Dear RIM,
I have owned 4 BlackBerry’s over the past 5 years, and I have loved each and every one of them when I had them. I can still remember the joy in my heart when I got my very first one, this amazing feeling of importance. I needed a BlackBerry because I had emails that I needed to see in real time, and the need for internet-on-the-go. Matter of fact, 5 years ago – you looked cool having a BlackBerry – and in most cases, you made fun of everyone that didn’t have one. I embraced the calluses on my thumbs from the notorious seed-like QWERTY keyboard that only you could supply – they were badges of honor, of love for the smart-phone that I cherished so deeply.
But lately… there is an emptiness in my heart where you used to reside. My love has turned into bitterness, and my lust for your newest model has diminished out of sight.
What happened to us?
We used to be so close, but now I find my eyes drifting to the sleek and slim iPhone that taunts me at work from the desk across the room. I long for it’s functionality, it’s apps. Everything that made you so amazing at one point – looks so much better in a smaller, more polished package. You just don’t have the capabilities that she has – the sexyness she exudes. Your AppWorld is slow, and I find it more annoying every day – at one point you were so agile, you had few strong apps instead of many pointless ones. But now… the tables have turned.
The one app that made me stay so long: BBM. The fact that I could communicate with my boyfriend all day long & not have to pay a cent was enticing, and was your hold on me. I could tell when my messages had been read – and nobody did that better than you. But now, iPhone developers have delivered BBM through apps like Live Profile and WhatsApp? My BBM list is getting shorter and shorter with those migrating to the iPhone and Android sides. What am I supposed to do, beloved Berry…. You’re beginning to leave me no choice.
Co-workers taunt me. I am the only one with a BB on my team – and around the cubicles it’s called “archaic technology”….
I currently own a Torch that I bought in March. It’s unresponsive, and freezes at best – completely crashes at worst. The battery drains in less than a day, and the touch technology just isn’t there. I find myself looking at it in sadness instead of the flutter that once was. What’s worse – you release a NEW phone every 6 months. This is an awful launch cycle to have, especially when they are all the same phone – I feel like my phone is outdated half a year in, and the resentment does nothing but grow. It’s not a $100 dollar software upgrade every 6 months, it’s a 3 year contract upgrade OR $500+ – You’re beginning to cost to much.
All you had to do from the very beginning was listen to your customer. We want smaller, not bigger. Faster, not slower. Apps that work, not those that don’t. And damnit, we don’t care about flash that much.
I’m sorry our relationship has to end like this, but I just can’t take it anymore. I would say “it’s not you, it’s me” – Except it’s definitely you.
Sincerely,
Marissa
