Oh please, tell me it ain't so!
After trying so hard to cover up the mess of its BlackBerry Storm with firmware updates, and instead of waking up to the reality, RIM co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie said RIM considers the Storm as "an overwhelming success" and is making 250,000 devices a week to meet demand.
But that's not all, Balsillie also mentioned the Storm post-launch scrambles (including the subsequent software glitches that need to be fixed) are part of the "new reality" of making complex cellphones in large volumes.
Balsillie explained how it all happened in an interview with Wall Street Journal that Verizon and RIM were both determined to release the Storm in time for the holidays, even though they realized there are software glitches found in the Storm's operating system. Then the companies made the crucial Black Friday deadline "by the skin of their teeth," after missing a planned October debut.
We know how hard it is to make smarter smartphones every now and then, it's not an easy task indeed. And like Apple who was forced to quickly release software updates to fix the bugs found in iPhone 3G not so long after its initial launch, RIM is also now facing the same reality with its Storm.
But patience is one virtue that not every customers have, and it has limits of its own. So the customers will keep on storming with complaints until a fix is presented, until then is it wise to keep them under the weather with these comments directly from RIM itself?