The position RIM finds itself in right now is very much like the position Superman found himself in in Superman III where he fought himself. RIM's biggest challenger right now is what they used to be. Conventional wisdom suggests that in order for RIM to make a comeback, they have to compete with Apple, iOS, Google, Android, The App Store, and Google Play. I contend that it doesn't have to be so linear, nor does it have to be so trivial.
Why does RIM have to keep up with Apple and Android devices?
The answer to that is simple-- you have to give the people what they want. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Well it sort of did, that's why RIM's board hired Thorsten Heins. But that question retorts something both marginal and profound. The marginal aspect has to do with with RIM keeping up with the Joneses just to stay relevant. The profound aspect has to do with RIM putting themselves in an arena where Apple and Android simply can not compete. To most that means focusing on the enterprise sector. To some it means concentrating on emerging markets. Tom Hardy's character in "Inception" tells Joseph Levitt's character, "You have to dream a little bigger, darling." To me it means looking at the thread of innovation that made RIM a powerhouse in the first place and simply rebuilding on top of that.
It wasn't just mobile email that made RIM and the BlackBerry platform so great. It was what that innovation did for the consumer which was grant the consumer freedom. Before the age of apps, the greatest offering any mobile phone manufacturer could offer was the convenience to be untethered.
Sure, every smartphone out today offers email, wifi, and apps. They all have all the latest bells and whistles. So how does RIM compete? How do they connect? How does RIM offer freedom 2.0?
I'm not going to give it all away, but I will share a few of what I'd like to call points of freedom courtesy of BlackBerry.
� Accessible SIM card - Keep your phone, change your carrier at will.
� Accessible miniSD card - You control how much storage you have.
� Accessible battery - Low battery? No problem. Change your battery when you need to.
� Access to files - Use your phone as a usb drive. Browse files on your phone at your leisure.
� Access to everything - True multi-tasking means never having to exit one app to use another; available on PlayBook and BlackBerry 7 phones.
� Access to customization - You can design and openly distribute customized themes for your device.
It's all about access. That's what freedom is isn't it? Uncompromised access. Apple doesn't permit that kind of access and certainly can't compete in that regard. Even though Android is opensource, it is spread across too many brand manufacturers to be able to support unanimous agreeability on the range of access BlackBerry has already made available.
There it is. RIM vs BlackBerry. I can't say that this is the solution that is going to make all of their problems go away. I can say that with all of the press RIM has been getting lately, taking this position while the world is watching gives them the opportunity to freely and decisively establish the new standard in the new arena.