[Amy wineBerry]

Don't know if this has been posted yet. And if it has, my apologies. The Verge has run this interesting article outlining much of what CB Nation argued should have been BlackBerry's focus.

Message unread: Silicon Valley's secret, failed bid to save BlackBerry

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[Elite1]

Don't think I've seen that posted yet.
Moving thread to News & Rumors Forum.

[Amy wineBerry]

Thanks, elite1.

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[JBML007]

Ah yes the verge........that website is totally bias to its contacts in the US. they openly trash blackberry, sony, lg, and samsung while pumping the tires of google, apple, and even sometimes microsoft. Avoid this terrible terrible site.

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[Bigbacala]

Omg read the comment from the guy who said he was offered a blackberry in 2002 but turned it down because he did not and still does not see the need for email on a small device. He says he uses a mac book pro for everything. Where does he carry that in his enormous ****?

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[Tre Lawrence]

I find the presentation a bit fascinating.

[russworman]

Very interesting read... could have definitely led to different results

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[anon(5818411)]

Surprisingly a good article about blackberry in the verge. That's a first.

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[Plazmic Flame]

VERY interesting read up

Blows my mind really. One thing that really caught my eye was the pitch for a 3.5 inch, full keyboard phone that so many people around here reject for some reason... Saying it can't be done because of "ergonomics"... Pfft

[chuckwalla]

I think that Chan is full of crap. An Android fork(?), to make Android secure?! I would think an almost complete rewrite would be in order, so why not just start with a solid foundation like QNX. I think made a good call be going with QNX over Android. However, the marketing plan seems to be another story.

[Amy wineBerry]

Ah yes the verge........that website is totally bias to its contacts in the US. they openly trash blackberry, sony, lg, and samsung while pumping the tires of google, apple, and even sometimes microsoft. Avoid this terrible terrible site.

Posted via CB10

I know The Verge has been terribly biased in its time as a tech and culture news outlet. But it has been trying. (Surprisingly, they're very strong supporters of top Android devices although Apple wins by a landslide as far as computers are concerned.) However, I find it the most tolerable of the tech news sites to be quite honest.

For what it's worth, this article presents a very unbiased account of events.

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[berklon]

I think that Chan is full of crap. An Android fork(?), to make Android secure?! I would think an almost complete rewrite would be in order, so why not just start with a solid foundation like QNX. I think made a good call be going with QNX over Android. However, the marketing plan seems to be another story.

Everything we're seeing today is telling us going with QNX was a mistake. Marketing is NOT the reason BB10 is failing.

Going with Android a year ago may not have been enough to save Blackberry as it was still probably too late to jump aboard - but they would've done better than today. Realistically, if Blackberry were to get into the Android game - it should've been done AT LEAST 2 years ago.

[Amy wineBerry]

I find the presentation a bit fascinating.

You're referring to the link to the power point slide, no?

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[Amy wineBerry]

Everything we're seeing today is telling us going with QNX was a mistake. Marketing is NOT the reason BB10 is failing.

Going with Android a year ago may not have been enough to save Blackberry as it was still probably too late to jump aboard - but they would've done better than today. Realistically, if Blackberry were to get into the Android game - it should've been done AT LEAST 2 years ago.

And you're definitely right! Or if anything, the devices we're with now (re: the Q10 and Z10), should have been released two years back with the focus on Android today.

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[Tre Lawrence]

You're referring to the link to the power point slide, no?

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Yes.

I like the idea of fewer offerings (it could be argued that BB10, as-is, has mirrored that suggestion to a degree), and the idea to cede the consumer market isn't something I would have encouraged, but I guess now, with hindsight, one could argue that it was a good idea.

I think abandoning the tablet space had hurt more than BBRY thought it would.

[chuckwalla]

Everything we're seeing today is telling us going with QNX was a mistake. Marketing is NOT the reason BB10 is failing.

Going with Android a year ago may not have been enough to save Blackberry as it was still probably too late to jump aboard - but they would've done better than today. Realistically, if Blackberry were to get into the Android game - it should've been done AT LEAST 2 years ago.

So, they could be just another droid in a sea for droids? Why was QNX mistake? To use a proven OS over a LINUX hack, is that a mistake? Please.

[Tre Lawrence]

So, they could be just another droid in a sea for droids? Why was QNX mistake? To use a proven OS over a LINUX hack, is that a mistake? Please.

Proven OS? QNX?

I did agree with a suggestion made on these forums around the same time period that BBRY could have released an Android caretaker device. In other words, dabble in multiple OSes like Samsung.

Using the one OS need not necessarily preclude the use of the other.

In any case, I think that as consumers, we are better off with BB10 as an option.

[Amy wineBerry]

Yes.

I like the idea of fewer offerings (it could be argued that BB10, as-is, has mirrored that suggestion to a degree), and the idea to cede the consumer market isn't something I would have encouraged, but I guess now, with hindsight, one could argue that it was a good idea.

I think abandoning the tablet space had hurt more than BBRY thought it would.

Just making sure. I didn't know if I should have provided a separate link to it or not for fear it would have been lost in the words.

I don't know if it was so much abandoning the tablet space that is hurting BlackBerry as much as I think it may have been ****-poor execution. And then to virtually throw all the eggs in one basket, and have to throw out those eggs...just terrible.

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[Tre Lawrence]

Just making sure. I didn't know if I should have provided a separate link to it or not for fear it would have been lost in the words.

I don't know if it was so much abandoning the tablet space that is hurting BlackBerry as much as I think it may have been ****-poor execution. And then to virtually throw all the eggs in one basket, and have to throw out those eggs...just terrible.

Posted via CB10

It was almost all about bad execution, IMHO. The Playbook was one of the best pieces of hardware at the time. I just don't get why BBRY did some of the things it did with it.

I think BBRY had a great chance at becoming THE enterprise tablet maker, and messed it up so badly they it had no choice but to make a strategic retreat out of that particular market space.

[scribacco]

Ah yes the verge........that website is totally bias to its contacts in the US. they openly trash blackberry, sony, lg, and samsung while pumping the tires of google, apple, and even sometimes microsoft. Avoid this terrible terrible site.

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yeah it is better this site that pump Blackberry and paint everything as fine and dandy.
Classic Blackberry thinking:
Thorsten Heins was categorically denying that RIM was in trouble: in fact, he insisted that there was "nothing wrong with the company as it exists right now."

[chuckwalla]

Proven OS? QNX?

QNX has been around from the '80-90's if I'm not mistaken. If BB's end game is to integrate and converge technologies such at mobile, telemetry, auto systems QNX is a better choice. IMHO.

[berklon]

So, they could be just another droid in a sea for droids? Why was QNX mistake? To use a proven OS over a LINUX hack, is that a mistake? Please.

As someone already mentioned... QNX was proven, but BB10 wasn't. Don't get the two confused because there's a big difference between the two.

Why is it a mistake? Because BB10 devices are selling poorly. It's as simple as that.
If you want more specifics - BB10 made Blackberry delay their competing product by at least 2 years and gave the competition (namely Apple/Android) THAT much bigger an app gap over BB while at the same time solidifying their reputation as an outdated tech company.

If Blackberry jumped on Android AT LEAST 2 years ago, they would've had a chance to lead in the backend enterprise market with solutions for Android devices, and probably would've made BBM the standard messaging service, and a few other things probably. Their resources would've been concentrated on those efforts while Google did all the heavy lifting with Android.

Look what we have today. Blackberry can't sell phones and are rapidly dying in then enterprise. Even cross-platform BBM (whenever that will be out) will fail to do anything substantial.

So, yes... QNX/BB10 was a big mistake.

If you fail to see that, then you fail to see the trouble Blackberry is currently in.

[pseudo7]

As someone already mentioned... QNX was proven, but BB10 wasn't. Don't get the two confused because there's a big difference between the two.

Why is it a mistake? Because BB10 devices are selling poorly. It's as simple as that.
If you want more specifics - BB10 made Blackberry delay their competing product by at least 2 years and gave the competition (namely Apple/Android) THAT much bigger an app gap over BB while at the same time solidifying their reputation as an outdated tech company.

If Blackberry jumped on Android AT LEAST 2 years ago, they would've had a chance to lead in the backend enterprise market with solutions for Android devices, and probably would've made BBM the standard messaging service, and a few other things probably. Their resources would've been concentrated on those efforts while Google did all the heavy lifting with Android.

That's an excellent point. It would also have had the happy side effect of allowing BlackBerry to begin with an enterprise-based solution while gradually establish consumer offerings. By embracing a platform that people actually use and care about, BlackBerry could have had a shot at both markets.

Instead they obstinately stayed the course on a platform that anyone outside of the BlackBerry bubble could have told you was doomed to immediately fail.

[rodan01]

This slide is very telling:

[travaz]

It is a very interesting article with many valid points. I don't feel the OS failed BlackBerry but the execution of the marketing and time lines of release. The app gapp is huge. I went out and bought a Nexus 7 with jelly bean to fill in the app gap. I like it. I will have no problem moving on to android.

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