RIM called the iPhone 'badly flawed' before launch
If you were one of the iPhone's early adopters way back in 2007, you were the proud owner of a "badly flawed" device. Well, you were according to BlackBerry manufacturer RIM, anyway (see image for RIM's advice on how to best use your iPhone).
A Reuters report on RIM's future (PDF) quotes an anonymous former employee as saying RIM thought the iPhone was "so badly flawed from day one. [...] Users wanted great battery life, great security, great mail handling, minimal network use, and a great keyboard experience."
Two years before the iPhone launched, Mike Lazaridis, RIM founder, refused to develop a web-enabled smartphone with a larger screen. Instead, he insisted on concentrating on the BlackBerry's main strengths, its keyboard and email capability. Luckily for us, Apple struggled on with its badly flawed device, and for quite some time afterward, RIM still failed to see the desire users had for getting the full web experience on their smartphones.
You can take your iPhone back out of the wastebasket now, by the way.
[via Boy Genius Report]
