[FlashFlare11]

Hi everyone!

This evening I wanted to take an opportunity to reflect upon something that really hit me over this past year and was reiterated by Kevin in his CB 2012 Reader's Choice Awards. In it, he wrote:

In January of 2012 the BlackBerry world got a shock when it was announced that co-CEO's Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis were out and Thorsten Heins was in. It's been full steam ahead to BlackBerry 10 ever since and Thorsten Heins rightfully earns the spot as biggest news story of the year for BlackBerry. He's recharged RIM's batteries. He brought on a new senior management team, empowered RIM's people and he's a stand up through and through. We've always loved BlackBerry products. But BlackBerry under Thorsten Heins leadership has made us fall in love with the company behind the products too this year

Now, I would just like to take a quick look back at my experience being a BlackBerry user so far. I became a user in 2009 a with a Pearl Flip. It was my third phone ever and my first smartphone. It will most likely go down as the device dearest to me. I had always heard of the brand "BlackBerry" and it being tied to business, enterprise, and government users. The company behind BlackBerry, though, wasn't so apparent. In fact, it wasn't until mid to late-2010 that I learned that the company that made BlackBerry wasn't called "BlackBerry" at all, rather, it was a (relatively) small Canadian firm named Research in Motion.

In 2011, instead of writers and journalists writing about BlackBerry, they were more willing to go after RIM. I don't know how visible the company was beforehand, but several events in 2011 brought RIM to the forefront, I think. There was the PlayBook launch, the delay of native PIM apps, the delay of BB10-based devices, and the major outage. These events led to RIM, the company, taking a lot of criticism rather than BlackBerry, the brand. Still, the companies co-CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, made the company feel distant and disconnected.

The beginning of 2012 brought a new era for RIM. Thorsten Heins being appointed CEO, I believe, was one of the best moves RIM could have made considering their situation. It all leads back to the boldfaced print in the quote I had presented: "We've always loved BlackBerry products. But BlackBerry under Thorsten Heins leadership has made us fall in love with the company behind the products too this year." RIM had taken a lot of criticism during the course of 2012. Rumors of their imminent and impending death were made so public that people actually thought it was true. Heins and his team looked them straight in the face and refused to make their claims a reality. They knew that in order to make BlackBerry 10 a success, RIM needed to restore the respect and credibility it had lost in 2011. The end result is a RIM that is now, more than ever, closer to its customer. It is a company willing to listen to its consumers, its developers, and its critics and make the necessary changes to create a better product. We have a CEO and a team of great people that know not only what they're doing but also what they're up against. Finally, we have a RIM that I feel truly cares about its customers and people who love what they do.

In summary, Kevin was absolutely spot-on when he said that Heins made us fall in love with the company behind BlackBerry. Prior to 2012, I would argue that we really didn't know much about RIM or the people behind our beloved devices. But the people we got to meet throughout last year's various events made me really want to get behind not only BB10, but behind RIM and actively root for it, as a company, to see those in the company succeed. RIM is the first company I've come to really grow fond of and have grown to really care about its future, not only because of BlackBerry, but also the people.

So, as we look onto the launch of BlackBerry 10, let's get behind RIM and root for not only the platform, but also for the faces and people we've come to know this past year. I'm rooting for BlackBerry 10 to be a success, and as well as the continued success of Research in Motion!

[Dapper37]

Well said, Thanks

[Applevine]

As Smokey Robinson would say, "I second that emotion". Here in Barbados waiting impatiently for BB10.


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