For the past years Blackberry has been the tech company I refer to as “the HOPE company”!
I Hoped they would open up app development to the masses.
I Hoped they would release devices with up to date specs instead of last year’s specs. (Compared to the competition of course).
I Hoped they would overhaul their OS so it would be able to be keep up with the competition, and of course deliver a better user experience to their users!
I even Hoped that their move to “borrow” Android apps would work for them.
Apparently all my hopes went down the drain and ended with a “Too little, too late” sentiment!
I’m a big fan of technology, and especially in the mobile arena. Their recent move…to introduce BBM to Android and iOS really got under my skin. Where I even referred to them as a bunch of clowns. And if that was a marketing stunt… It was horrible! And never ever to be done again.
For those that dont know, BlackBerry has been promising this “BBM for All”, or at least for Android for some years now. And now they finally set a date for it they end up pull it back ON the day of the launch. Better yet, on the Time of the launch.
Considering the features that they were going to release BBM for Android and iOS with were the same or even less than the competition… (Whatsapp, Viber, KIK, Line, etc), the question that has been bothering me is; Why would you shoot yourself in the foot?!
They already have sub par devices, plummeting sales, having to scale back on workforce, and the one thing they may be able to hold on to is the very thing that they playing around with! This “stunt” more increases my disappointment in BB than it has anything else. And frankly, they can keep their BBM because, with their mediocre features, I wasn’t planning on leaving Whatsapp anyways!
I’m not necessarily upset. But I do have a passion for Tech and a passion for Business.
From a Techy perspective, I would love to see BB make a comeback/stick around in the mobile arena. Their build quality and their technology help us, in the mobile arena to reach this far. And I would love to see them get back to pushing the limits when it comes to advances in mobile tech.
From a business perspective, BBM could be A/THE Way for them to be able to stick around for a little while longer, and hopefully spur some sort of come back. And I’m just watching how they’re just committing suicide with a double-mouth shotgun straight to the brains!
(Pun intended: double-mouth shot gun – reference to Android and iOS; to the brains, as in to, arguably, their core thing that’s prob keeping them alive, BBM).
And that’s why, even if this was a Marketing stunt, it was HORRIBLE!!! They could have went about this a whole other way in order to get the same numbers.
At least release the half-done app, BETA version even, minimal features even… but Release SOMETHING! Dont half release, or Pull the release, THE SAME Day, the same Time and then use a flimsy excuse about the bugs ate my homework. (Pun intended again)
The latest news is that a good old fan of Blackberry, is interested in buying the company.
Maybe this move was intended to convince him that there is still some juice left in BB/BBM. And apparently he has some experience in turning dying companies around. So I guess there is still some hope in the Blackberry story.
It may or may not be all too cliche for me to end this article with some Blackberry Hope.
I Hope if this guy buys Blackberry and they are successful in turning this zombie-company around.
I hope they are successful in making a great software again.
And I hope that they are successful in making great up to date devices.
And last last buy not least. I Wish they would free-up some of those devices and install Android on them!
I could see a whole branch (pun intended again :D) of Blackberry devices running Android. They could be called the Blackberry Hope.
And if that doesn’t happen, I wish Google would buy them over. That would solve that problem. I hope!
But Google would definitely benefit from the parents and other intellectual properties that Blackberry has acquired over the years, their Blackberry service/network, security etc.
Then they might just be able to free Android from the Patents-dragons that are chocking it.
Ahhh… All we have in this world is our Dreams and Hopes.