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Communications Businesses Idle

RIM Doesn't Want 200 Fart Apps 244

Posted by samzenpus from the do-not-want dept.
andylim writes "Just when you thought it was safe to dev a fart app for a BlackBerry, RIM's VP of platform product management, Alan Panezic, is making it clear that that's not want RIM is looking for. 'We don't need 200 fart apps in App World. Those are apps you'll use three or four times then never open again. You're not looking at ads, clicking on ads or buying premium upgrades, and the app isn't adding any value to your device.' Turns out RIM wants 'SuperApps', ones that keep you coming back for more because they add something to your life — be it ongoing entertainment value or doing something for you. Most importantly for developers, these are the apps that will garner the most revenue; whether it comes from premium upgrades, in-app advertising, or additional-cost content."
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RIM Doesn't Want 200 Fart Apps More

RIM Doesn't Want 200 Fart Apps

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  • I've got 99 fart apps... (Score:3, Funny)

    by MoldySpore ( 1280634 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:14PM (#33739414)
    ...but a RIM ain't one.

  • Unfortunately for RIM... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymusing ( 1450747 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:14PM (#33739416)
    ...many of its customers actually want fart apps, because some people think they're entertaining.

    • Re:Unfortunately for RIM... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gad_zuki! ( 70830 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:21PM (#33739512)

      RIMs real customers are BES using corporate customers. They want quality apps that can be sold with volume licensing. I suspect the people using BIS really aren't their real customers and RIM goes out of their way to discourage the whole "ZOMG MY PHONE IS FUN!!" vibe that defines the non-enterprise market, which is probably a good thing. They're not going to beat Apple and Google at their own game, but certainly they can keep enterprise going and continue to be the "serious" phone for business. If anything, they're more worried about Microsoft than Apple or Google.

      • Re:Unfortunately for RIM... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by CastrTroy ( 595695 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:31PM (#33739622)
        I really have to agree with this. My Dad got switched to an iPhone as a cost saving measure for this business use. Bottom line, He hates it. It's much easier to type out an email on the Blackberry, as well as do a lot of other work related functions. The battery on the iPhone doesn't even last a whole day. The Blackberry can last quite a bit longer. The iPhone is good for teenagers who want to have fun. The Blackberry is meant for people who have work to do, and want it done quickly, and well.

        • Re:Unfortunately for RIM... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by Anonymusing ( 1450747 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:38PM (#33739690)

          For what it's worth... I use the iPhone for business. Battery lasts two days, easily. I also have some personal apps on it, but mainly I use it for work-related e-mail.

          I had a BBerry before that and hated it.

          But that's me. I'm glad there are choices.

          • Re:Unfortunately for RIM... (Score:4, Insightful)

            by HateBreeder ( 656491 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @05:10PM (#33740122)

            Your battery lasts for 2 days? Do you mean the car battery with the in-vehicle charger?

            Under normal use I have to recharge my phone every night.

          • Count me in in this assessment. I used to use an iPhone for business at my last job. Moved here a year ago and they handed me a Blackberry (Curve8320, AT&T)

            Loved the iPhone, hate the blackberry. It might be the hardware, but the BB is used solely for email and light phone calls (mostly I use a Google Voice number that goes through to my personal cell, then falls over to the BB if I fail to answer that). It has to be the most unresponsive UI I have ever seen. It can literally take a minute for it to

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by nurb432 ( 527695 )

            Same here after several generations of blackberry, tho my iphone battery doesn't last 2 days like yours. But one day is really all i need. That is why god made chargers.

        • Re:Unfortunately for RIM... (Score:4, Informative)

          by Wyatt Earp ( 1029 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:39PM (#33739698)

          I use an iPhone 4 at work. Today I don't have a recharging cable, have sent about 50 emails and played alot of Angry Birds (at a conference so not *really* working). Battery is at 68% after 5 hours and 20 minutes of use.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by santiagodraco ( 1254708 )

          The problem with the iPhone for business is that for some strange reason they either 1) don't understand how business professionals work or 2) take shortcuts with software design and leave out important features.

          - Like snoozable alarms for calendar alerts
          - Or clickable numbers/links in calendar items (this was missing for ages)

          There's a bunch of things I can't think of off the top of my head that make the phone less appealing for business users, all things that they should be able to easily implement in sof

        • To each his own, I suppose. I'm not a big fan of the iPhone (I don't own one, but I've used them). However, I find typing on the iPhone much easier than my Blackberry. For one thing, the iPhone virtual keyboard is larger. Also, the physical keys on my Blackberry seemed to wear out after about 18 months of light-to-moderate use. Now the 'Del' key gets a lot more use and my typing speed went way down. But your milage may vary...

      • Verizon did a lot to market rim's devices to everyone - especially the people who like to send text messages constantly.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by _Sprocket_ ( 42527 )

        I suspect the people using BIS really aren't their real customers and RIM goes out of their way to discourage the whole "ZOMG MY PHONE IS FUN!!" vibe that defines the non-enterprise market, which is probably a good thing.

        Have you seen the commericals for the Torch [youtube.com]?

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by vux984 ( 928602 )

        RIM goes out of their way to discourage the whole "ZOMG MY PHONE IS FUN!!" vibe that defines the non-enterprise market

        http://na.blackberry.com/devices/blackberrytorch/ [blackberry.com]

        Tag line.. "Act on Inspiration"
        Um... I guess that enterprisey right?

        Top billing: maximized multimedia - pinch & zoom, enhanced music player
        for the enterprise user who needs to zoom in on his album artwork?

        Second billng: 5 megapixel camera
        for the enterprise user who needs to capture those precious spontaneous moments?

        Third billing: Integrat

        • Re:Unfortunately for RIM... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Kenshin ( 43036 ) <kenshin@lunarworks . c a> on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @06:06PM (#33740760) Homepage

          Second billng: 5 megapixel camera
          for the enterprise user who needs to capture those precious spontaneous moments?

          Have you ever needed to take a photo of something on-site and send it to a client or someone back at the office? I have. It's a useful feature.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by vux984 ( 928602 )

            Have you ever needed to take a photo of something on-site and send it to a client or someone back at the office? I have. It's a useful feature.

            You bet, but its not really an enterprise feature. At best its a universal feature. Of course the website shows the BB taking pictures of kids and babies...

          • Becuase sometimes, the vendor doesn't have a 1 page cheat sheet, and your client will not read a 10 page dissertation on the whys and hows to do a task.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jasen666 ( 88727 )

        I also don't think the majority of their customers want apps that are going to keep costing us money for new content or forcing ads in our faces.
        If I start getting popup ads on my Blackberry, I'll drop it in the toilet.

    • Alan Panezic, is making it clear that that's not want RIM is looking for.

      Want the fuck does that mean?

    • Just not through AppWorld, but by adding ALX/COD to desktop manager or a website.

      Try doing that with a Jesus Phone.

  • Apple already hired "Phillip Shoemaker," the guy that guy that makes fart apps as their "Director of Applications Technology." So he's busy doing the Apple thing and won't have time to make fart and piss apps for RIM.

  • Free for all, or app market? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Dutchmaan ( 442553 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:17PM (#33739464) Homepage
    I agree that tons of cheaply made useless apps only lessen the value of a platforms app market, but really what you end up with is Apple's subjective selection process. I guess ideally one could have a selective app section walled off for those who want a more professional user experience, outside of which would be your 'unapproved' fart apps etc. Of course they would have to add some value to the creators for placing them inside the wall, but thats up to RIM to decide what it would like to offer I guess.

    • I agree that tons of cheaply made useless apps only lessen the value of a platforms app market, but really what you end up with is Apple's subjective selection process. I guess ideally one could have a selective app section walled off for those who want a more professional user experience, outside of which would be your 'unapproved' fart apps etc. Of course they would have to add some value to the creators for placing them inside the wall, but thats up to RIM to decide what it would like to offer I guess.

      I disagree that tons of cheaply made apps diminishes value. Having *only* those cheapos would decrease value, but as long as you have a robust market with useful apps, what the rest of the store is made of should be irrelevant.

      I would say that a truly 'open' app store is more of a selling point than one that filters things arbitrarily. As you said, having a 'approved' section and then the wild west would be a reasonable compromise.

      Saying "We don't want that" is trying to tell 'me' what I do and do

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mlts ( 1038732 ) *

        I like the idea of a bifurcated app store where on one hand, you have approved apps that have been vetted somehow (some scanner for API calls, etc.), then a free for all store with an app removal mechanism.

        However, the biggest problem is Joe Sixpack. One reason why Microsoft and Apple take the walled garden approach is because of Joe and the dancing bunny security problem. Phone OS makers fear Joe downloading something from the app store that is very dodgy, it doing something bad on his device, then he ge

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rm999 ( 775449 )

      The problem is that outside-the-wall apps can cause security and privacy concerns. If a fart app steals an employee's emails, his company will blame RIM first and him second. Especially when Apple, a viable competitor in many regards, can guarantee that something like that will not happen on their phones.

      As much as limiting a phone's recreational functionality sucks for the user, companies see it as a service.

  • where the hell is my boobs app?

  • Priorities? (Score:4, Funny)

    by DriedClexler ( 814907 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:23PM (#33739536)

    You're not looking at ads, clicking on ads or buying premium upgrades, and the app isn't adding any value to your device.'

    I hope he didn't list those problems in *decending* order of importance...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bynary ( 827120 )
      I would venture to say that all of those statements point to one thing - RIM doesn't want apps that don't provide a continuous revenue stream. I don't think he's referring to added value for the customer; he's referring to added value for RIM.

  • I mean I can imagine, but is it really as dumb as it sounds?

    • To the contrary, the fart apps sound SO lifelike that a real fart delivered through the shitty bandwidth of the "voice application" sounds awful in comparison. RIM has to ban them to keep people from wondering why they pay so much for so little quality in the base application; the frickin' phone. Same with the iPhone; the voice quality is in third behind the data consuming and screen effects. So much for "SmartPhones."

  • Given iPhone Apps usually get used once... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by humphrm ( 18130 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:23PM (#33739542) Homepage

    'We don't need 200 fart apps in App World. Those are apps you'll use three or four times then never open again.

    Considering that only 20% of iPhone App installs [itworld.com] get used more than once, I'd say that the BlackBerry fart apps are doing pretty well, in comparison.

  • What a Jackass (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:24PM (#33739552)

    Alan Panezic sez: "We don't need 200 fart apps in App World. Those are apps you'll use three or four times then never open again."

    The very fact that your developers want to write them and your customers want to download them means nothing to you?

    Everyone knows that if a PDA can't fart, it can't do shit.

  • So what their saying is... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dancindan84 ( 1056246 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:25PM (#33739562)
    Farting isn't a good way to get a RIM job?

  • that they want users to use any app they want and start building some momentum in their app store?

    For a smart phone platform as popular as RIM, you'd think that there'd be more people using 3rd party apps, yet outside of facebook client and google maps, I rarely see people using applications that didn't come on the phone in the first place.

    Seems like BlackBerry wants to determine what their customers want even before a market's developed around it, and without that market, the developers won't come build th

    • The BlackBerry is a pain to develop for, especially compared to Android where you can essentially drag and drop your way to a functional program.

      I really don't see this BlackBerry tablet going anywhere, there are two types of BlackBerry users, there are the users who use a BlackBerry because they either like the price (a BlackBerry is pretty much the cheapest smartphone on contract, especially before Android came out) or like the form factor (which can be imitated) and then there are the corporate peopl
      • I like Blackberry OS. It's fast, it's clean, it does what I need it to do with no hassle. It's even better since I moved off the trackball to the trackpad - very intuitive. The only exception was a regression in adding a contact from a received text message that was a regression somewhere around 5.0.600, so I could really either go back and fix it, or ignore it but warn my friends about it when they ask how I like my device... which is what I do.
    • You're assuming that they're blocking these apps. All I've noticed thus far is that they're discouraging their creation - there's a big difference between the two.

  • that links to the various job hunting sites.

    They could call it...ohhh...I dunno...something like "Rim Jobs"

    Think about it, you can search hotjobs and save it as a search for "Hot Rim Jobs" or save your search for "Monster Rim Jobs".

    It has a ring to it...you gotta admit it

  • I don't want fart apps, but seriously, if the comments quoted in the summary are accurate and in context (oh, wait, forgot where I was...), then I can be sure that I have no use for this product. I had a BlackBerry Storm for about a year, but the user experience was so terrible, that I chunked it and gave up on smart phones all together, switching to a Motorola Barrage, which has so far been impervious to my poor treatment of it.

    I have no interest in seeing adds, getting premium content, or adding "value"

  • The Fart App is the new Hello World!

    You have to get experience writing for a platform somehow. Your first few programs may be throw-away, just to get used to the platform.

  • Vuvuzela app (Score:3, Insightful)

    by js3 ( 319268 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:31PM (#33739628)

    You can block my 200 fart apps but I only need one vuvuzela app..

  • They're about as classy as Terrance & Phillip [youtube.com].
  • So App World is going to be an *approval needed* market like Apple, except MORE stringent?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      That's fine as long as they are consistent.

    • I don't see anything that says they do intend to stop it - only that they don't want them. App World approval currently consists of them validating that your app does what it says it will, on the phone/software versions you say it will.

  • Why as a business user I switched away from RIM (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Yo Grark ( 465041 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @04:40PM (#33739710)

    I was recently on a business trip and had my blackberry at my hip.
    On a trip, I needed translator software, so went to RIM app world and found my options limited, i "trialed" their $30.00 french translator. (Let me say first I tried to use the web interface for google, but it took so long and so many clicks on the BB it was unusable consistently).

    Well it was useless. Didn't do phrases, no real options, only did 1 word at a time. WTF? $30.00?!?

    Luckily I had my ipad handy and saw what was available on the app store there. For 1.99 I got an offline app that KILLED the blackberry app in terms of features and usability.

    So, in real work business usage, I have to say, RIM, you've lost me personally, but do continue to make back bench, locked in deals with CEO's to get your phones locked into corporations while you can.

    Smart people use smartphones and want usability and fart apps for novelties to take their brains away from work once in awhile. .I will never go back to blackberry.

    Yo Grark

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Minwee ( 522556 )

      So, in real work business usage, I have to say, RIM, you've lost me personally, but do continue to make back bench, locked in deals with CEO's to get your phones locked into corporations while you can.

      Um... Businesses don't prefer the Blackberry over the iPhone because RIM pays them to. They prefer it because the Blackberry comes with real security and centralized management solutions while the iPhone comes with... farting noises.

      • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

        by swb ( 14022 )

        Do they actually prefer it, or do they prefer it because they have this massive investment in equipment, software, licensing and people skills to support BlackBerry?

        I sometimes wonder if it's not that they want or even use all the stuff BlackBerry offers, but they bought into it big and it would be painful to have to support something else.

        AFAICT, abandoning BlackBerry means ditching BES and all the bullshoot associated with BES installs, and using ActiveSync instead (since it's a 99.99% certainty we're tal

  • 5... 4... 3...

  • Free Beano with every Blackberry to make sure.

  • They need this app. [youtube.com]

  • OK. I understand there have to be limits, but 200? I say, 640 fart apps should be enough for anybody.

  • thanks for the time-saving (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dltaylor ( 7510 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @05:08PM (#33740102)

    Knowing that RIM wants to push me into ad-laden crapware saved me the time of going down to the 'phone store and even looking at their stuff.

  • Smart businesses figure out what customers want, need, or can use that those businesses can provide and they give it to them. Not-as-smart businesses decide for customers what they should have and provide it to them, and then are satisfied with the more limited customer base that comes along with that philosophy.
  • I kind of expected that 640 fart apps should be enough for everyone.

  • NoApp

    Seriously, I know they still have a large part of the market but I have no desire to code for their
    platform. RIM, used to be the power player in the market but the larger they got the more complacent
    they got. Then Apple came along and knocked their asses off the stump they where standing on.

  • I will program my hardware however the hell I like. If you plan on getting in my way I simply won't buy your hardware.

    Love, G

  • RIM is struggling because it filled a niche created by the failings of Windows Mobile (poor battery life and a bad user interface).

    RIM fixed this by creating phones with acceptable battery life, a decent email app, and a streamlined OS.

    This no longer sets the company apart from their current competitors (Android and iOS). Both Android and iOS devices have good battery life, decent email, and well thought out UIs.

    If I were RIM, I would begin work on a line of Android phones. But, they have proven that they

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sl149q ( 1537343 )
      http://www.asymco.com/2010/08/17/androids-pursuit-of-the-biggest-losers/ [asymco.com] From the above: "One problem I see is that Google is making a bet on those same vendors who are now squeezed in the middle of that last pie chart: Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Nokia, Apple and RIM will certainly not take the OS over what they already have as it dilutes their differentiation and margins. That means Android is aligned with the biggest losers in the industry." And: "In other words, Android’s licensees

  • Only looking at ads provide value?? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by nurb432 ( 527695 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @07:02PM (#33741374) Homepage Journal

    WTF is wrong with these people. Advertisements do NOT enhance anything, and I'm sick of them as they are everywhere..

  • ... pay-per-fart.

  • '200 fart apps' is a side-effect (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MikShapi ( 681808 ) on Wednesday September 29, 2010 @09:49PM (#33742774) Journal

    '200 fart apps' is a side-effect of a huge creative force called a non-restricted (or nearly-unrestricted) army of free developers.

    Sure, they do what the market wants, rather than what RIM's CEO deems is of a personal opinion could be useful.

    pro: huge app base, huge choice of vendor for the same kind of app, unique idea apps (turn iPhone screen into a break light for a bicycle? etc etc).
    con: fart apps. Seriously, big whoop.

    They go in a tight package. Ask Linus. Ask Bill. Ask Steve.
    RIM is not a platform for any 3rd party software dev that isn't actively being paid by RIM. It's not a platform - it's a standalone niche product.

    The con might give your platform -1, but the pro gives it +100.
    Which is why RIM will never crawl out of its corporate niche.

    PS
    Had a bb from work for 2 years. Now have i

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