Originally Posted by
qbnkelt But it's not really about pleasing the negative nancies and to shut up the media, is it? It's about having devices that can compete against other flagship devices in order to gain back the 1 million that left last quarter, and to climb up from the single digit marketshare.
Consumers have decided what they want, and they want apps. Personally, I could not care less about Netfli or Angry Birds and Words with Friends and have only used Skype on my non BB phones once, regardless of how long I've had them. But I do enjoy Instagram and I do use WhatsApp. And my DC Transit app is extremely useful, and I'm the ultimate person who can attest to how it works for me and why I prefer it. Most people don't carry multiple personal devices on multiple platforms, they carry either one if they do their work out of their personal device or they use two, a personal device and a work issued device. Therefore most people won't carry a non BB device in order to gain access to the apps that they want and the platform lacks.
Because I like testing things for myself I've started using my SGIII as my primary device to see how I manage. And I manage just fine. Excepting for BBM and banking apps, I have lost nothing in changing from the 9900 as my primary device to my SGIII as my primary device. What I have gained is the convenience of apps that I had never used on my BB because they weren't there. Whether it's ordering a pizza on my phone or being able to plan my commute out of my device or editing and sharing pics with people on my Instagram contact list or groups, I am finding that all the noise about apps is due to convenience, ease of use, enhanced experience, and *choice.*
And if RIM is to stay alive, it needs to move away from the "why do I need an app when I can do things on my browser" mentality and apply it to the consumer market. Because the consumer market has left that line of thinking at least since 2009, when RIM was still claiming that Apple didn't know anything about the phone market.
History would tell RIM otherwise. While RIM is not responsible for which developers support BB10, it is undeniable that in order to survive it needs to, at the very least, match what other manufacturers offer. And according to what was widely reported, this "new RIM" will release a new OS that is meant to "leapfrog the competition."
Luckily, it will bring Instagram. Hopefully it will bring the other big apps that people want. Because at this point in time, primitive browser workarounds vs available apps will not gain it the 1 million back nor will it get it into the double digits in market share.
Whether what I'm saying is regarded as being a negative nancy is immaterial to me. I see RIM in a precarious position and I *need* it to come out of it because it is the means by which I communicate with loved ones across the pond. And I've got one loved one who will use nothing else because nothing else meets his needs. So....I am speaking out of urgency, not negativism.
Maintaining the status quo in terms of app availability and arguing for cumbersome browser work arounds is most decidedly not leapfrogging the competition. However unfair it may be to RIM considering that it cannot force dev support, it is a simple fact that consumers want apps. And those consumers will pay for the devices that give then what they want. And if they don't buy BBs because of lack of apps, BB won't survive in N.A.