Originally Posted by
Mangelhaft I am sure, that with all of the furniture moving BlackBerry is presently doing, there are many disgruntled employees trying to hurt their (previous) employer. I feel certain that a lot of the device leaks may be from the “guy” who e-mails, or saves on a thumb drive, a photo of the latest prototype to his buddy. Then it gets passed around.
I am of the opinion that a majority of the OS leaks are controlled leaks: Leaks of a nearly polished OS for the evaluation and testing in the largest test bed available – THE REAL WORLD. There is no way that this could be accomplished in the lab. The CrackBerry members are all too willing to oblige.
The current 10.3 leak was probably a result of the recent data breech. This has revealed potential prototype hardware and unleashed, from my readings of the forum, a very incomplete A version on the masses. The problem is that an OS, still in A, is being irresponsibly installed on the daily driver devices of those who want to be on the bleeding edge.
As an engineer, I know the importance of alpha and beta testing, before final release. I also know that, in the case of BBOS10, it is impossible to simulate or hard test every combination of device settings and app combinations. Hence, the controlled leak.
I also understand the interoperability testing of device, OS, and network combinations that the carriers do to certify certain combinations on their network, as well as the carriers’ additions of bloatware. Being an AT&T customer, I was frustrated with the delay in releasing 10.2. So, I got another carrier’s version and loaded it. I did the same thing on my Bold 9900 (backup phone), and my old Curve (Which my 60 year-old mother loves).
Industrial espionage is a serious thing. (So is patent infringement.) This may have been the motivation of the data breech, and possibly the 10.3, leak. Coming from the “Intelligence World”, I know that it does not take much to assemble a few pieces of information, rumor, and extrapolated data into a “big picture”. This is where companies lose their edge. Competitors can use this information to narrow focus on developing competing technology or products and accelerate their release to gain the market edge. This is why so many companies file for patents, and defend them so strongly. Many companies will even do all the work for a patent application, wait months to file, and only file days before the including product is released.
Related fact: WD-40 was never patented to keep its ingredients secret, preventing competing products.