Bye-bye, Blackberry: "The U.S. federal government's main procurement agency is issuing iPhones and Android-based devices to some of its 17,000 workers." (Reuters)

  • acidrain69

    Heads just exploded at RIM. Corporate execs are next to jump ship.

  • splod

    I guess it’s the end of the end.

  • i_prefer_yeti

    Speaking as someone who knows squat about the situation – hypothetically, what would happen to users of Blackberries if RIM finds themselves in a situation where they’re no longer able to afford maintaining their network?

  • foobar

    If, a year or two ago, they’d seen the writing on the wall and started to port their network and handsets to Android they could have enjoyed the sort of tech industry service company afterlife that has-beens like IBM enjoy. Still profitable, but a follower, not a leader.

    Now, the best they can hope for is to find someone gullible enough to buy them out, like Palm did. More likely they’ll wallow in Nortel-esque hubris until someone comes for their furniture.

  • teapot

    The guys at TWIT (Leo mentioned you on this week’s show actually Xeni) have been predicting this for months.

    I never understood the appeal of RIM’s products.. they always just seem clunky and not-quite-finished.

  • http://www.paradea.org/notes/ Teirhan

    When RIM goes it will be a shame, because they have the slickest, most business-friendly hardware i’ve seen in a while in their new metal-accented phones.

    their OS is a steaming pile of doo doo, but hey.

  • mypalmike

    Maybe the US Govt should not buy 17000 smartphones at all.

  • Neal Matthews

    Final nail in the RIM coffin, even if it hasn’t fully played out yet. Market leader that fails to keep up with the pace of change in tech and the market: Head in the sand = irrelevance, followed by disappearance.

  • http://www.fark.com/ Two Wolves

    My Palm Pilot is still good, right?