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What's your problem? Why do you relish the idea of RIM being destroyed?

RIM has recently announced that the iPhone has helped sell more of their devices. So, I think we have to see what really happens because RIM is not going to sit still.

Monday morning, first cup of coffee and already the word "bloodbath" is used.

For the record, I (IT central of my company) setup my very first "crackberry" to work with our Exchange Server..............seriously, that is considered a solution? Bloodbath indeed!

@OK

Dude, Apple takes RIM's customers away. That destroys them.

Or is there something you don't get about that?

Although MDNs take is rather harsh, Rim is like Micorsoft in some ways Their priority is enterprise, not users, and while that is fine, there are a lot more users than just enterprise.

This could be the beginning of a change for them. It's about time work became more enjoyable, and stopped dictating how we live our lives.

@OK

RIM does not have OSX.
Hope you get it.

May 12, 08 - 08:19 am Comment from: macoverdose_dot_com

this is lipstick on a pig.... dress it up anyway you want rim.... you were once belle of the ball and now you'rer turning into a 2 dollar whore walking the streets... ouch!

I think it's unfair to hammer RIM with the same ferocity as M$. They are an honest company who has done a good job in creating a new market with their Blackberry. Not unlike Apple.

At least they are not convicted felons like MS$.

I believe that eventually, the iPhone will force RIM to change or die.

May 12, 08 - 08:37 am Comment from: Basil Ganglia

Whoa, MDN. Take an Elavil. Calm down. Get a grip. And maybe do a reality check. From my anecdotal experience, I don't think RIM is going away anytime soon. I know perhaps a dozen Mac users who also use the Blackberry and none has yet switched to the iPhone. The Blackberry does exactly what they want to do -- phone and email -- and arguably does them better than the iPhone. There are many other things the iPhone does better but those things aren't important to this group. They like the physical keyboard and the ease of reading and sending email. You can argue that the iPhone virtual keyboard is as good or better, but they don't agree. They're used to the physical keyboard. Why change? They also don't like AT&T;(for lots of good reasons). I think all of this will change as iPhone 2.0 & the 3G phone rolls out, and has things like haptic virtual keyboards are eventually introduced, but I don't think RIM will be steamrolled, to use your terminology. Palm, maybe, but not RIM.

Fitting that the fake iPhone and fake iFund come from the fake United States.

May 12, 08 - 08:43 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Stupid take, MDN.

As someone said, RIM is NOT Microsoft, which scammed, acquired and stole it's way into every market. Whatever they "developed" has been a failure on one level or another. The MS Empire is built on a mountain of the corpses of other products and companies.

RIM created a market for themselves and the Blackberry is a perfectly good device. Personally, I don't like itsy bitsy dust collecting key pads that adult fingers have difficulty hitting one at a time (like the one on my cell phone). But, then I really have no need for the kind of services RIM offers. Many others do.

Sure, it's not MY ideal. It's in a different league than the iPhone. They target different users entirely, currently. With the arrival of the iPhone SDK there will be overlap, but why shouldn't they co-exist?

Apple, RIM and other companies have learned that using open standards and interoperability are key weapons to use against Microsoft. Hence the defeat of HD DVD and Zune.

"What's your problem? Why do you relish the idea of RIM being destroyed?"

They're not Apple.

MDN is a great site for a round up of Apple news but some of the the "takes" are, um, trollish.

Sorry, but they are. Try posting that take on a Blackberry forum and see what happens.

May 12, 08 - 09:23 am Comment from: Mr. Peabody

A couple'a things:

1) Competition is good, and while the Blackberry may not be an immediate threat to the iPhone, it's definitely still a contender, and make no mistake, if ,heaven forbid, the iPhone were to go away tomorrow, the Blackberry would be numero uno.

2) Even being aware of KPCB's $100 million for iTouch development, still $150 million from the "fake iFund" group does not seem like much more than window dressing. The only real chance that $150 million might have to compete successfully would have been to put that up at the beginning of the race. I still don't think that would have kept the iPhone from becoming what it is today, but it might have done a lot to entrench the Blackberry and give it a better foothold now that the iPhone is a real market force being seriously considered at all levels from consumer to enterprise - some of the very markets that nay sayers said it would never ever penetrate. RIM is a prime example.

The world is still waking up from it's stupor - The belief that all that Apple does is produce "eye candy" and "toys". Apple is a very real market presence and has been and continues to keep the personal computing sector moving forward, rather than being stuck in the quagmire of MS and its partners. The sooner that manufacturers and developers come to grips with the this, the sooner the world will achieve an equilibrium that ultimate can benefit the makers and the buyers.

Slowly but surely the lesson is being learned that, when Apple comes out with something would-be competitors better sit up and take notice sooner than later. Unfortunately for RIM and for the consumer, RIM is - well - too little too late.

I sincerely hope that MDN isn't trying to pull a 'Dvorak' - that is, slam a company simply to get more hits and posts.

Give it a chill man. It's articles like this that turn people off. I don't see why you feel threatened so much? I get that you love Apple. I get that if RIM came out and said that Apple had no hope of doing anything in the market, that Apple should be sold and the money given back to the shareholders - well with the Ballmer/Dell type comments - I GET the fun in slamming them.

I just don't see why you are so brutal against a company like RIM? Remember that competition will keep Apple pushing to be number 1. There is a world that can exist with some decent competition. Cause in the end, we ALL benefit from that.

Please lighten up just a little with some of the more respectable companies out there.

Mr. Peabody! You make a lot of sense!!!

@zek

You've summed it up admirably!

- RIM is a one product company

-RIM does little or nothing to innovate.

- It has traded extremely well for 10 years on its one and only idea.

- This thanks mainly to the complete idiocy of Microsoft, Nokia, Motorola et al.

- RIM deserves all that is coming to it, in the meantime it will follow Apple like crazy to try and stay relevant.

MDN's take is quite right. So take your RIM profits now before someone spots these things for real.

I agree with MDN's take! Blackberry is/was the best smartphone out there. Does anyone remember their CEO's shoulder shrug take last year when asked about the iPhone?
Let's also not forget that Verizon had the FIRST opportunity to get the iPhone and instead, used their arrogance and small-mindedness to turn it down.
These folks are direct competitors now and deserve a beating considering their attitude towards their now direct competitor.
Blackberry, come up with something competitive, and quick, or take a longterm, slow bashing death because of arrogance, and lack of vision and innovation. The sooner you realize that unused buttons take up precious real estate, the sooner you will have some room to work with. You guys in the lab are lazy and are sitting on your pension. The attitude that your product is "good enough" is the Steve Ballmer attitude, and is your direct downfall sooner or later.

May 12, 08 - 09:54 am Comment from: shen

"I think it's unfair to hammer RIM with the same ferocity as M$. They are an honest company who has done a good job in creating a new market with their Blackberry. Not unlike Apple."

RIM has spent 10 years plus as a one trick pony.

yes, i would love to see them break out, prove me wrong, and create the second product with appeal in the current market, but so far they have done almost nothing.....

.....in which case, evolution says they die off. end of story.

May 12, 08 - 10:02 am Comment from: studentrights

Danno Bonano@ "I just don't see why you are so brutal against a company like RIM?"

Back in the 1980's I remember owning an Amiga 500. It was like someone had sent me a computer back from the future. Since that time mediocre companys like Microsoft and RIM have taken over and held us back. Granted, the commodity toliet paper approach of selling also-ran technology has made it common, but held us back all the same time.

The time has come to push the salesmen aside and embrace the new wave of innovation that Apple forging. Thankfully, Apple is not alone and they will lead the way to a brighter future where innovation not marketing defines technology that puts the user the first.

Really, what is wrong with the RIMM Corp. They are the top dog at the moment and a worthy competitor. It is ridiculous to take them lightly. This MDN slant just plain gets old.

For years lots of my money has been going for Apple products. They are great and I'm a satisfied customer. That does not mean other companies are evil or make bad products. They must compete to stay in business.

RIM is going to do what they think is best for their company. All the BS and hatred expressed on MDN is utterly stupid.

Frankly, I'm fed up with MDN and as soon as this is posted, the bookmark is being deleted and I'm outta here.

Goodbye and good riddance.

May 12, 08 - 10:23 am Comment from: McIntosh

As a Canadian working in the U.S. and very happily using my iPhone, I confess to being a little unnerved by the pressure RIM is under right now. Apart from blackberry, what other household names can Canada boast of? I never used a blackberry but I know lots of people who depend on them and if they end up switching to iPhone 2.0, that could spell trouble.

I hope this new fund will spur some needed innovation at RIM. My former boss got a look at me using my iPhone last week and almost decided to get one right there. He hates AT&T;though, so he's still on his blackberry. For now at least.

Blackberry needs to remain at the forefront of business tech for the sake of Canadian pride. We can't even bring home the stanley cup anymore, what else is there??

> ...you were once belle of the ball — but Apple's now ball of the belle. Or something like that....

May 12, 08 - 10:36 am Comment from: iWill

Tommy can ya hear me? Oh Tommy? Tommy?

That's what RIMM needs, loads of bad software.

Crackberry users a little sensative today.

Did anyone else notice the fund can fund iPhone app development? The article said, "While BlackBerry applications are the focus, the fund will also back software developers that target RIM's competitors, such as Apple Inc. and its iPhone."

As for the MDN take, it may be harsh, but only a week or two ago, there was an article where the BB co-Pres said that he doesn't know anyone who can type on an iPhone, and that he tried it and it was impossible. So, he dissed the iPhone, and deserves to get it back.

May 12, 08 - 11:34 am Comment from: Big Al

RIM does e-mail better than iPhone. Blackberry does 3G on any service provider.

iPhone (American) is coming up to the plate with two strikes against them.

RIM (Canadian) is two goals ahead in the middle of the third period.

RIM owns the business world.

It will be a long period of guerilla warfare.

No bloodbath to see here. Move along.

May 12, 08 - 11:40 am Comment from: bobchr

@ Machintosh, I feel you dude, last quarter RIMM's profits were up primarily on Apple's broadening the market for smart phones. The instant vacuum created by the lack of carrier subsidy to iphone, increased advertising of the Blackberry Pearl series and, increased corporate spending will eventually diminish as reasons to resist getting an Iphone diminish and the iphone is available to more markets. RIMM has already committed to providing software for the iphone. This is a good first move but it would still lock current corporate users into the bottleneck of using RIMM servers which have proven to be a weak link on 2 occasions in the last year.
To maintain their hardware adoption momentum or at least keep it from seriously eroding RiMM could try licensing some Apple hardware patents and or OSX and get rid of M$ crapware. It is doubtful that Apple will do this without significant market penetration (which will probably happen in about 2 years). For the short term RIMM needs to create differentiating and compelling reasons to own their product with a raised bar. With Palm being the only competition in the past that bar was set at about the level of a door saddle.
Palm could have licensed the old Newton software from Apple and be leagues ahead of where they were. Instead they are now on the verge of extinction. The bar is now set above the height of a basketball rim . Good luck RIMM, barring some protectionist legislation north of the border RIMM is destined for shell company or commodity maker status over the next year. Nothing against them, just stating my opinion. I seriously going to be looking into RIMM puts 2 quarters from now. They will still have a heavy corporate presence due to the impact of short sighted bean counters that won't recognize the instant productivity gains and increased security and cheaper cost of service that the Iphone will provide. RIMM's service still costs 50% more than Iphone service in all markets. The next six months should be interesting , good luck to them.

Yeah, I'm not leaving MDN anytime soon, but the commentary was a little over the top. There is plenty of room for RIM and Apple.

May 12, 08 - 12:06 pm Comment from: iWill

And what of Android, the cell-phone-agnostic software on the horizon from Google? Won't this bode well for all who compete in the cell phone space? Anyone?

Great take MDN. I hate my Blackberry! It sucks compared to the iPhone. You losers sticking up for the Blackberry don't get what MDN is saying. RIM is copying the exterior of the iPhone to try to deceive its customers. Same thing with the fake fund. That is why MDN is rightfully annoyed.

AAPL is + $4.11, RIMM + $9.12 according to Widgets. Hairy is an AAPL holder, sold his RIMM thinking that AAPL would clean RIMM's clock. RIMM's EPS is outasite as I rite, and RIMM is bringing out its BOLD with BUTTONS. And G. Soon. I don't think the buttons crowd is counting on converting to touch anytime soon, so, technology aside, RIMM will survive in spite of itself. Mainly because Apple has no buttons. Canadians like buttons, eh?

But, what if AAPL were to develop a dumbed down buttons model GPhone for Canadians?

May 12, 08 - 12:41 pm Comment from: Crazylegs

MDN is a joke. Stuck in the reality distortion field. Get out of it and look around and you will see exploding demand for ALL smartphones, regardless of what iPhone brings. It will be continue to be fun to watch my RIMM outperform my AAPL. Both companies will grow massively in the coming years. You know why? it's very simple - choice. As I've said over and over and over on this fanatical board, end users like choice. What works for you may not work for someone else and you guys just have to accept that. Check out this blog entry from Fred Wilson (Union Square Partners):

"My daughter Emily was passed down the iPhone I bought when it first came out. It didn't work for me so I gave it to her. That phone developed a small crack in the screen last fall but she kept using it. The crack got worse, propagated, and yesterday she dropped it again.

Now it's shattered, it's brains have been battered, splattered all over manhattan. Sorry about that, just couldn't resist a little Stones lyrics fun.

So I asked her if she wanted another iPhone. Surprisingly, the answer was no.

She wants the new crimson red Blackberry Curve.
Blackberry

Fortunately, it looks like I can get an unlocked one on eBay for between $100 and $200.

I wonder what this says? I realize it's a sample size of one, but I've heard that a bunch of her friends have also given up their iPhones in search of a better texting device which seems to be the one feature they value most."

So, what's the point? CHOICE. CHOICE. CHOICE. Don't worry folks, you'll do fine with iPhone. But RIM will do very well too....

Very disappointing that RIM copied the exterior visual, and is starting to copy copy other elements of Apple. Copying can only catch, never surpass.

For RIM to invest in software...good on them, but isn't that the first 10 years of RIM? Software/hardware. This is looking like a PALM story.

I have a Blackberry Pearl. It doesn't even do Brickbreaker well.
It doesn't link well with contacts, it poorly displays calendar, sucks for Web surfing, and my fat thumbs can barely type on the great 'keyboard' as some call it.

As long as Apple maintains a market for exclusive suppliers, Blackberry will have a market. The moment that changes...
The Pearl will be posted on MDN within a toilet bowl RIM.

The single reason most people continue to buy Blackberry is the having to change networks. I have 4 phones linked on various different plans with one provider. The cost to start running separate providers would be ridiculous. By the time the plans run out, Apple might be available on the other networks. So far still not available in Canada at all other than hacking onto a canadian supplier.

Gutsy call by RIMM to pick AT&T;. Who was the marketing guru that said go head to head and kill our new product?

RIM is actually selling more phones and seeing record profits after the iPhone was released. Yeah, they're going away real soon...

i think someone here is delusional alright...

I'm sorry, but I start to get tired of reading these aggressive MDN takes. I think, this offensive stuff is actually doing only bad to Apple. The success of Apple combined with this arrogance will create an army of Apple haters in the end.

@MDN Deleting post now are we?
RIM has already been dealt a world of hurt with Apple's iPhone, and Apple wasn't even really trying with the first go around (few countries, mostly exclusive carriers, ignoring the enterprise, no SDK, no Exchange support, etc.). Those days are soon to be over for RIM. RIM is already bleeding share to Apple's iPhone; now they're about to start hemorrhaging. Let the bloodbath begin.

We are quite confident in our assessment of RIM. We invite readers to iCal our Take and set an alarm for May 12, 2009, so we can revisit this in a year's time."
Quote from above. Now you can inject any company you want into this and it will come out the same. This site has lost all sense of reality. Futhermore there are a few core warmongers in here that feed on this and spew their own venom around.
Apple is a good company, but no company is clean of blood. Apple would have savage Microsoft given the chance, but the timing was off. So Microsoft savaged Apple. Business is a brutal enviroment.
Dell, HP all get the treatment here.
Now youall can keep sticking your head in the sand, or marching off to the cliffs. makes no difference. the end result will be as it was before, and Apple will become a third tier player again.

@Crazylegs

What that tells us is that your daughter, like every other kid, doesn't NEED the latest greatest devices. If all they want to do is text, then why give them a $400-$800 device! Same goes with an iPod, parents don't NEED to give their kids an iPod Touch just because they can afford it. An iPod shuffle or nano would suffice.
So stop spoiling the kids, the circle of life will only get worse with each generation.

Reading the comments from MDN makes me think that RIM must have done some pretty dirty stuff to Apple. But, all they did was meet a business need, for many years, that nobody else did as well. Does that deserve the hateful venom being shoveled out by MDN? The hate drips from your lips. I feel sorry for your spouses. And, if you don't have a spouse, I can understand why.

What a loser you are! Business 101, crush your enemies with better products and service. RIM is presently trying to pull a fast one on it's potential customers at Apple's expense. MDN is right on the money. Let's bury these RIM LOSERS!!!! They had their chance to innovate and didn't bother. They deserve to lose.

Speaking of pulling a fast one on people, the message from "joshtheiMacGuy" of 5/12 at 9:35 pm was NOT written by me, the original JoshtheiMacGuy. Nuf said.