Since I'm currently using a Blackberry 8310 as part of the Round Robin this week, a cross-platform dig from RIM's CEO Mike Lazaridis is something I absolutely have to comment on:
“The Apple iPhone has severe limitations when it comes to effortless typing. Of course you have more screen space, with more artistic interactions, but that’s not enough. We’ve seen this before when Palm tried virtual keyboards. When they launched the Treo they licensed our keyboard,” Lazaridis said.
Read: intomobile
Ok - fair point about the iPhone's soft keyboard. About Palm, though, well.. let's just say that Handspring (yes, this happened before Palm bought 'em) licensed your keyboard because your company is a Sue - Happy - Madhouse and not because there's something magical about BB keyboards. Although I'm only 3 days into my CrackBerry experience (see the relevant thread over at CrackBerry.com's forums - post there to win too, btw), I'm fairly sure I still prefer the Treo's keyboard. Just saying.
More Smacktalk after the break - Read on.
Moving on, Lazaridis had a few choice words for this site's platform:
“Windows Mobile isn’t that big a competitor…They are a modest force to RIM. Microsoft should be working at services, not at distributed PCs, which is what Windows Mobile actually still is.”
Microsoft should be working on services, eh? Maybe you weren't paying attention, but the day before your keynote at CTIA, Microsoft had a keynote of their own, announcing Microsoft System Center, Mobile Device Manager 2008. MSCMDM basically allows admins to manage Windows Mobile devices from the exact same interface they already use to manage Windows PCs. Frankly, having a mobile platform that's actually a “distributed PC” doesn't sound all that bad to me - Mo Power Mo Better.
...And really, Lazzy (can I call you “Lazzy?”), if you weren't afraid of Windows Mobile, would you really be developing a full Virtual Blackberry System to sit on top of our devices? Maybe you're just bitter because it looks like you're going to miss your “fall release” of the software. Oh... wait... you already did. :p
I think “Your overconfidence is your weakness,” there, Lazzy. I'm sure you'd reply “Your faith in your friends manufacturing partners is yours!”, but then we'd be calling RIM the evil Empire and Microsoft the Rebellion and that might get a little confusing for everybody. Moving on.
Yes, yes, I'm just stirring the pot here, but it's fun and everybody loves a little smacktalk. I'll have my initial thoughts on the BlackBerry 8310 up tomorrow, so be sure to check back. Here's a hint, though: I'll be nicer to CrackBerry fans in that article, but not entirely nice. Meanwhile, we'll call this a Round Robin Official contest post here too - let's have some more lighthearted trash talk, eh?
