BlackBerry Embarrassment, time to discuss
The BlackBerry platform was once the darling of business and personal users alike, but more recently a lot of these users have left the platform in favour of rival offerings that are often seen as more modern and trendy. With time moving on there are some that may feel some BlackBerry embarrassment, and we are going to discuss the issue.
An article over on The New York Times has a Los Angeles sales person called, Rachel Crosby, who says that she is embarrassed about her BlackBerry handset, and has stopped using her device when attending conferences or parties.
When she is in meetings she confesses of hiding her handset under her iPad so clients won’t see it and maybe judge her. Away from teenagers those that still own a BlackBerry smartphone can sometimes become the centre of some mockery from friends or colleagues that own the latest Android devices or the iPhone.
RIM may have seen some success selling handsets in emerging markets, but in the US the platform currently has under five percent of the smartphone market, which was sitting at fifty percent only three years ago. The company is pinning its future hopes on its new but much delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system, and recently reported a loss of $753 million for the first part of the year.
Companies that once only issued their employees with BlackBerry’s have now bowed to pressure and replaced them with Android handsets or the Apple iPhone, and recently Goldman Sachs gave employees the choice of an iPhone. The BlackBerry has even been replaced by the iPhone up at the White House recently.
Many fans of the platform rightly or wrongly continue to use their BlackBerry’s for the physical keyboard, but there are a small number of Android handsets that also have this feature. Nick Mindel an investment analyst has used a BlackBerry for the past eight years, but has recently ordered the iPhone 5, and when it is delivered plans to use his BlackBerry device as a paper weight.
So do you still use a BlackBerry and are you embarrassed about it?
Comments
8 thoughts on “BlackBerry Embarrassment, time to discuss”
blackberry once used to be the ambassador of grace, but I have to say its not the same anymore.. I still use my Bold and won’t like to say goodbye to RIM, still want some more fun in it…
I find it bizarre that a story that involved the New York Times grabbing 3 random users out of *80 million* is being quoted by other journalists. My stats prof is groaning as we speak.
This BS story is a hatchet job. I’m a Nokia N9 owner, but even I can see that there is a concerted effort to smear BB and RIM. I think BB10 will do well.
Embarrassed? Is that a serious question?!
So this Rachel Crosby mentioned in the article is a 12 year old who finds that her toy is not as shiny as others and gets embarrassed. Trends are one thing but you use what you like and feel comfortable with. I prefer the BB keyboard, I don’t watch media on my phone and I think I downloaded a weather app once (who cares). Hell…its not even utalized as a phone often, rather it is my text machine and it works just fine.
Blackberry still has its bbm there is no other messaging system like it!
BlackBerry was past, Let’s not criticize GOLD………… of Past and Appreciate the Efforts and R&D of Smart Phones, iPhones with note ” WHO WANT TO BE IN RACE, MUST RUN” Else you are Behind!
I love my Bold and I don’t think I can ever live without the Blackberry’s efficiency in delivering/sending emails/texts/BBM and let’s not forget the PHYSICAL keypad which is awesome – I find it so hard to type onto a touchscreen (I am 29, not 60) and I feel stupid every time I type into my Samsung S3 – not to mention how LONG it takes to type an email/texts/etc when using a touchscreen.