They need a paradigm shift
I actually have 2 phones that I have carried around for a couple of years, a blackberry from work and an iPhone which I bought with my own funds. I must admit that I am far outside of the teenage user base of BBM but I have to adit that it is a highly functional platform for communication - if RIM opened it up on other platforms, I would gladly pay to use it each month on my iPhone. So far the alternative applications like WhatsUp (sp) and the other clones don't measure up. I think that RIM sort of understands that BBM is their crown jewel but, they just cannot thi their way through separating the service(s) from the hardware - the issue is that for years they defined their customers as the carriers, not the end users, hence the failure to adjust to the various consumer driven shifts in the market. They will make an interesting case study one day - hopefully they get their act together with the net incarnation of their operating system and stop making silly decisions like shipping a tablet without email support. They need to take a hard look at their various services and carve them up strategically for a post blackberry world.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
