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People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

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Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#121

Post by iso1631 »

Scoundreller wrote: post #107
thom wrote: post #94

Let’s say it’s January 9th, 2007 and Steve Jobs has just come off stage after the original iPhone announcement. You’re in charge of BlackBerry. What do you do differently?

Double-down on what people love most about your platform: BBM and make it cross-platform. Charge $0.99 after 1 year. Apple will be too inward to be competition for that.

So basically pivot into what became whatsapp[0]?

My recollection of Blackberry from that time was the "killer app" was email on the go -- hence the term Crackberry and the publicity from Obama [1]

I didn't personally hear about BBM until the 2011 London riots [2]

I guess blackberry was aimed at two distinct types of customers -- teenagers using BBM, and white collars wanting to read their email on holiday

[0] https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/952359-tho...

[1] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/42072...

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/aug/08/london-riots-f...

Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#122

Post by O-stevns »

decafninja wrote: post #43

Never understood the raves about the keyboard. I've had several PDA or phones with built in keyboard, including multiple Blackberries issued by work. I've detested the typing experience on every one of them. My hands and fingers are pretty small too.

Nordic user here, love the ability to easily write æøå together with English, as I mix between my native language and English.

Love the tactile feedback, the ability to write without looking at the screen, not being dependant on an aggressive typechecker, having the ability to use the keyboard to scroll, attach shortcuts to keys and much more.

My current phone is a KEY2 and my previous was a Blackberry Z10. My primary use is private usage but text heavy and somewhat work related (via BlackBerry Hub although the android Hub+ app doesn't beat the bb10 gesture experience) but I do also use it for various app stuff (not games). It fits all my needs.

Imo. The touch keyboard interface simply doesn't beat having a physical keyboard. when that's said, having the touchscreen is still nice because games and apps are optimized for such handling but for text I'll keep looking forward to the next BlackBerry with keyboard (a new one is presumably being announced in q1 this year).

Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#123

Post by Triv888 »

andmikey wrote: post #5

I've been using a Blackberry Passport since early 2019 - as a replacement for the "dumb" phone I used for many years. I love it! The build quality is fantastic. The keyboard is a beauty to type on. The camera is great quality. In terms of build it's my ideal phone. What I wouldn't give for an up-to-date version of this [edit: at an affordable price]! Unfortunately the software limitations mean that I'm likely going t…

Someone in this thread said that he updated SSL certificates to fix the website issue.

Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#124

Post by skinnymuch »

tempest_ wrote: post #78
Spinfusor wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The N9 was only two years behind the Palm Pre!

Man WebOS was ahead of its time. Palm just couldnt put out a piece of hardware that wasnt riddled with defects. I guess it lives on in LG TVs but for the year or so before that palm pre broke it was great.

As a sibling post says - I also still believe its UX and likely current responsiveness is better than anything out there now.

I would probably still use webOS if there was still minimal open source development, some phone to put it on (or I guess I’d be fine getting a Pre 3) and the App Store not being shut down with all apps gone. The homebrew apps weren’t really meant to replace the App Store if I recall.

A world where webOS has 5-10% market share as a stable 3rd place would be amazing.

Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#125

Post by skinnymuch »

kilroy123 wrote: post #116
thom wrote: post #94

Let’s say it’s January 9th, 2007 and Steve Jobs has just come off stage after the original iPhone announcement. You’re in charge of BlackBerry. What do you do differently?

I said this from the very beginning. Switch to android but skin it and lock it down as tight as possible. Port over BB messenger. Make a killer top of the line android phone with the signature BB physical keyboard.

Why did Android win? Why couldn’t webOS be fast tracked if it had begun development and use that instead? With a solid foundation of a user base, future prospects seem pretty good to be in control of your OS.

I’m assuming in this case, the acquisition of Palm as well. BlackBerry’s market cap was pretty up there at the time, I believe. A mostly stock merger without too much dilution of Blackberry could happen.

Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#126

Post by skinnymuch »

jeromegv wrote: post #110
acct776 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have a progressive webapp, no?

The web app depends on you being on the same wifi as a real Whatsapp mobile app. It’s more of a desktop solution.

Has my WhatsApp always been connected and I never realized this is a requirement? That’s such an awful requirement. Or is it something like having to connect once a week? Either way I see how it doesn’t work if your only mobile device is a blackberry

Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#127

Post by skinnymuch »

jcun4128 wrote: post #73

Wish windows phone was kept alive :( I had an 8330 BB though dang ball would get dirty

I basically come to these sorts of threads to spot any webOS and Windows Phone lovers. And bask in nostalgia and what could have been for a bit. Both OSes will always be cherished by me.

Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#128

Post by skinnymuch »

ant6n wrote: post #111

It seems the BB stock also popped last week, I wonder what happened there. Was there some WSB induced sort squeeze, or just a simple pump and dump, or did anything positive actually happen with the company itself?

Yeah. Not a short squeeze. But still meme stocks. Nostalgic stocks that feel not too highly valued with potential got some love. The two prominent ones are Blackberry and Nokia.

Besides neither being shorted too much, the other major difference vs meme stocks is how both have rather high market caps already. I think they are the only meme stocks with market caps above $5B before they got pushed up. Nokia being far bigger still. I think Ericsson got a bit of side love too.

Palantir was the most immediate meme stock before GME and short squeezing became a world wide news and cultural event. That also always had a high market cap and is now imo trading at a high valuation, even for the current high valuation times.

Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#129

Post by skinnymuch »

CosmicShadow wrote: post #70
koiz wrote: post #45

“What can I say—I just love the keyboard,” Ron says. “I feel like an idiot when I tap a glass screen.” You look like an idiot when you take out a bb though.

and you look like a vain sheep when you pull out an iPhone

What? iPhones are incredibly main stream. How would you look vain?

The OP is incorrect, but your pushback is as well.

Re: People Keeping BlackBerry Alive

#130

Post by protomyth »

thom wrote: post #94

Let’s say it’s January 9th, 2007 and Steve Jobs has just come off stage after the original iPhone announcement. You’re in charge of BlackBerry. What do you do differently?

Placate Verizon with something, but keep going on the keyboard interface, get cheaper, be the best messaging phone, and start hiring some chip designers.

BBM for messages needs to be up and running.

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