There's nothing wrong with RIM, the Blackberry, or the Playbook. What's wrong is mostly in people's heads. When did our perception of IT change from expecting it to change on a quarterly basis for improvement to NEEDING it to change, just for the sake of change? I like the iPhone and the Android devices, although I have a Blackberry. I'm comfortable using any of them. Patrick is right when he mentions the Blackberry isn't as 'fun' as the other options. But since when did 'functional' and 'practical' take a back seat to 'fun' in the business world?

This is what I don't understand. Each device has it's place, but the negative hype against RIM seems to be driven by:

A) Technical Columnists; These people decry the lack of options and 'openness' that Android provides, or the number of apps that Apple and Android offer. But while they may be able to deal with Android's myriad options and a constantly changing interface, the non-technical users (which are the majority, usually older or strictly business users) usually have problems. However, people don't think of this until it's often too late, and since these writers are the 'experts', they should be listened to...;

B) Perceived Lack of Innovation: Sure, RIM's devices haven't changed much over the past few years compared to Apple and Android, but that's because they're solid, stable, and they WORK. The car hasn't changed much over the past 40 YEARS. You don't see people demanding 6 wheels or two steering wheels or other drastic changes because last year's models are so... LAST YEAR. Our company was choosing between two products, one was solid, 'stoic' and not very innovative. The other was new, modern, and had model changes every two years with flashy features. We went with the latter, which was plagued with problems from being new and unproven. We suffered a lot of downtime. I cycled out that product with one from the former company and, despite it's being 'old technology' and not as flashy-looking, it works BETTER;

C) North American Business Model: Did NOONE learn anything from the tech bubble bursting or 2009's crash? Once investors see a drop in growth (not a loss, but just a drop in PROFIT) they cry 'failure' and look for the 'next big thing' to ride as long as they can. Heck, these RIM shareholders that are calling for the company to be divided and sold off seem to just happen to own firms that specialize in DOING JUST THAT. Isn't that funny? I don't suppose they stand to profit from that happening...;

D) Media Hype: A combination of the previous three, with the media's sensationalist spin to blow it completely out of proportion. Sure it's one of the largest companies in the World, with tons of sales and profit...but they're THIS close to bankruptcy! Honest! This hit home to me when I was on vacation, and I went to help a fellow traveler that was lost. I fired up Google Maps on my BlackBerry and this older lady exclaimed, "Oh, is that one of those BlackBerrys? I thought they weren't making those anymore..." Thanks a lot, media...

Well, if things keep going the way they are and we lose RIM for whatever reason, I know that IT support teams and users probably won't miss them until they realize they're stuck with what's left...