RIM called the iPhone 'badly flawed' before launch

You know what - there's always one aspect of the iPhone's success that people completely forget about. Yes, it was a groundbreaking touch based product, yeah, it came with iPod built in, did google maps and all that stuff and email and oodles of other good stuff but the one thing that I plainly remember from the first day was the feel in the hand and the looks.

I had NEVER seen people fondle a bit of phone hardware so much. It was damn sexy and it appealed to both men and women. Up until that point, phones were generally speaking, designed to fit a specific cliche. Phones for men were rugged or masculine, phones for women were pink. Apple sidestepped the whole debate and just made 'iconic' and everyone likes iconic. Teamed up with lessons learnt in building the iPod they made a bit of kit that just oozed sex, like a magic mirror people all saw something they liked in the design. It looked good and felt good, people like holding it even when they weren't using the damn thing. That's some sort of industrial design sorcery.

I'm hoping that they continue to make these kind of leaps of faith. It's all too easy to become a slave to the market but it's the brands/companies/people that go their own way (for good reasons - not just for the hell of it) that make things that we remember. Apple's not alone in this but they are defo the most visible proponents of this attitude.

Turns out that users also want an operating system on their phone that doesn't remind them of Windows 95. RIM might want to get to work on fixing that.

Nice try, but we know phones; that's not a phone.

I (like others here) still have the first generation iPhone. I buy Apple products for the design and longevity of their products. My iPhone has worked great from day one. I have dropped it more times than I can remember over the past 3 years and it still works great. I have yet to find a compelling reason I should upgrade to a new one until this one conks out. The iPhone 5 better knock my socks off. A super thin version would do the trick!

RIM went with the info they got from surveys. The problem with doing that is easily explained with a Henry Ford quote:

"If I'd asked people what they wanted, they would have told me faster horses"

Look where comments like that got you RIM. You've released some hybrid monster in the Torch that doesn't know if it's coming or going. It wants everyone to love it for its dual functionality except it doesn't do any one-thing well.

If I wanted a texting/email phone I'd get a Bold. If I wanted a gaming platform I'd get an iPhone. If I wanted something new and shiny I'd get an Android. Where does the Torch fit in?

The GUI is still awful, the phone is bulky and it doesn't deliver any experience better than the aforementioned devices. Hopefully RIM will ditch the hybrid dream and stick to what they do best - making business phones with awesome battery life and fantastic keyboards.

BB Storm anyone?

Crap. I'm on my 4th 'badly flawed' device. Who knew?

"badly flawed"? Oh, so THAT'S why the sales were so disappointing...

Interesting how BB "is for business" but their new tablet is called the 'PlayBook'.