

Ask HN: So what happens to RIM/BlackBerry now? - sown

The enterprise product that I work on requires compatibility with Black Berry Enterprise Server.<p>I'm sitting there for several minutes trying to activate my test BB unit and I started to wonder why we bother with it at all, other than the currently existing customers who use BB. I got up and talked to my VP of engineering and he shared similar doubts, namely when iPhone goes to Verizon.<p>With ActiveSync and the iPhone and possibly Android if they ever calendering to work, why does anyone bother?<p>What are your thoughts on RIM's options and future, HN? I'm just curious, as an exercise. :)
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paulgb
I know a lot of BlackBerry users who have tried iPhones and the like but still
swear by the BlackBerry for the physical keyboard.

Surprisingly (and anecdotally), a lot of university-aged people are buying
BlackBerries as personal devices. That one baffles me.

Whether RIM can sustain either of these markets is beyond me, though.

~~~
ninjastar99
I'm a business guy and a tech lover, in that order. Two years ago, I had a
Blackberry Curve.

I was the first in line to buy the original iPhone. I loved it for about 2
weeks. I returned it, I returned to the Blackberry.

I was the first in line to buy the iPhone 3GS. I loved it for about 3 months.
Then I moved to New York City. And almost every other called was dropped. I
sold it on Gazelle for $450, and I returned to Verizon for a new Blackberry
Tour.

I have not had a single dropped call since.

Apps are cool, but actually being able to make phone calls is cooler. I like
my phone to do three extremely important things very well: make phone calls,
get emails instantly, and actually be able to TYPE on it. Would I, will I,
ever return to the iPhone? Maybe, but no time soon. I am very content.

~~~
sown
Yeah, those are important. Between my guesses, my VP, and other people in the
office, an iPhone on verizon would be a big deal for 2 of the 3 reasons you
mentioned.

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Rust
Until there's an Android with a physical keyboard my wife loves as much as the
one on her 9700, I will be the only one in my house who refuses to use a
Blackberry.

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plq
i wonder why n900 isn't catching up. it's a truly developer-friendly platform
while also being a quite user-friendly smartphone (just avoid the xterm icon)
and has a decent qwerty keyboard (much better than anything rim offers, imho)
.

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wendroid
May I bring your attention to this :
[http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/4/comSc...](http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/4/comScore_Reports_February_2010_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share)

    
    
        Top Smartphone Platforms
        3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2009
        Total U.S. Age 13+
        Source: comScore MobiLens
        Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
    
                    Nov-09 Feb-10  Point Change
        RIM 	40.8% 	42.1% 	1.3
        Apple 	25.5% 	25.4% 	-0.1
        Microsoft 	19.1% 	15.1% 	-4.0
        Google 	3.8% 	9.0% 	5.2
        Palm 	7.2% 	5.4% 	-1.8

~~~
sown
Yes, this is true, but should we bother with BB? ActiveSync makes it
unnecessary to use BlackBerry Enterprise Server. So, there's no compelling
reason to stick with BB. They have to have something else to make us want it,
other than a physical keyboard.

