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10 years from now what will the two former Co-CEO's legacy be? I wonder how they feel about what has happened and what they would have done differently if they had to do it again. Will they have made any lasting contribution to the field and will their be anything left that once was? Was their brilliance during RIM's rise nullified by their incompetence during its fall from grace?
I don't know about Jim B but Mike L will definitely be doing his thing with that new building for quantum computing (?) that he's building (or has been built). I'm sure some interesting stuff will come out of there in the next few years. Regardless of what happens, they should both be proud. If you ever look up what the first smartphone was, you'll see "BlackBerry". That's a pretty amazing feat, along with all the other stuff they've done.
They've definitely left their mark and that's the most anyone can ever hope for, no one get's to remain "king" forever.
I think the (apparent) downfall of Blackberry the last few years will to some degree tarnish their previous accomplishments with the company. Having said that, I think as time progresses (assuming Blackberry as we know it ceases to exist in the relatively near future) more and more people will remember Blackberry in a positive light, remembering the positive experiences they had with their Blackberries during the company's prime years. As was already noted, in at least some ways Blackberry created the first smartphone (though some people would argue Symbian, Windows Mobile, and/or Palm should share that title), and that's a pretty significant accomplishment. Jim Basillie and Mike Lazaridis played a big role in building Blackberry to the company's prime years, and they'll be properly remembered for doing that.
They'll have a similar legacy to Jeff Hawkins.
They get credit for building a great company with innovative products....and lose all that credit by running it into the ground when it was on top. It probably takes just as much effort to do that as to keep growing it.
Posted via CB10
There is a difference though - they were in charge of Blackberry when the company started its downfall.
I generally agree with your statement though.
Arrogant luminaries.
Posted via CB10
I don't know if they were arrogant in as much as they fell too in love with their baby and couldn't see the tidal wave out in the distance.
They had an awesome company and slowly ran it into the ground. They underestimated their competitors and disappointed a lot of people. Sad. :-(
Sent from my sexy white hot Z10 in Sin City ;-)