[Sashko]

I recently had some issues after trying to shrink my OS on my BlackBerry as it had started having a memory leak on OS 5 (something it's well known with OS 6 on the 9700), which affected a whole bunch of stuff on my 9700. I ended up re-installing the OS (actually Desktop Manager re-installed it on me without really warning me, but whatever).

Anyhow, bottom line is my BlackBerry Maps app was malfunctioning, so I decided to try downloading it OTA. Knowing how intuitive RIM is with their site, I went to blackberry.com/maps on my BlackBerry. Unlike most similar pages of RIM's (such as blackberry.com/messenger for instance), that page on my BlackBerry currently running in BlackBerry emulation, pulled up the full page as it I was at a computer :-S It resulted in sending me to another page to "download it using my smartphone" and asked me for an e-mail address to send the link to. I tried entering my BlackBerry's e-mail address but it wouldn't submit using the BB browser, so I copy and pasted the URL into Opera and pulled the page up, successfully being able to enter and submit my e-mail address there. A min or two later, I received and e-mail referring me to blackberry.com/send/maps . There, it said that the OTA ver of this app was compatible with OS 4.1 and up, so running OS 5.0 on my BlackBerry should've worked fine. I installed the app which was suspiciously tiny and I couldn't find an icon for it or anything. It was called "BlackBerry Maps installer 6.1". I deleted my BlackBerry maps 5.0 and re-downloaded the "installer" which prompted me to reboot my BB. Rebooted my BB and once again couldn't find an icon for this installer in question. Googled "blackberry maps OTA" and was unable to find a working link. Posted about it on here and was told by the first person who answered that he's never been able to find a working OTA of BB maps and to install it using my computer. The problem with that is that when I try using desktop manager (or AppLoader for that matter), it wants to downgrade certain apps on me such as BBM only giving me an option to either downgrade or remove the app in question. I've backed my 3rd party apps before both using Desktop Manager and BBSAK and I couldn't find this app in my backups (yes, I know it's not a 3rd party app, but some of the BB native apps still end saving in the backups). As a last resort, I'm going to try installing the file using the COD found in the Java folder of the OS' install.

Now you can tell that I'm an advanced BB user based on the previous paragraph. Imagine a less advanced user going through this process and trying to figure it out. First of all, the user wouldn't even know that OS 5 runs better on the 9700 and would be even more disappointed with his/her BB assuming this person wants to run as many apps as I do on his/her BB.

This is but one example as to why so many people are leaving their BlackBerrys behind, and jumping ship :-S

I really love BlackBerrys as they have been the perfect devices for me, however RIM keeps making it harder and harder to stay loyal to them. They stopped developing Theme Studio after OS 6 and that's one of the big things preventing me from being happy with one of their new devices. They have their "two steps forward, one step backward" way of moving when it comes to going to the next OS ver, and that's been the case since I started using BlackBerrys about 5 years ago. Some of the features that they remove when they move up in OS' are really important to us users, and I know that for a fact, having read the feedback of many fellow Crackers (aka CrackBerry users). I love browser emulation and others really like column view for instance, both of which are no longer available as of OS 6, to name a few.

RIM is making is really hard for me to hold on, treating us the way they are, and I don't understand what the deal is. On the other hand, after seeing a bit of Kevin's tour of RIM's headquarters, I'm starting to understand their lack of continuity as well as their lack of sense of invention. How can you work well when you have your headquarters divided in so many different buildings? I really wish that they could take something as simple as congregating their headquarters to one building and have easy inter-department access. Of course, that wouldn't solve everything (or potentially even all that much at this point), but it'd definitely be a start.

I know that the rants on here have been flowing, but I'm hating to see how my BBM group that is dedicated to the model of my car has 9 members in it with only 4 of us really active and the rest having left to another platform (used to be bigger than this before I created an updated one after the admin of the group had left). I am still seeing BlackBerrys out there on the street, but a lot of the ones I'm seeing are a few generations old.

There are still several advantages with BlackBerrys over other platforms, especially if e-mail & productivity among a few other things is important to you, however it's not looking like that's enough to keep a lot of us holding on to a platform that's falling apart at the seems. I've sent RIM my feedback asking them for support with at least one small feature, and they've told me that they're working on it, never having actually delivered. I don't know how much more I can personally take of this, as much as I love BlackBerrys. How about you? :-)

Mini rant not so mini, eh?

[Sith_Apprentice]

mobile.blackberry.com from your BlackBerry. Check the categories there (EDIT: Its under "Whats new"). its there to download and has been for quite a while. It downloads and installs OTA without issue. Keep in mind, until recently (and still may be the case in some carriers/models) service books for BB maps were denied to users. This is a carrier thing not a RIM thing.

[BBThemes]

I recently had some issues after trying to shrink my OS on my BlackBerry :

sorry, imho you forefit any right to rant when you alter the provided operating system.
you cannot really blame them for something you have messed with not working correct.

Imagine a less advanced user going through this process and trying to figure it out.

a less advanced user wouldnt (or maybe shouldnt) be shrinking their OS.

bottom line is if your altering stuff your not meant to, then you do have to take some responsibility for your actions.

[qbnkelt]

WOW....that was amazing.

I feel like I just had lunch with Robin Williams.

[Sashko]

mobile.blackberry.com from your BlackBerry. Check the categories there (EDIT: Its under "Whats new"). its there to download and has been for quite a while. It downloads and installs OTA without issue. Keep in mind, until recently (and still may be the case in some carriers/models) service books for BB maps were denied to users. This is a carrier thing not a RIM thing.

The link you provided sends me to the same file that blackberry.com/send/maps sends me to :-/

sorry, imho you forefit any right to rant when you alter the provided operating system.


a less advanced user wouldnt (or maybe shouldnt) be shrinking their OS.

bottom line is if your altering stuff your not meant to, then you do have to take some responsibility for your actions.

you cannot really blame them for something you have messed with not working correct.
I take blame for screwing things up, no prob there. But when I'm trying to fix things, it's really becoming difficult these days. I really don't mind doing a full backup, completely wiping my BB, re-installing my OS fresh and restoring everything if that's what it comes down to. Definitely wouldn't be the first time I'd be doing that, I'm just getting frustrated over a download that seems to be public on RIM's site that's not functioning at all. But if it's as Sith said, maybe my provider's blocking it, in which case my rant's a tad off :-)

WOW....that was amazing.

I feel like I just had lunch with Robin Williams.

Haha, why thank you

[Sith_Apprentice]

On a 9700 running os6 you should have zero issues downloading that OTA. It also should not be "installer" it should pop up a new screen that says "download" or "cancel" and gives a description of the app

[sam_b77]

TL;DR
I don't know what your problem is OP ( be kinder to your keyboard), but you can jump ship anytime. So much to choose from.

[albee 1]

Me, I just barfed a little in my mouth.

[Sashko]

On a 9700 running os6 you should have zero issues downloading that OTA. It also should not be "installer" it should pop up a new screen that says "download" or "cancel" and gives a description of the app

Yes, except like I mentioned, I'm running OS 5 on my 9700, after running OS 6 for a considerable amount of time and getting tired of the way it performed and the amount of space it took.

TL;DR
I don't know what your problem is OP ( be kinder to your keyboard), but you can jump ship anytime. So much to choose from.

My keyboard doesn't seem to be complaining much these days :-)

As for jumping ship, I know that the option is out there, but I still love my BlackBerry. I just really wish that RIM would get their game together, as I'm tired of being a part of a sinking ship.

Me, I just barfed a little in my mouth.

Glad I could help.

[sam_b77]

Well Sashko, you lost your privilege to whine and moan the minute you loaded a shrinked OS. The rest was just a rant, and your admitting it doesn't make up for the waste of bytes on the Internet.

[Sashko]

I didn't realize you made the rules of the Internet, Sam. I beg for your forgiveness.

[pcguy514]

There are so many reliable and strong hybrids and other carrier os6 out there to choose from dude. I don't think that your as advanced a user as you would have us believe.

If a os was corrupted, why use the corrupted backup to restore your data. Especially if it didn't have the maps etc, (bb protect dude) desktop manager does a full backup INCLUDING service books.

[sam_b77]

I didn't realize you made the rules of the Internet, Sam. I beg for your forgiveness.

Not a question of rules, but morals.

Just like one should conserve energy and do their bit for the climate, in the same way one should try not to choke up bandwidth on the net. A lot of us need every available byte to watch porn.

[Sashko]

There are so many reliable and strong hybrids and other carrier os6 out there to choose from dude. I don't think that your as advanced a user as you would have us believe.

If a os was corrupted, why use the corrupted backup to restore your data. Especially if it didn't have the maps etc, (bb protect dude) desktop manager does a full backup INCLUDING service books.

The hybrids that I have tried never took care of the issues I've had with OS 6 on the 9700. I ended up missing OS 5 so much, that I went back to it after a rather long period of having troubles with OS 6.

Not a question of rules, but morals.

Just like one should conserve energy and do their bit for the climate, in the same way one should try not to choke up bandwidth on the net. A lot of us need every available byte to watch porn.

Well lucky for you, my rant isn't taking up as much bandwidth as you are using to keep coming back to this thread. So if you stop responding, then that'll get us both extra bandwidth for pron. How's that for solid morals? ;-)

[Thunderbuck]

@OP

I kind of marvel at the way you essentially create the conditions for your own issue and manage to use your self-made problem to indict RIM as a company.

Sure, you make some valid points, but in terms of product and features, any time a system moves to a new platform there are going to be glitches and the odd feature dropped. That's hard to avoid even for Microsoft and Apple, never mind a company as small as RIM.

And to say that their fragmented head office is a symptom of greater issues is silly. No, the marketing people DON'T have to sit with the network engineers. And the handset designers DON'T need to sit with the NOC operators. I hate to break it to you, but I can't think of a single major tech firm whose headquarters isn't a "campus" of some sort.

If you're frustrated with RIM, join the club. But if you're going to whine, find better things to whine about.

[Sashko]

Trust me, I have plenty to complain about when it comes to RIM as I'm sure you can tell from my rant. My main issue that gave me incentive to write up the rant is the issue with the OTA maps which appear to be available the usual method but actually aren't. In a perfect world, there would be a way for a user to report such a thing and have them fix it. It would appear that Apple has a half decent way of taking feedback from their customers from what I've heard, and that's one of few ways in my opinion, that Apple is better than RIM (yes, I still feel this way even though I have plenty of beef with RIM).

The thing is that the best way for ideas to flow is when different departments can have breaks together and are able to interact during business hours easily. They have so many buildings, that it boggles my mind. I know what you mean about many companies having multiple campuses, and RIM being smaller could really use a tighter-knit area of business to actually get their products working better. With all of the technology out there, we can take face-to-face time for granted, and that can stunt innovation seriously to the point of killing a company. Furthermore, it's so much easier to walk over to someone's desk, even if they're on a different floor, than having to call them or be e-mailing/chatting back and forth. All-in-all, you can see that the way I see it, the campus layout is far from ideal in RIM's case, and it's showing in their work.

[Laura Knotek]

Have you considered RIM's official Twitter accounts @BlackBerryHelp and @BlackBerry? That might be a way to try communicating directly with them re: your problems.

[Sashko]

I try to stay away from Twitter and Facebook, but I just might have to finally join Twitter to see if that gets me anywhere. I appreciate the suggestion, Laura :-)

[Laura Knotek]

I try to stay away from Twitter and Facebook, but I just might have to finally join Twitter to see if that gets me anywhere. I appreciate the suggestion, Laura :-)

You're welcome. I hope it helps. Beside those two official RIM accounts, there are also quite a few RIM executives who have Twitter accounts and tweet regularly (Alec Saunders @asaunders, Alex Kinsella ‏ @alexkinsella are two RIM executives on Twitter).

[Sashko]

Sounds good, appreciate the info once again :-)

[Sashko]

Wheee, to add to my rant: I've tried contacting BlackBerryHelp via twitter and I've been ignored. Tried contacting all of the contacts you mentioned asking for a status update on Theme Studio for OS 7 as well, and that's also been ignored. I guess RIM just doesn't care these days.

[ichat]

I found the ota. Its on the blackberry website and has no problems and twists and turns with downloading and installing. Why did you alter the Os in the first place? There is then no reason to complain. You are at hand for your faults.

[sleepngbear]

They care. But they (thankfully) have a few more important things to do than to sit on twitter all day. And I'm reasonably sure you're far from the only one offering advice on how they could better manage their company. Out of 3+ million users on CB alone there are at least a few thousand armchair CEO's who aren't the least bit shy about sharing their business acumen. That's a lot of tweets to wade through.

[ichat]

Plus. About theme builder 7, they sometimes aren't allowed to say anything. At least they tell you. Does apple confirm rumors from far behind release!?

[Sashko]

I found the ota. Its on the blackberry website and has no problems and twists and turns with downloading and installing. Why did you alter the Os in the first place? There is then no reason to complain. You are at hand for your faults.

I'm really starting to get tired of being told what I have the right to feel! You don't have the right to tell me what I have the right to feel, damn it!

Now that we have that out of the way, I am not complaining about anything related to the mod I attempted to make on my BlackBerry, but to a process that does not work. It was a tipping point for me with so many issues that I've been experiencing with RIM's products lately.

You state you've found a link for you, well how about instead of telling me what I have the right to feel, you share the link so we can see if it'll actually solve my issue instead of playing god?

By the way, to answer your question as to why I was trying to shrink my OS, it was because I noticed that there are a bunch of files that have been included and locked preventing me from deleting them like I would be able to any files, which I don't need (being the sample pictures and such). They take up about a third of the device memory of my phone, which had been shrinking, and when that gets to 0, my BlackBerry automatically starts deleting my e-mails and what-not, which does not make me happy.

They care. But they (thankfully) have a few more important things to do than to sit on twitter all day. And I'm reasonably sure you're far from the only one offering advice on how they could better manage their company. Out of 3+ million users on CB alone there are at least a few thousand armchair CEO's who aren't the least bit shy about sharing their business acumen. That's a lot of tweets to wade through.

I understand where you're coming from, however when they tell you that they offer support through a certain channel and ignore you, it definitely doesn't feel like they care.