Long Time BlackBerry Journalist Al Sacco Says Goodbye to BlackBerry (CIO.com)

Chris Peace out

Over the years I have gotten to know Al Sacco from CIO.com quite well since he has been covering the BlackBerry beat since 2005. Sadly today he posted his “Fade to Black-Berry” goodbye to the company. This marks another stalwart believer in BlackBerry losing hope in BlackBerry being able to turn the ship around. I think there is still hope for certain divisions of the company especially in an acquisition but Al has a point when he finally answered what went wrong with BlackBerry…

The answer may seem like a copout, but everything went wrong.

The entire landscape changed. BlackBerry didn’t.

Most importantly, control shifted dramatically from IT/enterprise/business/corporate/whatever to the user. Apple and Samsung, with iOS and Android, respectively, exemplify this shift. Apple and Samsung, the two leading mobile-device makers, make devices for consumers, and they – or third parties – fill enough of the gaps to make those devices work for the enterprise. To a flaw, BlackBerry has always put the enterprise first and filled the consumer gaps later. Even now, it says it’s going to cater specifically to "prosumers." That term presumably means "professional consumers," but the fact of the matter is that professionals and consumers are now mostly one and the same, and BlackBerry still doesn’t get it.

He has a point. While there is still a large contingent of users who prefer BlackBerry’s efficiency and security they are shrinking as BlackBerry continues to fall short of their expectations as the company ignores their needs… What do you think?

Img credit: CrackBerry

2 total comments on this postSubmit your comment!