Archive for August, 2010

Economists have it easy. When they make a prediction about some exotic marker like GDP growth or inflation, they can keep revising their numbers as time passes so they look good in the end. The same is not the case when it comes to talking about technology.

Take my post on May 17, BlackPad Bunkum, where I went to some lengths to say that Research In Motion couldn’t possibly have a competitor to iPad on the way because co-CEO Mike Lazaridis had said he’d never do it. The size of the current BlackBerry was just fine with him. Moreover, touchscreen was a non-starter. He preferred a physical keyboard.

Well, did I ever get that wrong. Since then, RIM has launched the Torch with a keypad and BlackPad is coming, probably before Christmas, with an operating system designed by QNX Software, recently acquired by RIM. QNX also does operating systems for BMW. Too bad there are no warning lights to stop us bloggers from taking the wrong road.

As for Lazaridis changing his mind, good for him. Business leaders need to respond to markets and RIM has always shown itself able to revise its direction and revamp its offerings, just like those economists.

And they are generally positive for the new BlackBerry Torch. Walter S. Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal says it’s “a big improvement … closer to its newer rivals.” As for the speculation that the future of Research In Motion is behind it, he says “RIM is hardly dead or dying.” His main complaint is that there are too few apps.

For Dushan Batrovic of Dundee Capital Markets the apps are not important. “We have downloaded a total of 10-15 apps on our iPhone and rarely use any of them. Perhaps there are some perfect apps out there but we just haven’t the time or initiative to filter through the list of 200K+ choices to find them,” Batrovic writes in a research note.

As for overall performance, “We prefer the Torch to the iPhone because we value efficient messaging (business and personal) and well-organized news flows over apps and media. We like our music/podcasts and the Torch gives us an adequate experience. We value web browsing and the Torch finally makes the grade,” says Batrovic.

A friend has written to me, saying: For modesty and security reasons, Saudi  Arabia and the Gulf States have ruled that all BlackBerry users must dress their BlackBerrys in tiny Niqabs and veils.

An announcement by officials in Saudi Arabia about “positive developments” means that BlackBerry service will continue uninterrupted in that country. While Research In Motion has yet to comment, it would appear that there’s a deal in the works allowing some kind of official access to messages.

Pardon me for thinking this thought, but I wonder how much of this issue has been about brinksmanship on the part of the Saudi government. This whole imbroglio is reminiscent of the patent battle in the U.S. with its threat of an injunction against RIM in 2006.

The timing of the Saudi move was intriguing. Momentum in the market had been moving to Apple but RIM was making a major announcement that turned out to be the new Torch. Just about the same time, Saudi demands suddenly ramped up. Was that just happenstance? Or something more Machiavellian?

We’ll never know for sure, of course, and I’ve never been much of a conspiracy theorist, but it does set a fellow to wondering.

I haven’t held the BlackBerry Torch 9800 yet. Neither have very many others. Even fewer outsiders have tested the device, just launched yesterday, for anything like the week necessary to comment.

But that doesn’t seem to stop analysts, bloggers and mere passers-by from pronouncing on the latest offering from Research In Motion. It’s a double but not a home run, said the Toronto Star. “RIM failed to deliver the kind of quantum leap it needed to fend off the competitive threats from Apple and Android,” said a note from Goldman Sachs.

Such commentary sounds like the Woody Allen line about how he cheated on his metaphysics exam: “I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me.”

Do you pick your favorite ice cream by just reading names from a list? Do you review a book without reading it? In the world of high-tech reportage and commentary, research is apparently not necessary. An opinion can be formed and framed by looking at a video or reading someone else’s tweet and joining the flock.

Me, I like thoughtful contemplation and comparison, not instant consensus and condemnation. Whether it’s smears or smartphones.