Comments on: Why are there so many different BlackBerry models?

By: John T

John T — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:45:14 +0000

“It’s a sign of market strength that people just think of having a Blackberry. It’s kind of like people referring to all sorts of soft drinks as a “cola” or “coke.” ”

Unfortunatly this is actually a bad thing. When poeple think that “coke” represents any cola and not the coca cola product then the brand is lost and they buy off brands. Think xerox for example, most people call a copier a xerox but how many are still made by Xerox corp? People now call any handheld email device a blackberry even if it’s a Treo. Apple has managed to remain distinct with the iphone.

By: jayna skinner

jayna skinner — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 01:14:19 +0000

By: Tala

Tala — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 14:25:49 +0000

I agree with Alex there - RIM really needs to work on the market awareness if they want to target the consumer segment instead of just business. They have a long way to go in that area. Many of my friends never heard of BlackBerry and have no idea what it looks like. They really need to start showing adverts everywhere , from TV to newspapers to get the awareness building up.

By: alexking.org: Blog > Around the web

alexking.org: Blog > Around the web — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 03:57:38 +0000

[...] letree – Processing Online Credit Card Transactions DP- AJAX Tutorials How POST AJAX works Why are there so many different BlackBerry models? | RIMarkable Kevin Burton’s Feed B [...]

By: Thought

Thought — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 03:49:43 +0000

First, thanks to Robb for coming up with a great observation to start an interesting discussion. You can tell a good post when it generates so many comments.

Second, I like d_fischer’s insight that on any given carrier, there are pretty much 2 options based on keyboard design/profile.

Third, while the actual nomenclature is confusing, I do think it is a bit of a breakthrough for RIM to have the Blackberry name be so strong of an identity itself. It’s a sign of market strength that people just think of having a Blackberry. It’s kind of like people referring to all sorts of soft drinks as a “cola” or “coke.”

It’s also a sign that buying into a BB is as much buying into a network system as much as buying a device.

Fourth, if BB is to remove the confusion, they need to follow the advice of Alex, who takes his cue from Apple: do away with numbers in the name, and just come up with short and simple words. People will always have an easier time remembering words than numbers as model designation. Motorola is finding that out with the RAZR and the Q. It’s rather telling that in all the stories of rumored devices, these devices have codenames rather than model numbers, and it is these codewords that stick in people’s minds.

You really can’t expect the average consumer to remember more than a catchy one or two word name. So if RIM wants to jazz up its image with the consumer, perhaps all they need for a start are a few good names for their devices.

By: Robb Dunewood

Robb Dunewood — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 02:52:58 +0000

Imagine all Hummer dealerships that carry the H1, the H2, and the H3. Just so the dealerships can differentiate themselves from each other, they insist that each model have a specfic designation just for their dealership.

This is in essence, what you have with the BlackBerry and becasue of it, most people have no idea what the devices are called, less BlackBerry.

By: Russ

Russ — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 02:33:36 +0000

Because the carriers all want their points of differentiation

Russ
BBHub

By: Robb Dunewood

Robb Dunewood — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 02:09:09 +0000

I think you just made my point. However, the 7250 is still going strong on Verizon, and not all 7130 models are made equal. There are major differences, down to the chipset, between the 7130e and the other 7130 models.

You are right when you say that there really aren’t all that many models. The problem is that RIM gives the same model different designations on different carriers. This does nothing but commodotize the already hard to remember model number to the point the most consumers have no idea what the name of particular BlackBerry is other than the “the cute one with a full keyboard from Cingular”.

By: d_fisher

d_fisher — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 18:18:19 +0000

There really aren’t that many models if you think about it. Basically, each cellular network has only two choices.

iDEN = 7100i and 7520
GSM/GRPS = 7130 and 8700
CDMA2000 = 7130 and 8700

The 7100/7105 (not including 7100i) are end of life, so is the 7200 series. They still might be floating around, but once the supply chains are empty they are gone.

The differenced between c,g,t,etc… are almost purely cosmetic. When you get right down to it, once you pick your cellular carrier you only have two choices:

QWERTY / Traditional Profile (7500 or 8700 series)
- or -
SureType / Phone Profile (7100 series)