Blackberry...now my least favourite fruit.

Allow me just one blog post to share my disappointment in Blackberry this week, since mobile devices are one of retail's biggest ticket items, and make all our blogging, surfing, shopping, and social networking so easy & such an integral part of our lives.  I have long been a Blackberry user and a loyal one at that.  Working for Rogers for 5 years in the recent past, I could have had any device I wanted...and after trying iPhones and Androids and Motorolas and more, I never loved anything as much as my Blackberry.  Unlike a fragile iPhone, I could throw it in my giant purse and never worry about the screen cracking.  My kids could knock it on the floor - multiple times to my dismay - and it always kept on ticking.  Also, unlike the iPhone, I could type faster than a speeding bullet, never worrying about pressing the wrong letter or ridiculous auto-complete features skewing my words into utter gibberish.  With the volume of email I send, the fast qwerty keyboard that didn't require the "heat" from my fingers to work (I have fingernails Apple...do you know how hard it is for women with long nails to type on an iPhone?) made life an efficient breeze.  As for Android...the first Android device I had got so hot in my hand that it felt like I was getting burned.  Plus, it never let me do all the little time-saving things I loved about Blackberry like hold down a key to make it capitalized, or easily call highlighted conference call numbers from right in my calendar.  Until this week, I would have stood behind RIM and sung their praises to anyone & everyone asking for advice on what their next smartphone should be.  But no longer.  RIM is a Canadian company.  And Canadian companies should behave like Canadians do.  Take responsibility when you mess up.  Own up.  Man up.  Apologize - and do it loud and quickly so that everyone can hear you.  Don't be a coward and hide behind PR departments or avoid reporters.  RIM...I never expected perfection.  None of us should, especially where technology is concerned.  But I do expect empathy and accountability.  And waiting days before issuing a statement - and a YouTube one at that where no one can ask questions - is just gutless.  I expected better from a brand I loved.  Note the past-tense RIM.  Loved, not love.