DISQUS

This hit me like a ton of bricks.. so very sad.

Very Good points Jim - I think it comes down to this observation. If the iPhone is your first smartphone/PDA you will be blown away and probably never use anything else. However, if you've ever owned a BB - the iPhone's shortcomings will be too apparent to get over for serious business use.

IMHO the Blackberry is the business device of choice. It does a few things exceedingly well, and in those areas the iPhone just can't compete. Email or any form of text is far superior on the BB, the new Bold and Storm (as well as the Curve, no 3G on the curve) are really fast, they have great processors and the screens blow the iPhone away. I am very text centric, and having tried and tried to get used to the iPhone touchpad I just can't get used to it, it is good - but not great.

Second huge point for business - battery life. I can go away for 3 day business trips (sans 3G) and not take my charger. With moderate use I can get 3-4 days! out of a Blackberry. The iPhone is a recharge daily, sometimes twice device.

Things to check - if you use a Mac make sure you check that there is a current synching tool for the model of Blackberry you get. That can be an issue, and one that RIM is working on diligently apparently.

The iPhone is fantastic, but out of 10 people that tried one in my business circle over the last 1.5 years, all but one has gone back to a Blackberry. They all loved the iPhone, but did as you - and ended up giving it to their wives.

I thought everyone @ Microsoft used a Mac?

Ze has always 'put it all out there' whether it be emotions, opinions, frustrations etc. He defined building a community on the web. People feel a connection to him, as his projects always involve the "sportsracers" ideas and opinions. It is one thing to create a community, it is a completely different thing altogether to listen to it.

There are some very good parallels between what Ze created and what President Elect Obama have done with the web - anyone can get a list of people, but it takes much more work and thought to get that list working for you. It is a two way street, even if you disagree - if you're community tells you otherwise, you better listen to them.

This is where (and no disrespect to your new position) business fails miserably on the social web. Business has an ulterior motive in community building and that agenda is always super apparent. A good example of a successful campaign is Dell. Dell has done a great job with http://www.ideastorm.com/ they have actually listened to users suggestions. Ubuntu Dell's are a direct result of IdeaStorm, as is getting a Dell without the crapware pre-installed. It has been very successful for them.

If you can present a community with as a non-commercial tool to share ideas, it can be very advantageous. In the media industry the applications (and benefits) are so apparent it is crazy, I envy your new job, as long as you have the autonomy to do leading edge stuff without having to explain a revenue model from day one to some senior VP who's first question is "What is a blog again?", it should be a fantastic challenge.

This is now, officially, the longest comment I have ever left on a blog.. :)

We are still years away from seeing a gPhone - the idea of an open app store is great, but only if you have a customer base that will buy your application.

Currently they are about 10 million units behind Apple, about 300 million behind Nokia and 20 million behind RIM. Google is not a merchandising company, and is certainly not a consumer electronics company. They have a tough uphill battle with Android, and it won't be weeks, it will be years.

Someday we might catch up... I am sure our CRTC will create an environment to reward new services - sometime this century.

I was just thinking about writing pretty much this exact post. Early adopters are critical to the success of Razzle - they should be bending over backwards to right the ship. I know little about the management at Razzle, and whether they are funded or have resources available to them, from the outside it appears as this is not the case.

Jumping into social media and marketing without fully understanding the consequences of botching it is a clear sign this was a poorly written business and marketing plan. Woot (granted a much larger company) executes very well - Razzle should have started smaller and with a laser focus, no forums, better copy, amazing first week of deals etc., rather than trying to do everything perfect out of the gate.

I do wish the Razzle team well, but they have an uphill battle now - my advice shut down take the time to make sure all your customers are tickled pink and then relaunch correctly.

I was just thinking about writing pretty much this exact post. Early adopters are critical to the success of Razzle - they should be bending over backwards to right the ship. I know little about the management at Razzle, and whether they are funded or have resources available to them, from the outside it appears as this is not the case.

Jumping into social media and marketing without fully understanding the consequences of botching it is a clear sign this was a poorly written business and marketing plan. Woot (granted a much larger company) executes very well - Razzle should have started smaller and with a laser focus, no forums, better copy, amazing first week of deals etc., rather than trying to do everything perfect out of the gate.

I do wish the Razzle team well, but they have an uphill battle now - my advice shut down take the time to make sure all your customers are tickled pink and then relaunch correctly.

This is massive - great scoop.

That is just incredible - our 'cozy little wireless oligopoly' is actually making wireless telco's devolve. Someone should write a paper on this. Reverse Darwinism in Canadian Wireless.

Ugh.. what a stupid idea. It is one of my fav. blogs, and I probably won't read any of it now.

typo, public not pubic.. :)

Calendar + Email = Outlook Until any of these online calendars can synch my email/contacts and calendar with my handheld (Blackberry/Treo) then they will be relegated to a niche product used to schedule meetings at trade shows with disparate teams, or pubic event notices.

I have zero interest in keeping more than one calendar, and right now it is Outlook as it is the only one that synch's with my Blackberry effectively and easily.

Zune IMHO is too complicated. Get Music, Synch Music, Listen to Music.

200M iPods ship a quarter because they make it easy for the non technical, and the thing just works.

If Zune has some sort of amazing XP MCE capabilities like a home remote or something it might be interesting, but I suspect it will disappear within 18 months.

Podcasting, and Vlogs are (IMHO) longtail examples of media distribution. The chances of me finding a radio show on VoIP where I can hear industry leaders discuss candidly and openly, isn't going to happen any time soon on my local radio station.

But now I subscribe to 4-5, and look forward to new episodes, it isn't about content entirely.

The medium is still the message.

I thought I was alone, I too am captivated by the "Bree and Daniel Show"... feels good to be out of the closet..

I have been pondering monetization of Youtube, not the site itself, but how does someone like Bree, monetize her exposure. There are many B list celebrities in Hollywood that would kill for the exposure she gets..