At the Web 2.0 Summit, one of Research in Motion’s CEOs (it has two) said that he doesn’t think apps are necessary or useful, and challenged the closed way Apple runs its App Store, reports the AFP.
“You don’t need an app for the Web,” said Jim Balsillie, co-CEO. “We believe that you can bring the mobile to the web. You don’t need to go through some kind of control point. That’s the core part of our message…It is really not about a set of proprietary rules or about appifying the Web. The Web needs a platform that allows you to use your existing Web content, not apps.”
Balsillie emphasized his point by showing flash content that the iPhone and iPad cannot play because Apple CEO Steve Jobs doesn’t like the technology, stating that the era of smartphone apps would “pass real quick.” When asked what he’d say to Jobs if he met him face-to-face, Balsillie said he’d be surprised, simply saying “you showed up,” referring to Apple’s unwillingness to attend such events.
Tablets and NFC
Of course, the CEO used the swipes to push RIM’s new PlayBook, a tablet that mirror’s the design and feel of Apple’s iPad. The device will be priced at less than $500 when it hits U.S. shelves in the first few months of 2011.
When the subject of near-field communications was brought up, Balsillie said that RIM will definitely include the chips in its upcoming devices. “We’d be fools not to have NFC in a product in the near term, and we are not fools,” he said. Google CEO Eric Schmidt made a splash yesterday when he announced Google would include NFC chips in its devices and really push the technology. Wireless carriers jumped onboard with their own announcement later in the day. NFC allows customers to swipe their phone and use it as a credit card.
RIM’s BlackBerry brand has taken quite a hit in recent months, losing smartphone market share to both the iPhone and Google Android operating systems. It hopes products like the PlayBook and Torch keep it in the game.
Is he right? Do we really need an app for that? Or are applications mostly a bridge to the next phase of mobile, which will mostly be about the open web?
some (if not most) of them are not needed and are sometimes scams but often at times you’ll get a app that helps you save money at the store or do neat stuff like bump google phones and exchange e-cash..
Just sayin..
I agree with most of the comments above. At least Apps offer a more controlled environment. Bad enough we have to design products that work in multiple web browsers; let alone adding the complexity of different mobile browsers. Blackberry browser is brutal, basically the IE6 of mobile browsing (even through yes, the new one is much better than it was). There are a number of reasons why an app is different from a website, mostly mentioned above; so until the entire infrastructure of the net changes/evolves I gotta think this guy is wrong. Of course, he probably has a private jet, several boats etc etc so I'm confident he can probably put together a pretty sweet PowerPoint presentation or Spreadsheet to convince his shareholders otherwise…….
He is another techie (I would consider myself a techie also) who is looking at everything from his perspective and not what the end user really needs currently. In a "perfect world" we would all be plugged into the matrix or the collective and bandwidth wouldn't exist. I have friends who live in the U.S. can't get cable, are at the end of a DSL line and a dish is not an option. Apps are a tool, I have apps that store information that I don't want on the web or even tied to a browser.
If Apple is so wrong about apps then why is there such a supply of 300K apps? Demand and need.
Agreed. Well said.
Those 300k apps have nothing to do with demand or need. Most of them have no downloads or sales.
Don’t blame CEO, they want RIM win.
RIM has strange culture and self distruct political environment.
In RIM if a new hired person figure out major problem and introduce efficient approach, both manager and his buddy group member will proof their wrong approach works. just like someone point out driving a car is right way, pushing a car is wrong way, then both manager and his buddy group member will hate you, and proof that 3 person can also move the car by pushing it. cheating email will be sent to some vice president, saying like: see, the car moving, pushing a car is a natural part of the process, in order to deny new hired contribution of introducing skill of drive a car, they have to deny merit of driving a car.
It is very strange company culture and strange company political environment, it promote stealing and cheating skill. RIM’s management may be a typical instance in MBA course.
This culture deny or steal hardworking team members’ contribution/innovation, generate strange political environment, destroy RIM.
So don’t blame CEO, some of their VPs and VPs’ expert generate terrible culture and self destruct political environment.
That's a lot of talk for a company now in danger of being replaced. Apple and Google are dominating the smartphone world because of everything their devices can do. Blackberry seems to be getting less and less useful. Friends and family of mine keep ditching theirs for Apple, Google, or Microsoft.
-Josh Computerfitness.com
I didn't find anything apple is talking about this on apple's site Apple Inc.
Ive read alot of these comments and everyone seems to be overlooking what is actually being said. The man is talking about the future. Not necessairly downing what we have now, but pointing out in the future this app system could easily hold us back.
It sounds alot like someone has App store envy.
Having switched to Android (and the wild west that is the android marketplace) and used an iphone/ipad and numerous blackberry models (pearl, storm2, tour, world) I can honestly say Blackberry's App World is pretty abysmal, and the software on the phones is mediocre at best. As RIM is hemorrhaging customers at an alarming rate in the smartphone market I'd say they need to re-evaluate what everyone else is doing right, and copy it. Better to be a follower with a decent marketshare than a failed innovator (Palm anyone?)
Maybe the new Blackberry OS 6 will help them compete a little bit, but comparable product OSes and handsets using them (iPhone 4, Android 2.x devices) have been out for some time, and the developers of those products I doubt are sitting around waiting for RIM to catch up to them.
Apps aren't necessary? I wonder who put this guy in charge. It is no wonder RIM mobile is dying. RIP RIM.
This guy and Nokia CEO seem to think the same while Apple CEO and Google CEO move forward. FYI, Nokia is also dying despite their number of phones on the market (as cheap and useless phone).
UPDATE: Just saw a Blackberry commercial about how great one of their apps is as well as how many apps they have. Hmmmmm… calling the pot black?
This guy is a moron if he thinks apps are a fad. No wonder BB market share is getting killed by Apple & Android. And if he doesn't think apps are needed, then why is there a BB app world? So long BB, Droid here I come!
I agree with both sides here. I think there is a balance that needs to be struck. Apps are very important and help us do many things that would be difficult on slow 3G networks and tiny screens. We are also on the go and want things fast on phones, which is why browsing to every site is not appealing to some. However, there are a lot of useless apps out there. Hundreds of thousands, actually. It would be nice if some websites tailored their site for mobile viewing instead of invested those resources in app development.
Maybe BlackBerry should be proactive and open a Web store or something, with a list of bookmarkable sites that are tailored to mobile devices. That way finding good experiences on the web would be easier.
Many of the comments talk as if the Blackberry browser is bad. It was bad until 3 months ago, but with the OS6 browser it is very competitive with Android and iOS. I have all 3 and compare side-by-side. It's not fair to compare old Blackberry products with the new Android/iOS products. You have to compare OS6 which has been shipping for over 3 months now!
But it still looks bad on a tiny screen! And while load times are improved, it can still be extremely slow at times.
His argument is incorrect because he is making a basic and common mistake, he is mistaking the Web for the Internet. The web is a layer on the internet, it is not the internet. Tools such as email, video etc run independently of the web, although we typically locate them via a browser containing URL's which link websites which are on the internet. Apps give the consumer a way to access the internet directly and sheds many annoying inclusions on websites, such as flash ads etc. Apps, when properly built, are also quicker and more efficient. While saying that Apple is closed, that apps are unnecessary and that you can experience the Web through a browser, RIM's CEO exhibits a lack of true understanding of the subject, especially that consumers will buy what they find desirable, not what he or Steve Jobs, or anyone else says they should buy. In any case, Apple can also say that there's a browser for that, Safari. Google Voice is a case in point, while Google's app was not allowed in the App Store anyone could use Google's web based app.
I agree, and lets not forget that the Blackberry Browser has to be the worst mobile browser out there. If that's the future…I say no thanks.
I couldn't have put it any clearer!
As for right now most of the apps I use are just a different interface to view web content. If there is no data network they don't work. So I have to agree with his line of thinking. Games are the one application that have real advantages being stored and ran locally. We need faster data networks before graphical games won't have to be applications.
Mr. Balsillie is forgetting some very important things. First of all, we are talking about devices with no guarantee of connectivity or adequate bandwidth, especially in rural areas and in buildings. Having the app downloaded and running locally overcomes this issue. Second, having all apps be web applications eats up bandwidth unnecessarily. Why eat up web bandwidth for entertainment apps like solitaire?
I have done some app development for the Blackberry platform, and the toolset provided by RIM is horrendous, severely lacking, and poorly documented. They are falling behind because they do not do enough to support developers and thus have a very limited pool of apps. They are also extremely slow in providing OS updates to end users.
I switched to Android and have never looked back.
Go Android.
I am no fan of the way Apple does business but please use Google to find Steve job's write up/announcement regarding adobe and flash. He actually makes some great points.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't like apps either, and I'm glad to see someone talk them down. On the web, there's nothing an app does that I couldn't do with a good browser. And aren't non-web apps are merely software with a desktop icon? Most apps out there are garbage and most of the remaining are glorified advertisements.
I think it's interesting that RIM's CEO says that there's no need for apps, and that phones should just be web-enabled, but the browser that ships with the BlackBerry is probably the weakest in the market! I just got rid of my tour for an Android handset 3 months ago, and even though I miss a lot about my blackberry, the web browser kicks butt! I can do a lot on this phone that I just couldn't do on my BlackBerry.
So I'm fine either way: Iphone Style/Adroid Style Apps or Browse based Apps. However, if the latter, then it would require a good web browser which RIM does not currently supply.
Agreed. I have been a LONG time Blackberry fan, but just pulling up a web page was so painfully slow. I wound up switching to an iPhone 4. It's not perfect, and I do miss the features my Blackberry had (easy typing, the ring profiles, flashing red dot etc) but I am fairly happy now. I think the web and apps are very crucial now to a smartphone.
I I couldn't agree with Mr. Balsillie any less. I love my apps, but I still have a browser with nearly full access to the web. The apps that I have are major time-savers, one of my favorites is the Flixter app. I have all of my favorite movie theaters saved, and can look up show-times faster than I could if I were at my computer. In fact, many times I find myself sitting in front of my computer, but reaching for my iPhone and using the apps because they are quicker.
Of course he does have a point that these apps that make our lives easier aren't necessary….. but I'll take unnecessary convenience over RIM's underpowered and clunky interface (I'm an ex-crackberry user) any day of the week.
I mostly agree here, too. But to use your example, the Flixter app could just as easily be accomplished with a mobile website. So if BlackBerry shipped with a decent web browser, you might still be pretty satisfied!
I would disagree, using a browser for this would be a nightmare.
Apps aren't all about the web. Games, Design Tools, Music and Video Tools, and countless other categories of non-web centered Apps.
Hes not saying that apps are all about the web. Hes saying thats where things are going, and apple is holding back that progression with apps. As it said in the end apps could be a bridge to the next level. All the apps you can stick on your iphone could be run over the internet, leaving no footprint on your device. The technology still holds it back for some but not for most and not for long.