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The Complete History of RIM
museumpeace writes "I enjoyed reading Alex Frankel's thorough Tech. Review article on the luck, persistence and shrewdness that took RIM's proprietary mobile e-mail technology from presumed small niche product to the must-have blackberry that so many use today. Although the technology at the heart of the product was developed in 1989, it took years of further development, the lucky break of GPRS supplanting Mobitex, and the business smarts to jump on their first-mover advantage and the daring to partner with giant Nokia who could have swallowed RIM. Its a great example of how to succeed by carefully making a defacto standard out of a good proprietary technology."
They could find a better name for it.
All this talk of mobile RIMming and Nokia swallowing RIM just sounds a bit icky.
"It's not your information. It's information about you" - John Ford, Vice President, Equifax
The explosion of RIM jobs and how it lead to an increase of black berries...
Blackberry is used by so many? just recently on slashdot was the first time I and many had heard of it.
Marketing hype taking over slashdot.
What about Nokia?
I know M$ is bad and GNU/Linux good beyond that I get a cluster headache.
In November 2002, Research in Motion (RIM) and Nokia announced a licensing arrangement allowing Nokia to offer its customers the ability to receive e-mail using RIM's BlackBerry software. The news perplexed industry watchers. For the three years before the deal, only RIM's devices could connect with the company's enterprise server, so that RIM owned both parts of the market for wireless e-mail: the devices and their software. RIM, in fact, seemed to own the very notion of that market.
The BlackBerry was the hardware equivalent of a killer app, the now overused term popularized in the 1980s to describe a piece of software so attractive to users that they feel they cannot be without it. Every new technology needs a killer app to establish its acceptance; for wireless e-mail, the BlackBerry filled that need. As businesses started to deploy the device to an increasingly mobile--and pressed--workforce, BlackBerry emerged as a critical tool for businesspeople.
Why, then, would RIM make its proprietary software available to others? Why would the company partner with a massive competitive threat such as Nokia? To many observers outside RIM, these decisions signaled a major shift in the company's business model. But to those inside RIM, they stemmed from a strategy the company had always followed.
RIM's case highlights a business problem that countless technology companies have had to deal with: when a company creates a revolutionary product whose software becomes critical to the establishment of a market, it has to figure out whether to keep its software all to itself or license it in an effort to make its technology the industry standard.
RIM has, throughout its history, followed two imperatives: make the best possible proprietary device for wireless e-mail and follow whatever course will increase the size of that market. Started in 1984 as a firm that built electronic devices for other companies, RIM signed its first deal with General Motors, to deliver a networked display system that scrolled words across LED signs in GM factories. The idea behind what eventually became the BlackBerry system dates to 1989, when RIM worked on an outsourced project for Ericsson. As RIM focused more on wireless data, it started manufacturing its own devices. Pager companies like Motorola had tried to combine e-mail with pagers, but none of the devices achieved much success. By the early 1990s, even PC-based e-mail had yet to take off, and many in the telecommunications industry saw wireless e-mail as a product that people did not really want or need.
RIM proved the viability of this market in stages. First, it received an order in 1997 from BellSouth for $50 million worth of wireless e-mail devices. BellSouth was offering a pioneering service intended to allow data transmission in applications like inventory tracking for rail transport. Its so-called Mobitex network used Ericsson technology, but it still needed a supplier to build a hardware component for consumer use. The opportunity gave Research in Motion a critical test network for its device.
The opportunity also convinced RIM that it ought to seek out a larger market for its new device, known within the company as PocketLink. In 1998, RIM began working with a California-based branding agency called Lexicon. One Lexicon strategist thought the gadget's keyboard resembled the seeds of a berry; the BlackBerry launched in January 1999. Instead of employing a stylus and handwriting recognition software, the device used a small, thumb-operated qwerty keyboard. But as impressive as its physical design was, the truly remarkable thing about the BlackBerry was that RIM provided everything needed to make it work: the device itself, the software that made it run, the servers that routed e-mail from the wired network, and the airtime that RIM leased from mobile-phone carriers. "As first mover in the market, we had an opportunity to build a brand around a new category," said Dave Werezak, vice president of RIM's Enterprise Business Unit.
By mid-1999
In the early 90's, I talked with RIM about potential employment. They had a low speed external modem using Mobitex (I think) that would hook to your serial port.
They didn't have the "killer app" for it at the time, but were very much in the mode of "let's be smart and figure out a good application for this technology." While that approach can often be puttnig the cart before the horse, they persisted, and it obviously paid off, hitting the sweet spot of using the lower speed bandwidth for the two-way pager-like always-on-but-not-quite-fully-online BlackBerry.
It really is a rare and excellent example of finding the right killer app for a given (and flexible, but seeming limited) technology. Having the technical wherewithal to put that in a small pager-like device (several years ago), obviously shows some real technical talents in their company, too.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
I thought that we were shunning this approach at standards wrangling? Whenever MS or Sony tries this we are against it what is different this time?
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
I have seen it a fair amount in the Washington DC area.
/.
I mean, the technology is interesting, but from an enterprise standpoint, I have a problem with it being "yet another system to set up and maintain". Since the whole thing is proprietary, its not like you can run it from either open sourced stuff or even popular stuff like MS Exchange.
From an end user standpoint, it appears to me like 2-way paging, except that it acts like e-mail. Maybe it resonates with users because it is like a pager. Personally, I can't see typing much on those little keyboards.
But in the end, it seems standards based email over Verizon EV-DO (and other 3G type wireless products) is better just because it doesn't require you do anything special. It doesn't require a proprietary infrastructure, it doesn't require special devices. I think the reason this hasn't happened yet has to do with the wireless carriers unwillingness to really open their network and roll it out everywhere. But that will slowly happen over the next few years. That's why I think the carriers and handset manufacturers have embraced RIM; its convenient, and it can be replaced easily.
I could be wrong, but then, that's the fun part about speculation on
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
There is good reason why the email client in Windows Mobile 5.0 will not kill off the BlackBerry. RIM has done a great job taking advantage of the network infrastructure. Now if they could just make a device with enough power to run a real application this thing could really take off.
Adventure City Tours
The Blackberry is popular because it does what you want it to do without any hassle. Other PDA Email devices suck in comparison. It seems so simple - basically be a live connected email client, but all the others just have ridiculous methods of going about it.
It's the same thing as Tivo. You don't realize how nice the Tivo is until you try the cable company's DVR. Sure, it accomplishes the task, but it's more painful.
It's data traffic over the cellular network. Think of it this way...do you get to browse the internet all you want on your cell phone for free? You probably have a data plan that let's you do xKb of traffic a month. Same thing, only difference is that you have to have a BlackBerry specific data plan.
Zro . two
"I come from Canada...they say I'm slow....eh?"
The thing to keep in mind is that most of the Blackberries being sold are to companies, and that they are buying them primarily for the email (and possibly cell phone/direct connect) functions, not as PDA's.
The Treo may be a better PDA, but the Blackberry is a great email device. With Enterprise Server it's easy to set up and manage, and it's pretty intuitive to use.
We've started getting some Blackberries at the college where I work, as sort of a pilot program. I recently got a Blackberry 7220 (Nextel) thru work and am pretty happy with it - except for no longer having an excuse to tell my boss that I didn't get her email
I have blog like everyone else
I work for a mid-sized CPA firm, and I have to manage our Blackberries. I have had more problems with them than any other handheld. From parts of the address book being completely lost, both on the handheld and in Groupwise, to duplicated calendar entries, to some accounts simply refusing to synchronize. There tech-support is a shame, every time I call I get the same answer, "Delete the RIM folder under application data." We told our Partners not to get them, but they just had to have them because "everyone else has them so they must work" we showed the examples of people having problems with them, but "that must be isolated." Now since they don't work, it must be GroupWise's fault because so-and-so uses Outlook and it works fine. If you look at the Blackberry Forums there are plenty of Outlook users having issues, and deleting the Outlook profile seems to be the fix-all, thats a pain when you consider 4,000 person address books and 2000 calendar entries. Funny though, one Partner decided to go with the Treo, and I have never had to work on it since he got it a year and a half ago.
The blackberry is (relatively) cheap (although more expensive than a full featured smartphone so I can't see the attraction myself.. The SPV has an Exchange connector, runs WinCE apps and is cheaper than a blackberry by a long way).
The expensive bit is the dedicated server needed to run it. They don't use IMAP or POP or even MS Exchange protocols.. they use some kind of proprietary mail protocol and that has to be licensed from the company that makes them. I'm not sure how much but when it was being costed (and rejected) I heard figures of $20,000/year thrown about.
OK, so I should have RTFA first.
So if Nokia has already licensed the tech (years ago), where the heck are the devices?
As far as I've read, none of the Nokia 9x00 Communicator series (9210, 9290, 9500, 9300) support the blackberry protocol... if they did I would already own one. (clue to Nokia)
If anyone at Danger is reading this: Please take your form-factor and license the blackberry communication protocol... expand your target market beyond teenagers (you'll find a tremendous number of people in the IT field already are customers that you are neglecting/annoying). You have the best human-interface of any of these devices I've used, but I can't use it for work.
- Preferences: Solaris 10 (servers), Ubuntu (desktops), Solaris 11 (personal servers) -
That agreement was announced in 2002.
The 9500 came out last year, and the 9300 came out this year... neither support the blackberry protocol, so neither can steal any market from the blackberry.
Remember, the whole reason companies use the blackberry is for encrypted over-the-air pushed email.
That said... I would LOVE to see the 9x00 support the blackberry protocol (as mentioned here, but for unknown reasons moderated "Troll") and would buy one in a second (with my own money) to get rid of the awkward blackberry my company gave me.
- Preferences: Solaris 10 (servers), Ubuntu (desktops), Solaris 11 (personal servers) -
One thing that isn't mentioned in the article is its proximity to the University of Waterloo. Its one of the world's bestComputer Science and Engineering schools and has a massive Co-Op program.
This is just plain incorrect. The 2/3 inch shipping manual and PDFs on the handheld CD weren't enough? The first match from a basic search like "blackberry user manual" on Google was too hard to type? Or was blackberry.com to hard to figure out?
If anyone of any importance at RIM is reading this: Please license the tech for a reasonable cost to companies who make similar devices so the human interface can be improved on. You'll get money from each device sold as well as 100% of the back-end servers/services with none of the handheld development costs! ("win/win/win")
If you had actually read the article you would know that roughly half of it details RIMs plans to do just that.
I really hate this about the wireless network providers. It's just another example of them being completely clueless and short sighted.
One plan for WAP service
Another plan for text messaging
Another plan for sending images
Another plan for sending video
Another plan for blackberries
Another plan for PC Card wireless modems
And yet guess what? They all use the EXACT same network resources! The only difference is the device or use.
I really wish they would just stop confusing consumers and just have one cellphone internet service plan. The internet is already designed to support all types of protocols, why do the cellphone providers treat them all differently?
Oh, almost forgot. It's all about profit.
What do you mean no downloadable documentation?i velink.exe?func=ll&objId=8533&objAction=browse&sor t=name
f ormFlow=manufacturerForm&selectProductManufacturer =_77ab8903-1df5-43fc-93f3-7aef59a35ba2
http://www.blackberry.com/knowledgecenterpublic/l
or do you mean from T-Mobile?
http://support.t-mobile.com/productSelector.html?
Which manual do you want?
Zro . two
"I come from Canada...they say I'm slow....eh?"
I owned a RIM 950 for at least three years and haven't stopped looking for a similar gadget since mine broke. All I want is a device that allows me to (i) thumb-type short (but frequent) notes and (ii) allows me to somehow transfer those notes into a PC (preferably using Linux). I'm not really looking for a high-end, camera-&-color-display-included type cell phone: just a simple, portable, rugged gadget in which I can thumb-type and then copy that stuff onto my laptop (rs232, usb, ir, etc all being ok). Is there anything like this out there (other than aging psions)?
I used to write software for the old RIM 950, back before they introduced Blackberry. It was very nice hardware .. a 286 (or 386, I can't remember) with a few megs of RAM, all running on a few AA (or AAA, again it's been a while) batteries. Oh, and their software was all written in C/C++. And trust me, that was important..
Their competition at the time was the Motorola Pagewriter, which was crappy hardware with even worse software. It was dog slow, and you had to use their weird programming language which took the worst aspects of Pascal and Java and merged them together into something hideous. Oh, and the compiler was extremely buggy. In one version the compiler would crash if you put a comment on the line after an IF statement or something screwy like that.
The RIM was fun to program, though, and if they would give out the SDK for free I'm sure you'd see a ton of software for it.
-- Tim Buchheim