EUREKA! I think I know how to save RIM!!

[droidhacker]

Well, some time has passed since I made my suggestions to save RIM which continues to go down hill. Most people figure they have no hope at all (except if you are a RIM employee grasping at any explanation that suggests the BlackBerry can make a comeback).

Well I continue to use my BlackBerry and continue to be disatisfied. This Bold 9700 was my first smartphone. I was reluctant to get a BlackBerry but it was the best phone my carrier has at the time so I figured I would get it based on resale value (so much for that - lol).

I continue to think of ways RIM could turn it around and show the world they were wrong and make a historical comeback. But how? Well, I like to think outside the box and when I do so I come up with some ideas that seem to me possible (like the ones I suggested in this thread).

So here we go again - Eureka!! I think I know what can save RIM!!

The worst thing about my BlackBerry is the Browsing experience. So, why doesn't RIM develop a REAL SMARTPHONE and advertise it as such. Instead of trying to imitate the i-phone or Android experience, how about RIM develop and market the new BLACKBERRY SUPERPHONE (or some other name way catchier)?

There is no such thing as the "android experience". Android is the operating system, system builders are free to build whatever UI overlay they prefer. You could implement a rim-feel over Android....

Oh, and "superphone" has been done.
Google did it.

Why not develop an operating system and new handset that really does well all the handheld things one needs in a phone (excluding browsing because for that RIM needs a NEW GENERATION TABLET - one that has a special place to insert the smartphone/modem; one that is as beautiful but 10 times more functional than the i-pad; one that is just really really special because some smart creative engineers took it upon themselves to dream one up . . .)

RIM hasn't the manpower to do much in the way of dev.
Why would you want to insert the phone in the tablet? Why not just use bluetooth to link them together while the phone remains safely in your pocket and not requiring the inconvenience of snapping them together?

This new smartphone/tablet combo will be perfectly matched (even more than the iphone/ipad combo).

Why should they be "matched" at all? The whole point of the two separate devices is that they do DISSIMILAR functions, otherwise why carry both?

The handset will have Nokia quality camera/video recorder. The business functions will include a really really advanced and user friendly calender/alarm/day planner system (sort of like what my Palm Pilot offered me way back when only 100 times better than that). This smartphone will be marketed as a genius machine guaranteed to help even the most dysfunctional "ADD" person become efficient in their life activities. Add on the family features I spoke of in the initial post; Become the first Smartphone company to have as their slogan (SMARTPHONE/TABLET FOR EVERYONE!!! - just like Microsoft's dream of putting a computer in every home on the earth);

That is a major uphill battle for RIM -- the champion of user-unfriendliness....

Develop programs that will ensure community/corporate funding so even the poorest folks on the earth can get one). Just this last point should be enough to blow iphone out of the water with the human/socially responsible/green/ stance that has become oh so marketable in today's day and age. I could go on and on - RIM would have an opportunity to step into this "new market" and be the leader once again. . .

Silly idea. The "poorest" people on earth don't need the latest and greatest superphone. They probably don't need a phone at all, but rather things like FOOD. A few steps up though, when you can legitimately say that they NEED a phone, they certainly don't need a high-margin superphone. More like bulk china phones. You know you can buy a chinese Android phone for under $50? RIM isn't going to win by racing to the bottom.

And trying to compete with iTrash isn't going to bring you to the top. iTrash has been solidly whooped. People are beginning to resent having their phones control their lives.

OK HOWARD FORUM EXPERTS - try to tell me this won't work! I just hope RIM remembers where they got the ideas and sends me a check once they get back on track.

Your few ideas are really gimmicky.
There are three ways to succeed;
1) offer something that nobody else can that everybody must have,
2) offer something similar to your competitors for a discount.
3) offer something that COMPLEMENTS your competitors.

For (1): They HAD it, but squandered it. What they had was a VERY POOR product that did ONE thing ADEQUATELY that nobody else offered; push email to phone. They haven't got the imagination or manpower to develop something else at this stage, certainly not something that won't get bested by somebody else before it is even launched.

For (2): Its impossible to compete with China on a bulk rate. At least not from Canada with the taxes and this crazy thing called LAWS.

For (3): This is what they're facing. This is the ONLY place that they can actually succeed now. If they take this approach and GROW themselves, then (1) may become an option again. Offer BLACKBERRY SERVICES FOR ANDROID, and BLACKBERRY PHONES POWERED BY ANDROID. Do this and you aren't COMPETING with Android, you're COMPLEMENTING it and growing your market's dependence on your own services. Think about that... what can possibly be better than combining everything that is good about RIM with the latest and greatest mobile OS out there?

[sirtate]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9630/5.0.0.732 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/126)

Standing on the shoulders of giants makes a lot of sense right now...

A 5'2" tall man is a giant amongst 6yr-olds... But in 6 years he isn't that much taller, and in 10 he is probably the shortest man in the room...

RIM was the adult in 2006, while everyone else just shed their training pants, not so much now...

They need to use (and cover over) an open OS in order to reach as high as the now adult newcomers...

RIM-ify Android for your handsets, allow the proper push email and PIN functions to be licenced out as Apps for everyone else, so you can get incremental monthly revenues, make your stuff bulletproof, and allow the grown ups to keep your business alive...

[mick662]

. . . how about improving the musical features of the BlackBerry making it really really easy to get tunes onto the phone and organize them. Right now I struggle enormously with the BlackBerry desktop software. It can't be that hard to create something hyper-user friendly that goes several steps beyond the ipod/itouch/itunes technology. Surely RIM can make this so much better (and even build in foolproof technology to ensure the artists get paid and the thiefs get fined) . . .

I'm not even going to comment on the first long-winded ridiculousness of a post, but I will comment on this one. Anyone that struggles putting music on a BlackBerry should promptly give up and go back to a flip phone. It takes about two seconds to open up as a USB drive and drag-and-drop any music you choose. That you would even mention iTunes in the same post is asinine. iTunes is the absolute worst pile of garbage software ever devised. I'd carry a cassette tape boombox on my shoulder before I'd ever use iTunes again.