Everyone benefits from competition — both we the consumers, and technology companies — makers of our products. Competition means not only choice for everyone, but also keeps the makers of the products we use on their toes.
Companies like Apple are one of the rare examples that I can think of that have superlative industrial design and innovation on their own — without being influenced by other competing companies. Whilst I’m primarily an iOS user, I still yearn for solid competition in the mobile space. This is not because I wish Apple ill will, or wish them to be knocked off their proverbial throne, but because they need strong competition. Even the best companies that are filled to the brim with the best talent need solid competition. This is just a healthy way for the entire industry to operate.
Now well into 2012, everyone — including RIM — knows they’re struggling to keep afloat. I’ve discussed this before back in January, and the future outlook for the company doesn’t look promising — in fact I’d go as far to say that it’s down right depressing. That being said, I wanted to acknowledge something that RIM deserves credit for. Whilst the upper echelons of management are arguably bozos, the company has many talented developers and designers working underneath. It is easy for us to forget, or worse, dismiss these individuals. Worst case scenario, the company is sold off, and everyone loses their job. The sad part is the super talented designers, developers, and everyone in-between — except upper management — will lose their jobs without being paid out millions of dollars in severance fees. At big companies like this, the talented people that contributed to a product get virtually nothing, yet the people in charge running the business get millions of dollars for sucking.
Today news broke about BlackBerry 10, and by now you’ve more than likely gone through some of the screenshots that have been released. Judging purely on the screenshots that I’ve seen, there are some elements that I see borrowed from iOS, but there are also some elements borrowed from Android and even Windows Phone 7. I also had a chance to look at a quick video posted by The Verge on how the actual interface and elements interact with each other. I must say it’s not looking bad at all. Dare I say some elements kind of look webOS-ish. That’s only a good thing, as webOS had a lot of great things going for it — things most people will never experience.
I’m looking forward to seeing how BlackBerry 10 turns out when it ships. I’d absolutely love to play with a loaner model if I can get my hands on one. Let’s hope those devices actually ship this year.