Is Research In Motion destined to fail?
Is Research In Motion destined to fail? As with all holy wars, there’s always two sides to the fight. The Christians vs. The Muslims in the Crusades. The Catholics vs. The Protestants in Ireland. Windows vs. Mac worldwide. Ford vs. Holden (if you’re Australian :). And, of course, BlackBerry vs. iPhone. And, like anyone with expertise in a certain area, I’m constantly getting asked “So what should I get? A BlackBerry or an iPhone?”. Personally, I’m fairly IT device agnostic. If all you’ve ever used is a hammer, then it feels like the right tool for every job, and every job starts looking like a nail. And that’s why I try to spend a decent amount of time on each device before I make my personal choice. If I’m going to be in contract with a telco (yet another evil) for a minimum of 24 months then I want to make sure that the device I choose is going to fit what I need today, and be able to add features as I need them in the future. In my 23-ish years of being in the IT industry I have learnt one thing: no one device does everything for every person every time. This is especially true in the PDA/Smartphone space. Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, RIM. It tolls for thee. The death knell has been struck. And unless RIM makes some dramatic changes, the BlackBerry is going to be relegated to an “also ran” device. There are five areas that Research In Motion needs to address quickly before losing the battle entirely to Apple. Ask almost any Joe or Josephine Random in the IT sector this question “Who is Steve Jobs?” and you’re almost guaranteed a 100% correct response worldwide. Depending on what side of the Holy War you ask, you might also get a mixture of “saviour”, “miracle worker”, “satan in the flesh”, or “the personification of