Reading news on RIM has made my head hurt a little bit lately. It’s really hard to figure out what’s new, what’s being taken from WebOS, and where RIM plans on taking the Blackberry in the next 12 to 18 months. I secretly root for them, being Canadian, but man, they make it difficult some times.
Apparently RIM’s next step includes bringing the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to other mobile devices like iOS and Android. The question is–why?
Blackberry users swear by BBM, and I even know a couple that refuse to switch to another device solely because they’d loose BBM access. The application is super popular with users, and lets you communicate in a way that a lot of other chat programs don’t. The problem is that it’s a closed platform. You can’t access your friends who use the service unless you have a Blackberry yourself.
According to Boy Genius Report, the non-Blackberry edition will be stripped down, and features will be removed. Talk about an excellent move on RIM’s part. There’s nothing like trying to convince users to make the switch back to a Blackberry by withholding features like sharing photos and files. Could you imagine the outrage in the Media if Apple decided to yank video playback in their Windows version of iTunes? Man, the tubes would melt instantly, and trolls would run free in the wilderness that is anonymous comment systems.
I’m Canadian, RIM is Canadian, and I always feel bad writing these posts, but the reality of the situation is that it seems like RIM has lost their way. It’s going to be a while before they find their way back again, but the first step is not a hobbled BBM on iOS and Android.
Article Via Engadget
