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RIM fumes at Jobs' rant

by on20 October 2010


Customers fed up with being told what to think
RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has rounded on Steve Jobs for telling users what to do all the time. Jobs claimed that RIM shipped 12 million devices for its most recent quarter, while Apple claimed 14 million.

Balsillie said that customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. (No wonder they call them a cult. sub.ed.) Balsillie pointed out that RIM's quarter ended in August while Apple's ended in September and Jobs knows that smartphone sales are stronger in the fall than the summer. RIM is projecting to move as many as 14.4 million BlackBerrys in the next quarter.

Jobs slagged off 7" displays for upcoming tablets, like the recently announced BlackBerry Playbook he said that the size didn't offer enough physical space to make tablets different from smartphones. Balsillie said that "For those of us who live outside of Apple's distortion field, we know that 7-inch tablets will actually be a big portion of the market."

Most of the tablets that haven't been shelved or delayed are sporting 7-inch screens, but it will be some time before we know what the market will bear. Jobs did his usual beating of Flash. Balsillie said Flash support was critical to the success of the mobile web.

"We know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience," he said. "We also know that while Apple's attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash."

Balsillie accused Jobs of being purposely being dishonest about a number of issues.

"Whether the subject is antennas, Flash or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story," he said.
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