In the last year I have seen a lot of new BlackBerry users in London. However, the majority of these have been teenagers on the bus using some entry level model, which is available on pay-as-you-go, or with a very cheap contract. I get the impression this was not their first choice of phone, and I think this (anecdotal evidence) matches the author's analysis.
All the older BlackBerry users I know have switched to iPhone/Android, and at most carry their BB as a secondary, mandated work phone. One friend complained that "it's like they took an old desktop pc and just decided to shrink all the icons".
I hope RIM can pull it together but it doesn't sound too healthy.
17-18 cents (in Spain) is nowhere cheap. It's 60 cents if I want to SMS my daughter in the States. I'm actually considering buying both of us Blackberries for that very reason.
I could (sort of) do BBM with iPhone push notifications and a universal messaging app like IM+. Unfortunately, I can see my battery life drain away (literally!) while running IM+.
All the older BlackBerry users I know have switched to iPhone/Android, and at most carry their BB as a secondary, mandated work phone. One friend complained that "it's like they took an old desktop pc and just decided to shrink all the icons".
I hope RIM can pull it together but it doesn't sound too healthy.