

RIM Responds to Apple’s ‘Distortion Field’ - clark-kent
http://blogs.blackberry.com/2010/10/rim-responds-to-apples-distortion-field/

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jsz0
He's doing a little reality distortion of his own here. Not a single RIM
device on the market supports Flash 10 including the new BB Torch. It's a bit
strange to call out a competitor for lacking something you also do not have.
He's dangerously close to suggesting you go buy an Android phone instead.

~~~
sprout
He didn't say RIM has any of those things. He just said that he's not going to
pretend they're unimportant or even actively bad choices just because he
hasn't implemented them (which is precisely what Apple does, and why I think
they rightly deserve criticism for distorting reality.) It's one thing to say
that they made some trade offs in designing the iPad, and the screen size is
clearly a good choice. It's another thing to claim that 7" screens are
categorically a bad design choice, which is just absurd.

~~~
tjogin
If Flash on a mobile device is important, why haven't they implemented that
themselves? Actions speak louder than words.

~~~
potatolicious
To be fair, what he could be saying is that the BlackBerry (and iOS) internet
experience sucks right now, and he's trying to fix that with the Playbook.

On the other hand, looking at the progress of Flash on mobiles (read: lack
thereof, and the completely pathetic state it's in), it's pretty bloody
unlikely that RIM will be fielding anything that _isn't_ horrifyingly broken
by the time the Playbook launches.

So, at best, Jim Balsillie will be launching a painfully, horribly broken
version of the "real internet experience".

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corin_
I love RIM, I've been a blackberry fan for years and they're the only phones I
want to use (currently have two Bold 9700s and one Bold 9000). But...

a.) Jobs pointlessly decided to bash a few rivals in his speech on Monday,
which I thought made him look pretty petty (roughly speaking I agree with the
author of [http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/What-is-Steve-
Jobs...](http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/What-is-Steve-Jobs-so-
afraid-of/1287515970) though I wouldn't make the conclusion that his comments
mean he is 'afraid'). Why did Balsillie have to jump in the same boat, rather
than taking the high road and letting Apple have this argument all to
themselves?

b.) "We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by
Apple. And by the way, [here's what you should actually think]." Really? Was
that written by a 12 year old?

c.) "We know that 7inch tablets will actually be a big portion of the market."
Just saying the opposite of what someone else said isn't an argument...

d.) As much as I love everything about their phones... developing for them
sucks. Hell, I don't think I've ever heard an opinion of a developer who
prefered creating BB apps over iPhone apps. So why are they claiming to be the
champion of developers?

As much as I love this company and their products, reading this blog made me
cringe, and not in a good way.

edit: On a positive note, they _slightly_ redeemed themselves by the fact that
comments on that blog need to be approved before becomming visible, and they
haven't decided to censor comments such as "Forbes should instate a new award
category: Most Arrogant CEO of the decade. No points for guessing who the
winner would be..."

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frou_dh
RIM's fake-ass promo video for their upcoming tablet, the Playbook, might also
be considered distortion of the reality of that product.

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jat850
I'm not sure how Jim Balsilie is ever, ever allowed to make a public statement
of any kind, or why PR representatives around him don't reign him in a bit.

Anyone who follows hockey news has probably seen him in action in the same
light, rubbing a lot of people the wrong way, and I honestly can't understand
why those around him don't protect him from himself a bit.

(edit: spelling)

------
froo
TDLR:

RIM -> Jobs "7 inches is enough"

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superk
"And by the way, RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive
quarters and _recently shared guidance of 13.8 – 14.4 million BlackBerry
smartphones_ for the current quarter."

What does _shared guidance_ even mean? And why doesn't he know whether the
number is 13.8 or 14.4 - a small 600,000 discrepancy?

------
lzw
Well, since Jim has taken it upon himself to speak on my behalf ("developers
want more options ") allow me to rebut:

No, Jim. Developers do not want more options. Developers want a well
engineered, _single_ platform with excellent development tools and support, so
that their code can target hundreds of millions of devices without any
customization. Specifically, developers do not want more "options", because
every "option", which from what I can tell is code for yet-another-me-too-
iPhone ripoff with a random screen size and configuration and very limited
storage capacity means an order of magnitude more headaches for anyone doing
anything more significant than a twitter client (excluding, of course, the
really well designed twitter clients who would also have this problem, such as
twitteriffic.)

Developers want an appstore with reliable terms. Developers don't want to pay
outrageous fees for the "privilege" of selling software on your platform. You
may have reformed, by copying apple's better terms, but at least this
developer-- who you purport to speak for-- remembers when your terms were
disgustingly hostile. Some developers have a memory.

Developers want a store where there are a lot of customers, happy to buy apps,
and happy to do business with us. I can't count the number of happy letters
I've gotten from satisfied customers. As a developer, I recognize that, while
you may copy the appstore, and provide an SDK, you are not providing a
developer experience anywhere close to the one Apple provides. Higher quality
tools mean higher quality products and more letters from satisfied customers,
and lower developer stress. What me-too products don't understand is that
Apple products are not popular because they look good (the easiest thing for
you to copy) they are popular because they work well. IF you're serious about
developers, (and this goes for android as well) you'll start making good
developer tools.

I do find it hilarious that people try to bash Apple by talking about how
Apple doesn't have flash on their platform. How does? As far as I know adobe
still hasn't managed to deliver a version of flash for mobile devices that
doesn't suck, and it has been half a year since Steve called them out for it.

As to "customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites
that use Flash", I have flash blocked in my browser, so this consumer doesn't
want access to flash.

I must also be navigating the web very carefully since the "overwhelming
majority of websites" don't seem to have any flash on them at all!

"We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by
Apple. "

Apple has never told me what to think. Apple has simply told me what they
think. You are now purporting to tell others what I think, without doing the
courtesy of contacting me.

"even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half
a story."

I've been a fan of Apple since I got an Apple II nearly 30 years ago, and I am
pretty sure I first heard the phrase "reality distortion field" sometime in
the 1980s. Yet the reality is, I've never heard Apple distort anything. Apple
has never promised me a product that didn't live up to the hype. Apple has
never blatantly ripped off another companies product and pretended like they
were innovating, like you have, RIMM.

But of course, what is so great about the "reality distortion field" phrase is
that it is designed to denigrate and marginalize anyone who thinks different.
Anyone who appreciates the extra-ordinary, and apparently beyond duplication
effort of Apple to deliver a great customer experience is just a cult member
incapable of thinking.

So, you'd have us believe that this reality distortion field has caused us to
break with the majority, and go seek out a company that your kind has spent
decades saying is a failure?

Was I imagining it yesterday when an Apple employee went above and beyond the
call of duty to fix an issue for me that he didn't have to? Was it Steve's
"reality distortion field" that has left me unhappy and feeling dissatisfied
with so many competitor products that were purported, and even pretended to be
the same thing? For instance, your poor quoality touch screen devices that you
design to look like the iPhone but then cheap out on the hardware and software
so it works nothing like the iphone.

Who was it engaging in distortion of reality, again?

One thing I will say about RIMM. You did a fantastic job when you named your
company. Perfect name. Don't ever change it.

~~~
davidw
> Developers want a well engineered, single platform with excellent
> development tools and support, so that their code can target hundreds of
> millions of devices without any customization

My hope is that that ends up being "the web", because if we're all stuck with
Apple and only Apple, it would be a pretty scary place in terms of having
absolute control in the hands of one company.

> Apple has never told me what to think.

I bet Apple told you to say that :-)

~~~
lzw
Maybe, but they were smart enough to tell me to forget that they had told me,
so I think I am an original snowflake and completely unique.

This brain programming is good!

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dasil003
It probably makes them feel better that they responded, but is anyone actually
listening?

