The headline refers to a comment about the RIM’s new Storm2 device by Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, a Netherlands-based online entrepreneur and
tech blogger.
When I covered the original BlackBerry Storm launch last October,
I spoke with Boris about his thoughts on the release. At that time, he said that most serious BlackBerry users were cynical about the iPhone and were too married to their QWERTY keyboards to make the switch.
While he didn’t deny that the Storm would receive a lot of push from carriers and sell a lot of units, he argued that these sales would not cut into Apple’s territory or convert these keyboard addicts.
Fast forward a year later and Boris’ statements have proven true.
Yesterday, I pinged him once again to get his thoughts on the Storm2 and what he expects to happen this time around.
When I asked him what RIM needs to do to improve upon the first Storm, he said they need to “perform a miracle.” Being able to compete with Apple means more than simply adding a “2” next to the device name, he argued, adding that a slightly faster, cooler and more feature filled device won’t cut it for RIM with Apple so far ahead in the race.
“Peter Drucker once said that for on technology to replace another it has to be at least 10 times better,” Boris said. “The iPhone was 10 times better than any other phone on the market when they arrived.”
He believes the iPhone worked because of a combination of factors: small and fast enough processors, chipsets with enough memory in small form factors and almost good enough battery life. Steve Jobs and company didn’t really invent a new phone, he said, so much as they took advantage of the advances in a combination of technologies at the right time.
“Such an alignment of stars comes only once every 10 years or so,” he said.
Where do you stand on this issue? Is Boris right?
