Comments on: BlackBerry reaching eponym status

By: L. M. Lloyd

L. M. Lloyd — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:55:02 +0000

I actually think this isn’t quite like Kleenex or Band-Aid, but more like Nintendo or Playstation. There is a subtle, but rather big difference. A really good example would be Xerox. Even though Xerox doesn’t actually have the most market share in the copier industry anymore, many people still call all copiers a Xerox. With the game systems, however, people tend to call all game systems by the name of whoever is the leader at the moment. First they were all Ataris, then they were all Nintendos, then they were all Playstations. By the same token, I think all you are really seeing here is that Palm has been replaced with BlackBerry. I don’t think it has the same staying power as something like Band-Aid. I’m sure that as soon as something else is the hot new thing, that will replace BlackBerry as the term everyone uses.

By: L. M. Lloyd

L. M. Lloyd — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:55:00 +0000

By: L. M. Lloyd

L. M. Lloyd — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:55:00 +0000

By: Flarris.Bueller

Flarris.Bueller — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 06:40:05 +0000

I Love It ! ! !

I actually had someone come up to me about a week ago (while I was banging away an sms on my 8703e)
The guy actually asked, very interestingly….

“So, can you BlackBerry with that thing?”

That is what I call CLASSIC, my friends!

By: Flarris.Bueller

Flarris.Bueller — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 06:40:00 +0000

I Love It ! ! !

I actually had someone come up to me about a week ago (while I was banging away an sms on my 8703e)
The guy actually asked, very interestingly….

“So, can you BlackBerry with that thing?”

That is what I call CLASSIC, my friends!

By: Thought

Thought — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 01:52:26 +0000

No doubt that the BlackBerry brand name has come to stand for the generic class of this device.

I agree with what others have noted: that most call any smartphone a “blackberry.”

By: Thought

Thought — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 01:52:00 +0000

No doubt that the BlackBerry brand name has come to stand for the generic class of this device.

I agree with what others have noted: that most call any smartphone a “blackberry.”

By: Robb (RIMarkable)

Robb (RIMarkable) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:33:39 +0000

Hey Steve,

I just tracked back to this post with a conversation that I had with a couple of buddies during the playoffs last year.

It illustrates your point perfectly…

By: Robb (RIMarkable)

Robb (RIMarkable) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:33:00 +0000

Hey Steve,

I just tracked back to this post with a conversation that I had with a couple of buddies during the playoffs last year.

It illustrates your point perfectly…

By: Christopher

Christopher — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:32:32 +0000

Its funny because whenever I drive onto a military installation they have a sign stating that cell phone use and using blackberry devices are prohibited while driving. So yeah, blackberrys are getting to be known for all smartphone/pda devices.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:32:00 +0000

By: RIMarkable

RIMarkable — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:30:10 +0000

BlackBerry , Band-Aid, and Vasolene: A comparison

Have you noticed lately, that the name BlackBerry is starting to become a generic term for mobile email devices regardless of if the device is a BlackBerry or some other smartphone? It kind of reminds me of the brand names Band-Aid and Vasolene. No m…

By: Krad

Krad — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:04:56 +0000

100%

I can’t tell you how many clients I have refer to their samsung/mda/treos as “blackberries”…

or just the concept of push email as “blackberry”.

The only way I know they are using wm5 devices, is when they say their blackberries aren’t working.

lol

By: Krad

Krad — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:04:00 +0000

100%

I can’t tell you how many clients I have refer to their samsung/mda/treos as “blackberries”…

or just the concept of push email as “blackberry”.

The only way I know they are using wm5 devices, is when they say their blackberries aren’t working.

lol