RIM: The inmates have taken over the asylum | Monday Note

Concluding paragraphs of an extensive RIM reality check by Jean-Louis Gassée (via Louis Gray, via Buzz)

RIM succeeded because word of mouth, not advertising, sold the Blackberry. Proud users begat more proud users. What will happen when users “share” the true value of the “running Android apps” claim?
No one could fault RIM for the “iPad surprise”. After decades of misbegotten tablets, no one was prepared for the rise of the new genre.
Reacting quickly, not wanting Apple to gain too much of a market stronghold makes business sense. But launching what is clearly an immature product and trying to compensate for a dearth of applications with a misleading claim of compatibility with the wrong version of Android is insane.

Those whom the gods would destroy, they first render mad…

RIM: The inmates have taken over the asylum | Monday Note