This day in Engadget: RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis talks about his first 'touch product'
By Laura June 
posted April 16th 2010 11:59PM
posted April 16th 2010 11:59PM
Welcome to 'This day in Engadget', where we crack open the archives and take a whimsical look back at the memories and moments of our storied past. Please join us on this trip down random access memory lane.
Earlier today, RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis laid down a doozy when he implied that full touchscreen phones aren't that popular -- but last year at this time (on April 16th!) he was scrambling to explain why the BlackBerry Storm failed to live up to high expectations. Speaking to Laptop, Mike explained that the Storm was RIM's first "touch product," explaining that "nobody gets it perfect out the door." RIM's head honchos are well known for their candor, so it's no surprise that he's now talking trash on tablets. Still, you have to admire any company that proclaims buggy software the new reality, right?
Also on this date:
April 16th, 2009: Apple hit back at Microsoft's Laptop Hunter ads, Nokia's profits were reported to have dropped 90 percent in the first quart of the year, a hellraising carrier pigeon was reported to have been caught red handed smuggling cellphone parts into a prison, and a new atomic clock claimed to be the most accurate in the world.
April 16th, 2008: Microsoft hatched a Bruce Springsteen-laden promo vid for Vista, Republican lawmakers accused Google of gaming the 700Mhz auction, and a computer synthesizer gave voice to Neanderthal man.
April 16th, 2007: A few screenshots of Leopard Beta 9a410 shocked the internet, Microsoft admitted it was possible the Xbox 360 was scratchin' discs, Vonage admitted it was pretty much screwed, and the RED ONE got a hands-on.
April 16th, 2006: Noelle the Robot gave birth (sort of), a Darmouth professor was reported to have invented instant de-icing film, and the Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player got disassembled, possibly predicting its death.
April 16th, 2005: Future-minded peeps started thinking past Tiger, the AirScooter II was shown off, and a disgusting Hello Kitty (seriously, this thing couldn't have been officially licensed) BE@RBRICK set was unleashed.
April 16th, 2004 : Phil Torrone showed us how to read RSS feeds on an iPod, the man behind Nokia's N-Gage got interviewed, and mobile social networking seemed like something that could take off.
Also on this date:
April 16th, 2009: Apple hit back at Microsoft's Laptop Hunter ads, Nokia's profits were reported to have dropped 90 percent in the first quart of the year, a hellraising carrier pigeon was reported to have been caught red handed smuggling cellphone parts into a prison, and a new atomic clock claimed to be the most accurate in the world.
April 16th, 2008: Microsoft hatched a Bruce Springsteen-laden promo vid for Vista, Republican lawmakers accused Google of gaming the 700Mhz auction, and a computer synthesizer gave voice to Neanderthal man.
April 16th, 2007: A few screenshots of Leopard Beta 9a410 shocked the internet, Microsoft admitted it was possible the Xbox 360 was scratchin' discs, Vonage admitted it was pretty much screwed, and the RED ONE got a hands-on.
April 16th, 2006: Noelle the Robot gave birth (sort of), a Darmouth professor was reported to have invented instant de-icing film, and the Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player got disassembled, possibly predicting its death.
April 16th, 2005: Future-minded peeps started thinking past Tiger, the AirScooter II was shown off, and a disgusting Hello Kitty (seriously, this thing couldn't have been officially licensed) BE@RBRICK set was unleashed.
April 16th, 2004 : Phil Torrone showed us how to read RSS feeds on an iPod, the man behind Nokia's N-Gage got interviewed, and mobile social networking seemed like something that could take off.
RIM is loosing ground fast.
@AdamSpruijt
Grrrr, feel like turning into Hulk and smash things whenever I read "loosing". Grammar Nazi Hulk!
@Decel Maybe he's saying that RIM is unbinding a portion of land?
@Chris Dunning Obviously RIM is a farming Corp that tills land extremely fast.
@AdamSpruijt
*Looks at sales figures and US usage share*
No... no they're not.
@AdamSpruijt - They might be quickly losing mindshare, but their marketshare is holding steady.
Can't wait to ditch my Storm for an Incredible in several days...and I'm sure I'm there's plenty others doing the same. I wouldn't even consider another RIM product at this point unless it was a business-only phone.
@MONKEY Yeah, I just got a Droid because I couldn't stand my Storm 2 any more.
PS - I like how the idea was that there'd be software updates galore to fix issues but these updates are released at such a glacial pace and while fixing many issues tend to introduce new ones at the same time.
"Nobody gets it perfect out the door"? That's funny! My girlfriend just told me the same thing!
@McKirf :
She had a period in the middle. ;)
they're stuck in the early 2000s. it's weird to be able to say that.
Just imagine when we're saying 2020! How CRAZY is thaT?!?!
RIM is dying.
One year from now I guarantee their US marketshare will be #2 or lower (most likely lower).
@Johnny Rockets
I doubt you have an understanding of what you are saying, my friend. A year is 4 "quarters". RIMM just announced a better than expected profit, so it is obvious they aren't loosing money. They must be doing something right, especially considering that they aren't attempting to "take-over" the touch-screen market. They have a formula that works, and even though that formula has been around for a while, it wont take "a year" for Blackberry to drop to 2% of the market share.
How can you "guarantee" such a thing? You're word carries no value in such a conversation.
@Sean Connery Can we agree that the word "loosing" sucks?
@ricorich196
You are correct, my apologies.
*losing
@ricorich196 I don't think people understand what "Market share" means...
@Johnny Rockets
On what basis? I'm interested in seeing your analysis.
Really, Come on then.
I have a Storm *sad face*
I'm getting an Incredible the 29th *happy face*
With an attitude like this, RIM will be the next to go. Good Riddance
@victorstuber Your math makes no sense.
"Nobody gets it perfect out the door"
As an iPhone user, I can't agree with that more
Rimm is going to be the just like palm in about five years.
@Let1me1in
That's what they said 5 years ago.
@LAY 5 years ago, they didn't have iPhone or Android os:
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109225/why-blackberry-users-will-defect
@hated one Funny, cause when I see someone with a BB, I see them wearing a $1200 suit.
"nobody gets it perfect out the door" only applies to dining room tables, not phones, he had two tries to get it out the door, but we are left waiting for "the perfect storm" (see what I did there)??
@MattsZ The way Rim is going you are looking for "2012" literally before you get a good touchscreen phone.
I have a Storm. The hardware is fine. It's the software that is abysmal. I HATE this thing and can't wait for Verizon to get the iPhone. It's fine for reading email, but is good for nothing else. It sucks as a phone. Why the hell does the call log ONLY list calls sorted by phone number??? Why is there no way to retrieve the last inbound number easily to call it back? Why is it that half the time when I go to enter a number by hand, it asks me if I want to create a speed dial entry? Why is there so much inconsistency? Again, the hardware is fine; it's the software that needs a total rewrite. Very, very poorly thought out.
@snarfblat
My Storm's call log is listed by most recent date...it's always been that way.
@snarfblat
Sounds to me like someone needs to rtfm. I have no problem easily finding the last call. Just one click, thats all. Asking about speed dial when entering a number? Um, best check your options. Again, RTFM. Perhaps someone has been playing in the settings and not knowing what they are doing.
The phone itself wasn't so bad, its the software. They fixed the issues with the first storm, with the storm 2, which was much better. But far overpriced, do they forget the first storm had no wifi? thats a no no
The software is bad, they need that fixed asap
"Earlier today, RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis laid down a doozy when he implied that full touchscreen phones aren't that popular"'
Hello iPhone?
"nobody gets it perfect out the door."
Hello Apple? (Although I wouldn't say it was 'Perfect')
I don't even like apple products all that much... but is this guy dense?
No surprise.. Mike is definitely shaken by the downfall of Palm. He knows RIM is likely to be the next if they can't get "touch" and their mobile OS right..
@kelvin8048
RIM has seen more people buy there phones, despite the mantra that EVERYONE wants a touch screen device.
Apparently RIM has a bead on a large segment of the population that just wants what they offer.
Where is it written they we all have to have one or the other? Touch screens arent a evolution of control, just a co-equal branch.
"Mike Lazaridis talks about his first 'touch product'"
Is it just me, or does that sound kinda dirty?
@Smart People Play Tuba
Yeeeaaaahhhhh....
It's just you.
Nobody gets it right out the door??? Apple did.... ill admit it and I don't even like Apple
Love these posts....keep it up! :)
...but is he wrong? Nobody has got it perfect out the door. Sounds like someone just can't handle his honesty.
coincidentally, I just re-watched a review of the Storm 2 a nice phone. nothing much new compared to the original Storm, but the performance was very smooth. RIM just needs to make it a bit slimmer, add a capacitive touch screen, and some swipe gestures as opposed to everything simply being press & click-based
@ror - I used a Storm2 (on AT&T) for about two months and really enjoyed it. The screen was great, and the OS ran pretty well. I still think RIM really, really needs to build a new OS from the ground up though. The JME core of the current OS just isn't viable any longer.
@n0ne Only because his company makes him carry a BlackBerry (BES). Believe me, he'd rather have something from this century.
no one gets it right the first time i agree... but some do tend to by their second try and i dont think rim is one of them
I got your touch product right here, Lazaridis!
-jp
@s2m0
Um, what?
Considering how I have family that's upper management, I'm going to say for them that what you're saying is pure shit.
A shame that such a company has such low standards for itself. Okay is good enough - and - well a great deal of people think okay is just fine (otherwise RIM would be out of business). All it will take is someone to engineer a secure mobile e-mail solution (maybe as soon as some patent wears off) and we can wish them well, just as we're doing with Palm. Too bad really.
He'll be out of a job, this time next year.