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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."
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Farting isn't a good way to get a RIM job?
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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?