At Tech Today Review we had more than one reason to establish the site. Of significance and what has been dealt with extensively to date is the world of cross platform and what drives that. Further though, our goal was to discuss specific product categories and the role they play in this larger arena.
The move towards BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is multifaceted in its attempt to enhance productivity. At the one level, IT managers saw the advantage of allowing a broad set of devices to play a role in the organization simply because the user knew the device and wanted to use it. They saw this as a two sided proposition in that the user was happy as he could use what he knew, and the organization was happy as it dramatically reduced training costs.
Integration was Becoming Second Nature
This would not have been the case if these devices drove integration costs through the roof but to the contrary, these devices were controlling such costs. Integration has become a way of the world now. It is not unusual as it wasn’t until very recently that it was recognized that integration had the effect of reducing costs. Now, these products are being designed with this in mind. It has been commonly accepted that no one company can walk away with the whole pie as evidenced by Microsoft’s CEO Sataya Nadella.
It has been accepted as healthy to have competition at some level and a playing field without such competition would leave a monopoly, something which is not good for anyone including the monopoly player.
However, at one time the access and the ability to use applications was considered critical. What if someone couldn’t use Microsoft Word, an almost de-facto standard as the desktop level.
What has happened to tremendous enthusiasm is Microsoft made available Office, that will run on everything. It wasn’t very long ago players would have been very adverse to this. They would try to rope you in through access to what was perceived as their essential application; an application might have been the force to rope a user into a vendor’s product line.
No longer is this the case. As in the case of Microsoft, they have ensured that Microsoft Office is available to every vendor, and that it runs equally on all platforms. You might wonder why Microsoft would do this. The answer is fairly simple. Office 365 is the bigger win. With everyone using Office 365, there is no impediment to being able to use Office 365 and this is exactly the approach Microsoft has successfully taken.
The Mac
The Mac itself, long the bastion of anti Microsoft tactics, is now an equal player. Many Mac users are actually more comfortable using Office than they are anything else. Yet, the user prefers to use a Mac and generally an iDevice. Again, Microsoft has seen to it that they are equal players in this new environment.
The Blackberry: Are its Days Really Numbered
Another significant force in the IT industry or that which was a significant force in the IT industry, is Blackberry, or formerly known as RIM. Beloved by many, Blackberry systems were slow to respond to the ever changing growth Microsoft and Apple lay before it. As it stands now, it is Apple that is the cart that shook things up significantly for Blackberry.
This stands at the moment, in our BYOD world in an interesting position. Many have written Blackberry off as a company that’s about to sink. However, Blackberry, like Microsoft, is headed by a brilliant man, John Chen who isn’t ready to count them out.
In a future article, I’m going to look at his strategy specifically, but I would, for the purposes of this article, like to discuss Blackberry’s handsets and their unique approach to maintain or resume relevance. I certainly do not see this as impossible as in this BYOD world, there are still those that like the Blackberry handset, and although the reason isn’t necessarily important, I’m going to discuss it as it is rather brilliant.
The Handsets All with their Unique Roles
There are three classes of handsets as I see it:
- The new, all glass screen devices driven by a virtual keyboard and a 5” AMOLED screen.
- The traditional, or what is described as the classic handsets, based on keyboards from the past, which are fondly remembered and wanted.
- The Passport, a rather unusual design that I would say is quite nice in its market orientation. Potentially structured for doctors who need access to wider screens or maybe accountants who like their spreadsheets lade carefully on a spacious slate.
The Blackberry z30
For my own purposes I use a handset from group 1 referred to as the Blackberry z30. There is more than one reason I use this device, primarily due to its way of operating, but most importantly the software.
I did use an iPhone but it no longer met my needs. The z30 is a 5” AMOLED display screen. It operates beautifully and is well integrated with what I use. However, this phone has two functions that are critically important to me.
As I think about it, there is a third function that is of essential importance, and that is the software and little beats from the z30. More on that in a minute. The first function that is essential to me is the notification light. This is such a small thing but I don’t want to be wedded to my phone and this prevents that. The phone alerts me to any variety of communications that come into the phone. At that point I can grab the phone and see what’s arrived; a real time-saver.
The Power of the Hub
Checking what has come in is as simple as just scanning the hub to look for transactions that have come in, or haven’t been dealt with. Again, this is such a massive time saver as I don’t have to scan the whole phone to find what has arrived. Between the notification light and the hub, there are some real time-savers and conveniences that make using the phone a delight to use.
Software Consists of Both Android or Blackberry World Applications
The Blackberry, now known as BB10, runs all Blackberry World software and Android applications. You have at least 1.5 million titles available to you.
The bottom line here is it is unlikely you will lack for a software solution. The blackberry runs all Android app files as native, and not virtual solutions. Thus, there is no speed loss on a Blackberry. Finally, Android’s file system nomenclature, such as Kit-Kat and Lollipop, have no relevance here as it is the Blackberry operating system that controls the Android apps.
Cross-Platform
Many of these titles are cross platform allowing for the seem-less integration with the Mac world. To call it in a shot, the system runs across a lot, providing a great deal of flexibility and power.
Tremendous Team Player
If you were to recently call Blackberry behind, they are far from that now. Of all the platforms we’ll look at, they are by far the most powerful team player.
Is it fun to use a Blackberry again? Absolutely. Is it cool? We’ll let society be the judge of that. Yet, if you want a fantastic tool, capable on many plains then Blackberry could be the tool for you.
You will remain capable at your job, fast in action and fluid in motion. This wasn’t a hacked together solution either but rather an architected on. This is important for both the present and the future as architected solutions are design engineered, to do the job for you that they’re doing. Looked at in another way, this is a solution built with both the present and future in mind.
Blackberry just needs to tell the world!