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OPINIONS.

 

CrackBerry tale

The slow deterioration
of BlackBerry

Elliot
Chan
Opinions Editor

“ts opinions@ theotherpress.ca

  

lashback to three, maybe five

years ago, when BlackBerry
was supplying the dominant
product in the smartphone
market. Then BlackBerry phones
disappeared. One moment we
were hearing the trademark
clicking of fingers to keypad,
and the next there was silence.
Consumers lost interest, and
stock value plummeted. New
executives were brought in, but
nothing could save the former
titan of mobile devices from
irrelevancy.

Technology, like evolution,
has always been about survival
of the fittest. Whoever adapts to
the changing environment first
will gain dominance. BlackBerry,
however, was unable to foresee
that touch screen was the
next phase in smartphone
technology. BlackBerry founder
and former CEO of Research
in Motion, Mike Lazaridis,
underestimated the market
and overestimated consumers’
loyalty to his product. After
the initial release of the iPhone,
BlackBerry executives held a
board meeting where Lazaridis
denied change. He pointed at a
touch screen example and said,
“T don’t get this.” People like the
keypad, he thought—and if it
isn't broken...

Like the story about the
tortoise and the hare, there
is just no way for the hare to
catch up now after waking

up—not from a nap, but from
a productivity-coma. But what
choice does the company have
now that it has pretty much
given away its most valued
asset, BlackBerry Messenger

 

Blackberry Curve | Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

(BBM) and appointed a new
interim CEO, John Chen?
I believe there are three

possibilities for Chen and
BlackBerry in the next five
years. One is for them to peter

out. They'll continue down

the path they are going, trying
to keep up with Apple and
Android. Even if their products
are of greater quality, their
diminished reputation will

leave consumers wary about
purchasing—there might be a
few loyal CrackBerry-heads, but
appealing only to them would
either leave the company in
ruins or forced into a merger or
acquisition.

The second possibility is
for BlackBerry to transition
away from creating devices and
focus on being an iMessaging
company. This scenario
might seem like a huge step
backwards, but I believe it’s the
most reasonable. Since product
experts already consider every
BlackBerry smartphone to be
obsolete, there is no reason to
waste precious time and money
developing them for the waste
bin. By focussing on perhaps
their best innovation, BBM, they
can gain some leverage and
loyalty back. As it stands, BBM
currently has 80-million active
users.

The third possibility
brings me back to BBM and the
idea of thinking ahead of the
curve and anticipating trends.
BlackBerry failed to do that
with touch screens, but they
were able to foresee the future
of instant messaging—well, at
least they did many years ago.
The original concept was risky.
They made BBM exclusive
to BlackBerry devices, which
forced consumers to own a
BlackBerry if they wanted to use
the free and efficient messaging
service. That tactic won't work
now, but there are many more
innovations out there in the sea
of wireless technology. In this
scenario, it really does become
an arms race, because Apple,
Android, and a bunch of other
little fish are racing for the same
best new idea.

 

Cynicism can be positive

How cynics can facilitate
positive social change

Julia
Siedlanowska
| Staff Writer

 

Recently, as I listened to the
ever so happy tune “Sunday
Morning” by The Velvet
Underground, I couldn’t help
but picture the song playing
well in contrast to a depressing
scene in a movie. A good
example is the scene in 50/50
where Joseph Gordon-Levitt's
character, Adam, is walking
through a hospital to the tunes

of the Bee Gees. He is high after
receiving chemotherapy, and
as he walks past a gurney with
a black body bag, he laughs
wholeheartedly knowing he
may be next. This kind of black
humour is easily understood
and accepted by most.

I thought about the
song and how it made me
contemplate the role of cynicism
in our daily lives. Why could I
not accept the song for what it
was? (The fact that the song is
thought to be about a stalker has
nothing to do with it.)

Cynicism is the distrust of
others’ motives based on the
belief that people are motivated
purely by self-interest. I believe
this to be mostly true. Think of

a nice thing you did and try to
discern whether or not you had
any hidden pleasures from that
action. Chances are the kindness
was mutually beneficial.
There are certain truths about
humanity that cynics tend to
accept—and this is a good thing.
Most successful comedians
today are cynics that make use
of stereotypes and social taboos.
Louis CK’s routines consist of
setting up common moral beliefs
and then admitting to ignoring
them in action. They consist of
making fun of sensitive subjects
such as genocides and racial
injustices. One of my favourite
YouTube clips of CK is his
appearance on Conan O’Brien’s
show talking about cellphones.

He admits that underneath
everything, human beings are
all afraid of being alone. So they
need to constantly check their
phones to fill the empty void
inside them. This is something
that we all know as the truth;
however, we often chose to
ignore it.

Humour is a way to
deal with our problems. It
can facilitate self-acceptance
when we feel hatred towards
ourselves. Cynics are choosing
not to be a part of the status quo.
If they are unsatisfied, they will
voice it with sarcasm, and that’s
healthy. If everyone pretended
to be satisfied with the way
things were, we would be in big
trouble. There is a way to be a

positive cynic and it is through
humour. The days when I’m
most down are the days when
reality doesn’t coincide with
the tender expectations I have
for it. In these situations, the
only thing to alleviate the pain
of disappointment is a kindred
spirit whose honesty and
acceptance turn disappointment
into laughter. Laughing at our
own inherent selfishness is a
non-confrontational form of
pointing out an opportunity
for change. Pretending that all
of our actions as a society are
positives is foolish. We must be
cynics with heart.

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