Is RIM The Next Palm?

Everyone knows the saying “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” Everyone, it seems, except Research in Motion (RIM).

I know I’ve been harsh on the makers of the BlackBerry before, but that’s because I’m honestly baffled by the recent decisions the once-huge handset maker has been making. They recently announced that they’d bring the PlayBook’s OS, QNX, to the phone with Blackberry 10. It got people excited and worked up. Except last week on their conference call, they revealed that those handsets won’t be coming down the pipe until the end of 2012.

I can’t help thinking the phrase “shades of Palm” over and over again when I hear about BlackBerry’s moves. Back before they were owned by HP, Palm made a ton of missteps (split in two, get back together, open retail stores, sink all their R&D dollars into the Folio — a device no one wanted) that they then tried to fix by announcing an all-new, all-different OS on an exciting new handset. Then, they let the Palm languish before bringing it to market, giving up way too much buzz. To make matters worse, Palm kept doing that, with the refrain of “coming soon” for all their new devices.

Isn’t “coming soon” when we’re going to see Android Emulation on BlackBerries? How about the ability to use a BlackBerry PlayBook’s calendar and email functionality without an accompanying RIM handset? Oh look, that’s “coming soon” too.

I’ve already watched one company lose the race for the number three handset spot in painfully stupid  ways. RIM needs to get their act together before it’s too late. Although, considering that the entire company is worth less than Apple’s App Store, maybe it already is.