Brian Feener

Who’s testing your product?

Blackberry is sending out Bold’s to users.  Real users.  People who are trying to sync their phones to their Macs, their Windows XP machines, and maybe even an Ubuntu machine.  They’re using them in real world environments.

I’m sure if there’s a problem, someone at the home office is going to hear about it.

What happens when you’re not beta testing properly?  You get super-fans and power-users going on 2700 word diatribes about how awful your product is.  [For those not in the know, the author of this blog post is Just Blaze who's put in his work.  Warning: Video below is for super-nerds.]

How can you tell if you’re beta testing properly?

1) What controls are you using?  Are they the same controls you’re going to be using at launch?

2) What is the profile of your beta tester?  Is it exactly like the profile of your user?

3) What will you do if something big is found out to be wrong.  Like, not just big, but BIGG.  Two G’s.  Are you going to be able to fix it?  If not, you’re not beta testing.  You’re a little bit further into your release than you thought.  (Delta launch?)

4) If there aren’t any known bugs in your beta release, it’s not a beta release.

5) If you’re working with software, are the improvements to the full release going to be substantial enough that you can fight back (the right way) against piracy?

For the comments, what makes your beta releases worth the effort you put into them?  How do you get your feedback?

The Blackberry Bold got pushed back (video) to September ‘08 and I have the reason why!!

I think that with the popularity of the iPhone in the US and RIM’s CEO Mike Lazaridis being what we in hip hop call a hater, Blackberry is trying to hedge it’s bets.

I believe that you will see the BB Thunder/Storm released in the same breath as the Bold.

RIM will try to flood the market with multiple phones to give users the option to 1) switch from their current phone to a “safe, buttoned” experience; or 2) an alternative to the locked-down iPhone.

Personally, I want Thunder to be released yesterday.  I’m not willing to give up my $100 new-every-two credit to go to AT&T and their weak singal in my apartment.  And while the iPhone is really cool, I don’t like the idea of having everything locked-down like Pelican Bay.

Objectively, I dislike the marketing strategy.  If RIM is looking at the *buzz* that Apple got with their phone’s release and is looking to duplicate the feat, it’s not going to happen.  Part of BB’s strength is that the phone is really utilitarian and appeals to a very functional purpose - to feed Crackberry addicts.  While the company may earn the front page (or egad! the biz section) of the comic book known as USA Today, I can’t see this device generating the same 2hr lines that the iPhone did.  (After all, most BB users have jobs!  ZING!!!  ..heh - I’m getting a little punchy today!).

For the comments, why do you think the Bold got pushed back?  Was it a technical reason?  Was it a marketing reason?  Was it something else?  Conspiracy theorists, unite!!