Rim goes tharn*
From The Globe and Mail's Technology section:
Mr. Balsillie made it clear that RIM isn't sweating the iPhone.
"The key thing is just to charge ahead," he said. "If you look back you lose your forward momentum ... the only thing we can control is getting better products out sooner."
I wonder if a deer caught in a transport truck's headlights sweats before it gets hit?
The only thing RIM is charging ahead to is hard times. RIM isn't going to disappear overnight, but it's decline will likely mirror that of the once-great Palm. The Blackberry will remain a strong player in the corporate and government sector for some time to come, but it's about to get smoked in the consumer market. Meanwhile Apple's iPhone will make slow, steady inroads into the corporate world.
A problem with RIM's plan of getting better products out sooner is it assumes you can build something better than the iPhone without violating the boatload of patents Apple has on their latest gadget. Apple, having learned some hard lessons from the early days of the OS wars, has prepared thoroughly for the roll out of the iPhone.
Another problem is it also assumes Apple isn't already developing future generations of iPhones that leap even further ahead, making it hard for RIM to match the iPhone, let alone surpass it.
The iPhone isn't going to crush its smart phone competitors because its hardware is sleeker (although it is) and it's not going to beat them because its software is more intuitive, powerful and easy-to-use (which, again, it is), the iPhone is going to win the most important technology battle of the 21st century because the iPhone as a platform (hardware, iPhone software, iTunes and the App Store) represents an unbeatable combination.
You can read the Globe story here.
*Going tharn (from Wikipedia):
Tharn is...a fictional word used to describe an animal frozen in terror.
In Richard Adams' novel "Watership Down" the term is used when the main characters, which are rabbits, see the headlights of oncoming cars and are frozen in place.
Hat tip to Stephen King. I've been re-reading several King books, including my favourite The Stand and Firestarter. Going tharn and Watership Down are mentioned in The Stand. I haven't had a chance to read Watership Down, but it's on the summer reading list.
