[NoBox]

Guess we are doomed to run around in circles identifying the problems of Blackberry and then excusing them when they can't, or won't, solve them. The fact is that the world has changed in many ways. The world Blackberry's old business plan flourished in no longer exists. They advertise they have changed with it.

If they cannot shake off the past to understand the present and the future and make good on their promises to the individual customer Blackberry is toast. I fully believe the talent exists for Blackberry to produce good hardware and software and provide excellent customer service. If they cannot they will go the way of giants of the past. From my point of view that would be a shame.

Nope, the time for understanding why they do what they do and cutting them slack for it has passed. Now it is time for Blackberry to step up and perform in the present.

Another factor that should not be underestimated is the change technology has had on corporate culture. You folks still working daily in that can probably attest to it better than I. But, in a growing number of cases no longer do the Techies in the back room have the deciding vote on what individuals use for communication. Outside server companies(the "Cloud"), business competition, companies that sell entire ecosystems, not just one component, etc. have risen. Blackberry relied on the back room folks to help them in many ways. Now, I think those folks are diminishing both in numbers and influence.

This discussion has departed from the original thread so I'm going to try to put it back there. Frankly, I don't care to analyze the Why's of Blackberry. What they do internally really is of no concern to me except that it may force me to choose different hardware and procedures. What I do care about is how well the Playbook performs against its' advertising, whether it is a good value and what it informs me about what smartphones I should buy to replace my Torches..