I have a friend who’s major company is about to jump off blackberries. The explanation I got didn’t make too much sense, but regardless, they are losing ground. RIM is missing the boat if you ask me.

The reason I put “switched” in quotes is because I’m never happy. I bounce around. I am waiting for the Thunder to see if they got it right. I hope so because I’ve always been a fan and whether I switch back or not, I would like to see them move forward.

I have a friend who’s major company is about to jump off blackberries. The explanation I got didn’t make too much sense, but regardless, they are losing ground. RIM is missing the boat if you ask me.

The reason I put “switched” in quotes is because I’m never happy. I bounce around. I am waiting for the Thunder to see if they got it right. I hope so because I’ve always been a fan and whether I switch back or not, I would like to see them move forward.

cent #1 – A friend of mine just got a Pearl 8130. Playing with it I realize that the biggest thing missing from that phone are the shortcuts I have on my Curve, from opening applications to jumping to a menu item quickly. Someone (RIM or other) can come up with a simple solution – since every key in SureType keyboards has upto 2 characters on it, have the same shortcuts as qwerty BBs. If a there are 2 matching shortcuts, to get to the 2nd one one would have to press the key while holding ALT. If only one matches (1st or 2nd character), just allow with / without ALT. Presto! One less gap in skinny-berries.

cent #2 – That same friend of mine made me realize about another BB gap – MARKETING. Now that we’re in consumer-land and not just stuffy business-people or people who read Dilbert every day, it needs to be clear how much BBs are ahead everyone else in stuff that matters to any people with more than trivial e-mail needs. In the few days my friend (and his wife) had their Pearls, every 2nd sentence was “I can’t believe I was actually considering an iPhone”. Until real use is done with a BB (and again, if you read 5 e-mails a day you can be happy with eye-candy in lieu of functionality), it is easier to misinterpret glamour and pizzaz with the words ‘better functionality’ and stay in ignorance. Close the marketing gap just like you’re closing the functionality gap (I mean who would have thought about cameras, memory cards or playing YouTube on a BlackBerry just 3 years ago?) and us adicts won’t have to start ad-hoc demos when facing a “victorious” buyer of an iPhone or Windows Mobile device. I can imagine a campaign titled “It’s the little things that make life easier” which would show any of the million little things – shortcuts, selecting multiple e-mails, filters, etc. and at the end of any of those ads show the consumer side like ‘and yes, it can also play YouTube’ (for example) to put those things in perspective.

Lastly (this is taking a life of its own…), here’s what RIM is not missing – the point. What I mean by that is that I am very happy to say that with all the consumerized features, what counts is still there – great productive OS which didn’t lose its greatness of the past (something PALM was not so fortunate to understand). RIM is still a leader, not a follower.

So to end this saga (anyone still reading???) – sure, the browser could be better (anyone remembers the browser in 4.0? 3.x?), I think the core competence of the BB OS can be further improved and marketing – new, consumer based marketing – are the gaps I see to a more anti-oxidant filled world.

Tap, tap, tap… Is this thing working?!?

cent #1 – A friend of mine just got a Pearl 8130. Playing with it I realize that the biggest thing missing from that phone are the shortcuts I have on my Curve, from opening applications to jumping to a menu item quickly. Someone (RIM or other) can come up with a simple solution – since every key in SureType keyboards has upto 2 characters on it, have the same shortcuts as qwerty BBs. If a there are 2 matching shortcuts, to get to the 2nd one one would have to press the key while holding ALT. If only one matches (1st or 2nd character), just allow with / without ALT. Presto! One less gap in skinny-berries.

cent #2 – That same friend of mine made me realize about another BB gap – MARKETING. Now that we’re in consumer-land and not just stuffy business-people or people who read Dilbert every day, it needs to be clear how much BBs are ahead everyone else in stuff that matters to any people with more than trivial e-mail needs. In the few days my friend (and his wife) had their Pearls, every 2nd sentence was “I can’t believe I was actually considering an iPhone”. Until real use is done with a BB (and again, if you read 5 e-mails a day you can be happy with eye-candy in lieu of functionality), it is easier to misinterpret glamour and pizzaz with the words ‘better functionality’ and stay in ignorance. Close the marketing gap just like you’re closing the functionality gap (I mean who would have thought about cameras, memory cards or playing YouTube on a BlackBerry just 3 years ago?) and us adicts won’t have to start ad-hoc demos when facing a “victorious” buyer of an iPhone or Windows Mobile device. I can imagine a campaign titled “It’s the little things that make life easier” which would show any of the million little things – shortcuts, selecting multiple e-mails, filters, etc. and at the end of any of those ads show the consumer side like ‘and yes, it can also play YouTube’ (for example) to put those things in perspective.

Lastly (this is taking a life of its own…), here’s what RIM is not missing – the point. What I mean by that is that I am very happy to say that with all the consumerized features, what counts is still there – great productive OS which didn’t lose its greatness of the past (something PALM was not so fortunate to understand). RIM is still a leader, not a follower.

So to end this saga (anyone still reading???) – sure, the browser could be better (anyone remembers the browser in 4.0? 3.x?), I think the core competence of the BB OS can be further improved and marketing – new, consumer based marketing – are the gaps I see to a more anti-oxidant filled world.

Tap, tap, tap… Is this thing working?!?