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RIM co-CEO Lazaridis: BlackBerry Bold three years in the making, design not mimicking Apple iPhone

BlackBerry maker RIM this week hosted the Wireless Enterprise Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

One of the announcements causing the biggest stir was the BlackBerry Bold (formerly "BlackBerry 9000") --touted by some clueless observers as the device to rival the iPhone.

At the conference, co-CEO Mike Lazaridis was interviewed by Silicon.com reporter Natasha Lomas. One exchange stood out:

RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis on the BlackBerry Bold:
This is three years in the making. So I'm sorry but this wasn't a response to another device. Either that or we have a time machine somewhere, or some kind of magic crystal ball or something. This was actually designed three years ago and the actual physical design of this product--I have the original models from 2006.

Full article here.

"RIM has already been dealt a world of hurt with Apple's iPhone, and Apple wasn't even really trying with the first go around (few countries, mostly exclusive carriers, ignoring the enterprise, no SDK, no Exchange support, etc.). Those days are soon to be over for RIM. RIM is already bleeding share to Apple's iPhone; now they're about to start hemorrhaging. Let the bloodbath begin." - MacDailyNews, May 12, 2008

We hereby publicly challenge RIM and co-CEO Mike Lazardis to produce the original models of their BlackBerry Bold and prove that they are from 2006.

We can't wait to see them. Bold italics denote massive sarcasm on a scale heretofore never deployed on this site. And that's saying something.

There's a reason why Lazaridis needs a helper (Balsillie) to be CEO of a company with a market value that's less than half that of Apple's. There's also a reason why Steve Jobs excels not only as the sole CEO of Apple, but also concurrently excelled as Pixar CEO for years.

Certainly, in this case, the old maxim is thoroughly disproved: two heads are not better than one.

Again, RIM and Lazardis: Put up or shut up. Produce the original models of the BlackBerry Bold and prove that they are from 2006.

Here's what RIM will be doing in the near future:
• Pretending that antique technology wrapped in an iPhone-like exterior is innovation
• Talking up physical keyboards over touchscreen keyboards until they finally produce a rudimentary touchscreen keyboard to tout
• Like every other mobile device company, totally ignoring and never mentioning Multi-Touch, especially vs. simple single-touch-screens
• Trying to keep their central email server online up in Canada
• Watching their market share lead erode dramatically

You can judge the distance behind and overall cluelessness of iPhone's future roadkill by the amount they copy the iPhone's exterior... This ceaseless quest to dress up antiques in Apple veneer is pathetic and sad. - SteveJack, MacDailyNews, March 29, 2008

via MacDailyNews