# Calling cell phones "blackberries" in 2010? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2025, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-cell-phones-blackberries-in-2010/1015968 "2025-03-22T23:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-cell-phones-blackberries-in-2010/1015968/41 "2025-03-24T14:07:50Z")
Research in Motion (RIM) was a homegrown Canadian success story in how it invented the “smartphone” took over the market, and was destroyed by the iPhone because they couldn’t adapt for the touch screen market. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-cell-phones-blackberries-in-2010/1015968/42 "2025-03-24T14:23:19Z")
To be fair, the iPhone kind of caught everyone by surprise. There were touchscreen devices before, but they pretty well sucked. The iPhone managed to not suck by virtue of using a completely different touchscreen technology, that nobody else was using (at least, almost nobody: I’m sure someone will come up with a niche product that sold dozen or hundreds of units before the iPhone was released). ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-cell-phones-blackberries-in-2010/1015968/43 "2025-03-24T14:35:02Z")
Has anybody mentioned the possibility of paid product placement? A quick Google search seems to indicate that Blackberry was somewhat renowned for that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-cell-phones-blackberries-in-2010/1015968/44 "2025-03-24T15:09:03Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Has anybody mentioned the possibility of paid product placement? Yup, mentioned once or twice upthread. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-cell-phones-blackberries-in-2010/1015968/45 "2025-03-24T15:39:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > To be fair, the iPhone kind of caught everyone by surprise. For sure but it was RIM’s arrogance that really did them in. They held a news conference saying that the claims in Job’s presentation were bullshit and getting a processor and battery to do those things in the iPhone package were impossible. It was a joy to watch them crash and burn. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-cell-phones-blackberries-in-2010/1015968/46 "2025-03-24T16:46:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There were touchscreen devices before, but they pretty well sucked. The iPhone managed to not suck by virtue of using a completely different touchscreen technology, that nobody else was using (at least, almost nobody: I’m sure someone will come up with a niche product that sold dozen or hundreds of units before the iPhone was released). They bought it from FingerWorks when it was still in development, with its only application a touch screen keyboard of some kind. Apple paid…$30 million. Kinda crazy now. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-cell-phones-blackberries-in-2010/1015968/47 "2025-03-24T18:20:40Z")
And it didn’t require a helmet. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6bV7pM_HS70/hqdefault.jpg "RMR: Blackberry Helmet") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bV7pM_HS70) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-cell-phones-blackberries-in-2010/1015968.md?page=2)