Monday, April 23, 2007
Virtual BlackBerry sounds like Real trouble
RIM is trying to recover from last week's disaster. They finally explained why it happened, although nobody really understood it (a software upgrade??). What I know is that our phone has been ringing uninterruptedly for days... At the end of the line, disgruntled IT Managers looking for an alternative to BlackBerry. Why do you want to lock you in with a single-point-of-failure when there is an open source alternative you can deploy in-house for zero dollars? No lock-in, open standard bases, huge community... You do the math.Today, RIM is trying to get out of his unexpected misery with an announcement which signals more trouble. RIM is planning to roll out "Virtual BlackBerry" software for Windows Mobile 6.0 in fall. In a nutshell, it should be an icon on your WM; you click it and you enter a BlackBerry world, with all the common apps you are familiar with, if you are a BlackBerry user. I am guessing email and address book, with calendar.
Let's put aside that virtual apps usually do not work (try reproducing the push email experience on a device you do not control...) and that RIM has one of the worst developer team for client applications (good on networking, do not get me wrong, but really lacking on UI skills). Who is the target for this new fantastic app?
New customers? I do not think so. Who in the world wants to have another email client, another address book and another schedule, when you already have them in Windows Mobile? Why would I ever buy a Windows Mobile to run a virtual BlackBerry?? I would buy a BlackBerry instead...
Old customers? Are we talking about people that own a BlackBerry, that decide to throw it in the trash because the service sucks, and then move to Windows Mobile to get a virtual BlackBerry? Isn't it insane? If you realize BlackBerry sucks, you just want out of it...
OK, maybe I got it: it is for IT Managers that need to manage a transition away from RIM. Buy Windows Mobile for everyone, get the CrackBerry addicts on them, give them the same environment they are used to, then finally move them to WM as everyone else and say good bye to RIM.
Who could be pushing RIM to do this? The mobile operators...
Doesn't it sound like trouble? You are investing R&D dollars on giving Microsoft a path to take customers away from you. You are building a solution to move people on a different platform, while your revenues are all on hardware. You are pushing all the revenues on software, where you lose your lock-in...
Please keep calling, RIM is not looking good.
Posted by Fabrizio at 09:49
5 Comments:
You were critisizing RIM for the solution which causes "single point of failure"...when they are creating virtual BB on WM you are critisizing them too...and saying they are wasting R&D dollars...look at it from their angle...they can not anyway throw WM away from market...if the WM users start using virtual BB and find it's more convinient..who knows some of the WM users may choose/recommend BB strongly for push e-mail...it may increase their market...otherwise why should they do it...and also you may need to explain more on when the BB can't avoid failures in more controlled environment..how does an open source solution achieve it...
Comment Posted at 23:07
Fabrizio said...
Yes, I have been a bit pessimistic about RIM recently ;-)
I believe they are going to have a BB solution on WM, only because the carriers are forcing them to do it. There is absolutely no advantage for them. They are the incumbent. Getting people to try BB on a WM will not win customers (it will be a sub-par solution).
Open source means control of your destiny. An operator can manage the solution, install it in their data centers, see the source code and run away with it. There is no lock-in. It gives an operator control. RIM does not. They control you, from the protocol to the service (and the billing...).
fabrizio
Comment Posted at 08:23
Andrea Trasatti said...
Wouldn't it be better the license the technology instead of running in a VM?
They are partly doing it with devices such as the Nokia E61 and a couple of Sony Ericsson. I wonder how much it costs to Nokia and Sony Ericsson.
Even better would be to open the API.
Nokia is certainly becoming aggressive with the E series and operators would probably be happier to have the possibility to choose.
It is a FACT, though, that BlackBerry today is a brand and business e-mail on the move is associated with that name, no matter what you use.
Comment Posted at 06:48
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Comment Posted at 08:58
Please don't forget that RIM hardware is probably the worst on the market. It looks cheap, feels cheap and has the highest failure rate on the market.
