Remember... when the iPhone was launched in 2007, many if not all the tech reviewers complained a lot about it too. Same stupid story... lack of features, lousy battery, unfinished software, no cut and paste, etc.
Here you go :
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2265
http://gizmodo.com/276116/apple-iphone-review
It's normal human nature to be critical of something you are not familiar with, or is entirely new to you as is the case with the current tech reviewers who have been using iPhones and Androids for years. Suddenly a new OS throws them off, because they are unfamiliar with it.
However, you will note, that many of these same reviewers,
after spending more time with the new BB, admit, that its a pretty slick system overall.
If you watched the RIM launch demo, the guy demoing the unit was blazing fast with the OS swiping and moving with efficiency. Faster and more efficient than anybody could be using a rivals OS. This is the point, he was obviously familiar with how to get the best out of the BB OS.
The issues many are complaining about are mostly minor software issues. Easy peasy for RIM to rewrite and set up for updates. This is what Android and iOS do isn't it?
The Z10 is being compared to the 3rd and 4th generation of Galaxy Phones, and the 5 or 6th generation of iPhone. Those companies have had
a lot of time to polish their hardware and software.
For a first generation new OS and a brand new device from the ground up, I'd say RIM did one hell of a job with Z10.
Its not perfect, and if the market adopts and gives RIM more time, we can be sure it will mature further into a very competitive OS.
As we all know, when Apple launched the iPhone, the market was quite young. RIM has a much bigger battle to fight here against the established players. They are well aware of this, and if they can keep up with the blinding pace of tech development, they should stay relevant.
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Makes sense, however the problem BB really has is that group of die hards that have left them who are intimately familiar with BB and yet criticise it.
I went from whatever the hell was running on Sony Ericsson, loved the pants off the Ngage at one point, hated the Samsung touch screen on their own native OS before the Omnia, loved Windows CE then straight to BB6 and 7 (which I spend 3 years with). I was never enticed by the iPhone until the app argument really built up. I even stuck with BB and PB through that app phase only to discover how hollow the BB app market really is, with so much disfunction, stripped down versions and just plain crappy apps (some high end games excluded).
I dabbled in Android Honeycomb on the Sony tablet last year and while initially impressed with it's "slick over all performance" ultimately I was let down in under 2 weeks by its total lack of suitability for professional functionality. iStuff were toys and so was the Sony tablet. So no, I am not overly critical of an initial OS or product nor am I too delusional to stick it out with an inferior product. I am not ashamed to return a sub par product nor too riddled with buyers guilt to delude myself into justifying it.
So I gave BB a fair shake at the stick, and for a time it was doing a fair job, when the market was not as demanding or progressed. I don't mind a 3rd place product, or a 4th or 5th. I dont spend too much time commenting on Nokia and I don't lament the Sony Walkman phones anymore than mild fond nostalgia.
But RIM was something entirely different. RIM was a family member charting a drug riddled course, tossing their life away, that required intervention on behalf of the very same people they have both come to and claim to represent...Canadians. There failing is endemic of Canadian's shooting for 3rd best in general, constantly harping on about things like the Canada arm, or meddling in foreign military affairs to seem relavent. What we don't do is "go big or go home". BB had a chance to go BIG! And they literally blew it, not for lack of resources, human resources, or being outclassed, but because they completely dropped the ball and lost their drive, vision and hunger.
I would never slag off a company like Bombardier. They are no first rank Airplane manufacturer. But they don't shoot for 3rd either. They do their best and they have carved out a fine proud niche.
For those that think we are too small to be competitive on the global scene, I would cite the rise of Airbus, from a 4th tier airplane manufacturer after Boeing, Dehavellen and McDonald Douglas 20+ years ago. Look at what a medium sized country like France can do!
So I dont accept that BB should be playing for 3rd. I believe that to be defeatist.
We can coddle BB all we like but that does no one anygood. The stock is wiped already. Pensions are evaporated. A hand full of Nortel-esque jobs can be reabsorbed just the way RIM did. The problem is the culture of arrogance and defeatism!
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they will pull out the second most amazing comeback, well third after Jesus and Apple! Maybe they wont die like a heavily subsidized Chrysler? Who knows, but want I want to see die is the culture and attitudes that brought them to their knees so fast and so hard!
PS, BB10 isnt so new to users to get familiar with....it is 80% standard QNX stuff on the PB....gesture here, gesture there, running "widgets", no apps, rather shortcuts to webpages, and so on. As I say BB10 is a 2+ year tweak on an already out of the box operating system RIM purchased!
Your argument about a young market when Apple launched the iPhone....well RIM was established then! In areas where Apple has been the market leader the way RIM was, they dont seemed to have fumbled their control in terms of MP3 players and personal video media devices! I don't even like Apple!!!! Their annoying hipster condenscending music in their commercials drives me nuts. I never play with my wife's iPhone. I am no Apple fan by any stretch. Nor am I loyal to any one brand, unless their product WORKS as described on the box!
The only refreshing thing about the launch as I see it, is the rebranding of RIM to BB and the rewording of the product description "on the box". It's no longer the business tool. It's no longer elitist chic. It's no longer a productive powerhouse. It no claiming "amatuer hour is over". I like that. Do what you do well, and leave the accolaids to those that will offer them to you in return.
PS, do I understand that the "cool", "pump them and dump them" set are worthy reps for the BB brand? Not so sure if BB want or need that in their corner; maybe the old RIM, but not the new BB. Yet one more stigma to shake off.
