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RIM Doesn't Want 200 Fart Apps

andylim writes "Just when you thought it was safe to dev a fart app for a BlackBerry, RIM's VP of platform product management, Alan Panezic, is making it clear that that's not want RIM is looking for. 'We don't need 200 fart apps in App World. Those are apps you'll use three or four times then never open again. You're not looking at ads, clicking on ads or buying premium upgrades, and the app isn't adding any value to your device.' Turns out RIM wants 'SuperApps', ones that keep you coming back for more because they add something to your life — be it ongoing entertainment value or doing something for you. Most importantly for developers, these are the apps that will garner the most revenue; whether it comes from premium upgrades, in-app advertising, or additional-cost content."

40 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. I've got 99 fart apps... by MoldySpore · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...but a RIM ain't one.

    --

    "I hope you know how very lucky you are to know me, because I am so incredibly incredible."

    1. Re:I've got 99 fart apps... by severoon · · Score: 3, Funny

      So it's not that he doesn't want any fart apps...it's just that the only fart apps they'll flag in have to be compelling (as opposed to propelling) fart apps.

      I also have to say, I really appreciate the brazen honesty: "These are apps you'll open 3 or 4 times and never look at again. You're not looking at ads..." He could have at least listed that one second...

      --
      but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
  2. Unfortunately for RIM... by Anonymusing · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...many of its customers actually want fart apps, because some people think they're entertaining.

    --
    Liberal? Conservative? Compare perspectives at Left-Right
    1. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by gad_zuki! · · Score: 5, Insightful

      RIMs real customers are BES using corporate customers. They want quality apps that can be sold with volume licensing. I suspect the people using BIS really aren't their real customers and RIM goes out of their way to discourage the whole "ZOMG MY PHONE IS FUN!!" vibe that defines the non-enterprise market, which is probably a good thing. They're not going to beat Apple and Google at their own game, but certainly they can keep enterprise going and continue to be the "serious" phone for business. If anything, they're more worried about Microsoft than Apple or Google.

    2. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by CastrTroy · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I really have to agree with this. My Dad got switched to an iPhone as a cost saving measure for this business use. Bottom line, He hates it. It's much easier to type out an email on the Blackberry, as well as do a lot of other work related functions. The battery on the iPhone doesn't even last a whole day. The Blackberry can last quite a bit longer. The iPhone is good for teenagers who want to have fun. The Blackberry is meant for people who have work to do, and want it done quickly, and well.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    3. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by Anonymusing · · Score: 4, Interesting

      For what it's worth... I use the iPhone for business. Battery lasts two days, easily. I also have some personal apps on it, but mainly I use it for work-related e-mail.

      I had a BBerry before that and hated it.

      But that's me. I'm glad there are choices.

      --
      Liberal? Conservative? Compare perspectives at Left-Right
    4. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 4, Informative

      I use an iPhone 4 at work. Today I don't have a recharging cable, have sent about 50 emails and played alot of Angry Birds (at a conference so not *really* working). Battery is at 68% after 5 hours and 20 minutes of use.

    5. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I suspect the people using BIS really aren't their real customers and RIM goes out of their way to discourage the whole "ZOMG MY PHONE IS FUN!!" vibe that defines the non-enterprise market, which is probably a good thing.

      Have you seen the commericals for the Torch?

    6. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by vux984 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      RIM goes out of their way to discourage the whole "ZOMG MY PHONE IS FUN!!" vibe that defines the non-enterprise market

      http://na.blackberry.com/devices/blackberrytorch/

      Tag line.. "Act on Inspiration"
      Um... I guess that enterprisey right?

      Top billing: maximized multimedia - pinch & zoom, enhanced music player
      for the enterprise user who needs to zoom in on his album artwork?

      Second billng: 5 megapixel camera
      for the enterprise user who needs to capture those precious spontaneous moments?

      Third billing: Integrated social feeds (facebook leads the list)
      For the enterprise user who... I give up. ... lets try the next one one

      http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrypearl3G/
      Tagline - "Carry your friends in your pocket"

      Yeah... we're done here.

      For what its worth I agree blackberry is still a top contender in the enterprise space and has a lot of features aimed specifically at their needs. But I think you are going too far trying to claim they "go out of their way to discourage" the whole fun side of things.

    7. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by nizo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Certainly some people are incapable of farting, thus it is probably an ADA requirement that this handicap be properly addressed?

    8. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by lowrydr310 · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've had an EVO for about three months. I'm ready to throw in the towel and go back to my blackberry, but I'm stuck in a contract for two years so I'll ride it out. Email, instant messaging (Yahoo/Google/AIM), and light duty web browsing are all I do, and the blackberry was perfect for that, not to mention 3x the battery life of the EVO and a much more usable keyboard, all in a smaller package that's sure to take more abuse.

      Don't get me wrong, I like the EVO and I sort of knew what I was getting myself into, but I agree with you about the redundant apps and overall lack of quality with most of the offerings in the marketplace.

    9. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by HateBreeder · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your battery lasts for 2 days? Do you mean the car battery with the in-vehicle charger?

      Under normal use I have to recharge my phone every night.

      --
      Sigs are for the weak.
    10. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by santiagodraco · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The problem with the iPhone for business is that for some strange reason they either 1) don't understand how business professionals work or 2) take shortcuts with software design and leave out important features.

      - Like snoozable alarms for calendar alerts
      - Or clickable numbers/links in calendar items (this was missing for ages)

      There's a bunch of things I can't think of off the top of my head that make the phone less appealing for business users, all things that they should be able to easily implement in software.

      The changes to Mail were welcome however, including shared inbox. Now if we just had a contact list I could immediately type letters into I'd be happy.

    11. Re:Unfortunately for RIM... by Kenshin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Second billng: 5 megapixel camera
      for the enterprise user who needs to capture those precious spontaneous moments?

      Have you ever needed to take a photo of something on-site and send it to a client or someone back at the office? I have. It's a useful feature.

      --

      Does it make you happy you're so strange?

  3. Re:All we need is Netcraft confirmation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wait... you actually LIKE Xcode?

    So far I've never met anyone who didn't have the urge to jump off a building after being forced to use it.

    I actually happen to also like XCode. You don't happen to work at a psychiatric hospital with a large number of patients on suicide watch, would you? If so then I think there could be other explanations for your observation than XCode.

  4. Free for all, or app market? by Dutchmaan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I agree that tons of cheaply made useless apps only lessen the value of a platforms app market, but really what you end up with is Apple's subjective selection process. I guess ideally one could have a selective app section walled off for those who want a more professional user experience, outside of which would be your 'unapproved' fart apps etc. Of course they would have to add some value to the creators for placing them inside the wall, but thats up to RIM to decide what it would like to offer I guess.

    1. Re:Free for all, or app market? by jedidiah · · Score: 3, Insightful

      > One reason why Microsoft and Apple take the walled garden approach is because of Joe and the dancing bunny security problem.

      This is utter nonsense as demonstrated by the Mac.

      Microsoft and Apple take the walled garden approach because they like monopolies and control.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  5. Priorities? by DriedClexler · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're not looking at ads, clicking on ads or buying premium upgrades, and the app isn't adding any value to your device.'

    I hope he didn't list those problems in *decending* order of importance...

    --
    Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
  6. Given iPhone Apps usually get used once... by humphrm · · Score: 4, Interesting

    'We don't need 200 fart apps in App World. Those are apps you'll use three or four times then never open again.

    Considering that only 20% of iPhone App installs get used more than once, I'd say that the BlackBerry fart apps are doing pretty well, in comparison.

    --
    -- "In order to have power, I must be taken seriously." -Mojo Jojo
    1. Re:Given iPhone Apps usually get used once... by aztracker1 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, when working on a RIM, the last thing I'd want is a fart happening.

      --
      Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
  7. Re:No Worries! by nine-times · · Score: 4, Funny

    So he's busy doing the Apple thing and won't have time to make fart and piss apps for RIM.

    Too bad. If he'd been hired by RIM instead, we'd have lots of jokes about how the fart-app guy got a RIM job.

  8. What a Jackass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Alan Panezic sez: "We don't need 200 fart apps in App World. Those are apps you'll use three or four times then never open again."

    The very fact that your developers want to write them and your customers want to download them means nothing to you?

    Everyone knows that if a PDA can't fart, it can't do shit.

  9. So what their saying is... by Dancindan84 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Farting isn't a good way to get a RIM job?

    --
    "Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
  10. They need a Job site searching app by mandark1967 · · Score: 2, Funny

    that links to the various job hunting sites.

    They could call it...ohhh...I dunno...something like "Rim Jobs"

    Think about it, you can search hotjobs and save it as a search for "Hot Rim Jobs" or save your search for "Monster Rim Jobs".

    It has a ring to it...you gotta admit it

    --
    Sig Follows: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain
  11. Vuvuzela app by js3 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You can block my 200 fart apps but I only need one vuvuzela app..

    --
    did you forget to take your meds?
  12. Why as a business user I switched away from RIM by Yo+Grark · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was recently on a business trip and had my blackberry at my hip.
    On a trip, I needed translator software, so went to RIM app world and found my options limited, i "trialed" their $30.00 french translator. (Let me say first I tried to use the web interface for google, but it took so long and so many clicks on the BB it was unusable consistently).

    Well it was useless. Didn't do phrases, no real options, only did 1 word at a time. WTF? $30.00?!?

    Luckily I had my ipad handy and saw what was available on the app store there. For 1.99 I got an offline app that KILLED the blackberry app in terms of features and usability.

    So, in real work business usage, I have to say, RIM, you've lost me personally, but do continue to make back bench, locked in deals with CEO's to get your phones locked into corporations while you can.

    Smart people use smartphones and want usability and fart apps for novelties to take their brains away from work once in awhile. .I will never go back to blackberry.

    Yo Grark

    --
    Canadian Bred with American Buttering
    1. Re:Why as a business user I switched away from RIM by Minwee · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So, in real work business usage, I have to say, RIM, you've lost me personally, but do continue to make back bench, locked in deals with CEO's to get your phones locked into corporations while you can.

      Um... Businesses don't prefer the Blackberry over the iPhone because RIM pays them to. They prefer it because the Blackberry comes with real security and centralized management solutions while the iPhone comes with... farting noises.

    2. Re:Why as a business user I switched away from RIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      but in my experience most of the places I've worked (smaller installs, 25-100 handhelds) don't use them and are constantly hammered for requests to support ActiveSync devices.

      Which is exactly what the GP said.
      The management tools are a requirement for bigger shops - the ability to remote-wipe and specify granular security options are HUGE for organizations with more than a few devices to worry about.

      When companies break 10,000 users and somebody installs a wallpaper app which sends your customer list to china or decides to take down your mail servers they're typically wishing they went with a platform designed for business.

  13. Re:All we need is Netcraft confirmation by chargersfan420 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Notice how the only people advocating Xcode are anonymous cowards?

  14. Re:That's how I use my phone? by kevinmenzel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ok fine, then... Download your apps from places other than appworld? It's not the only place to get blackberry apps. Crackberry has a feature rich store, etc. Yes appworld is one of the easiest ways to start an ota install from your mobile but even then I've had apps before that I installed from the browser. This is, perhaps the difference between RIM and Apple - with Apple, the only way to get your app on a non-jail broken device is to sell it through their store. With RIM that's just one option.

  15. Re:All we need is Netcraft confirmation by FranTaylor · · Score: 2, Funny

    You have to use their linker, there is no other choice. The linker alone will give you the run-around if you don't do it their way.

  16. thanks for the time-saving by dltaylor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Knowing that RIM wants to push me into ad-laden crapware saved me the time of going down to the 'phone store and even looking at their stuff.

  17. Re:All we need is Netcraft confirmation by larry+bagina · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nope, you needed to use apple's (gcc) compiler but you could still develop with bash and vi if you wanted to.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  18. Re:All we need is Netcraft confirmation by larry+bagina · · Score: 3, Informative

    the linker works fine from the command line.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  19. Re:Fart apps by Tetsujin · · Score: 2, Informative

    Classy jokes usually aren't the funny ones.

    --
    Bow-ties are cool.
  20. solution by Joe+U · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Design your store like Slashdot, let the users moderate things down and then browse at -1 for fart apps.

    Why is this such an issue? Because Steve Jobs said it first?

  21. Re:All we need is Netcraft confirmation by tyrione · · Score: 2

    Notice how the only people advocating Xcode are anonymous cowards?

    Do I appear to be anonymous?

  22. Only looking at ads provide value?? by nurb432 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    WTF is wrong with these people. Advertisements do NOT enhance anything, and I'm sick of them as they are everywhere..

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  23. '200 fart apps' is a side-effect by MikShapi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    '200 fart apps' is a side-effect of a huge creative force called a non-restricted (or nearly-unrestricted) army of free developers.

    Sure, they do what the market wants, rather than what RIM's CEO deems is of a personal opinion could be useful.

    pro: huge app base, huge choice of vendor for the same kind of app, unique idea apps (turn iPhone screen into a break light for a bicycle? etc etc).
    con: fart apps. Seriously, big whoop.

    They go in a tight package. Ask Linus. Ask Bill. Ask Steve.
    RIM is not a platform for any 3rd party software dev that isn't actively being paid by RIM. It's not a platform - it's a standalone niche product.

    The con might give your platform -1, but the pro gives it +100.
    Which is why RIM will never crawl out of its corporate niche.

    PS
    Had a bb from work for 2 years. Now have i

    --
    -
  24. Re:All we need is Netcraft confirmation by GunFodder · · Score: 2, Informative

    I know I don't - I don't think there are a whole lot of them. After all, Objective C has no significant enterprise market and 5% of all desktops. The only software market they have a significant presence in is mobile apps, which is growing but is still pretty tiny. I don't see Objective C getting all that much traction unless Apple loosens their grip, and that doesn't seem very likely.