coming that will change everything.


    So yeah a lot has changed in the last year.....
    JeepBB likes this.
    07-20-15 01:26 PM
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