The issue is cultural relevance, product wise. It has never been a stunning product. The original looked like a calculator. The original was a hit because there were literally no viable competitors at the time. It served a functional purpose. As soon as there were competitors that could do some of the same things (connect to secure exchange servers), it was a battle. They were skipped over, and now they are catching up (5 years later) rather than trying to skip over the competition.
Excellent association with Internet Explorer and Blackberry.
Thatās exactly how I feel about BBā¦
I had a BlackBerry once, it was a pain to use the touchtone keypad when calling automated services or dialing numbers I had memorized as spelled words.
A little OT, but still blackberry:
A decade ago, before I was a designer, I listened to a news story of a man who had the tips of his finger bones whittled down so he could use his blackberry betterā¦Touch screens have their drawbacks, but that is the most excruciating compensatory behavior based on bad design I have ever heard of.
I actually despise that so much ha
the tablet had been designed by their accessories division - I wonder why?
How much do you blame Alicia Keys for Blackberryās turnaround woes?
Itās all Alicia Keys fault. Her career is over.
obvi.
A few lessons learned from Blackberry and many others before them:
1 - The longer you exist and people know youāre irrelevant, the harder it is to become relevant again
2 - The longer youāve been irrelevant or decining in relevance, the more bold risks you need to take with your product offering in order to have a chance at reestablishing your relevance (EG Apple circa iMac 1, Nokia circa Holiday 2011 with the introduction of the Lumia 800, Microsoft with Metro, etc).
3 - Coasting and āsafeā ie bland design is riskier than bold, relevant design that strongly appeals to a target user group (not saying it has to be too trendy, but it has to be bold).
Cameron: They called a product āBoldā, doesnāt that count?
I think Alicia has been busy with other things:
Those sneaker heels just look so awkward. Not a fan.
Hah, I hear you on the sneaker heels. Iāve seen acceptable oneās but the graphics on these really donāt work with the shape. But anyway, that would be a whole different thread.
They are such an oxymoron to me^
I like the shoes more than the blackberry. =)
BlackBerry lays off 250 employees
I wonder if Alicia Keys was among them, Iām sure she needs the job.
Going private sounds like a good move.
BTW, Iāve played with a new Q10 and I was very impressed with the construction, I especially liked the faux carbon fiber back cover.