The expectation that we are always connected and always available has become so embedded in our culture that it’s hard to remember when it wasn’t so.
The Blackberry launched this era with a handheld, oblong, black plastic case enclosing a small keyboard and screen. Using thumbs for typing – surprisingly easy to learn – email became mobile through an encrypted network established by Research in Motion (RIM), the name of the company that invented Blackberry. Corporate email often arrived faster on the Blackberry than it did on a desktop. Untethered from the PC, Blackberry email became addictive, spawning the nickname “Crackberry”. Sitting at a conference table, hands and Blackberry in the lap, head bowed was a common scene in many corporate offi ces and became known as the “Blackberry prayer”. A colleague said he had to leave his Blackberry outside the bedroom to preserve harmony with his wife.
RIM’s success took almost 20 years after Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin formed the company in 1984. They were joined by Jim Balsillie, who invested and became co-CEO with Lazaridis. Balsillie led sales and marketing and Lazaridis was the technical visionary, heading product development and engineering. They were an unlikely pair, yet they perfectly complemented and respected each other – until the end.
Even while RIM was growing exponentially – Blackberry captured half the smartphone market in 2009 – the company was already unraveling. A patent infringement lawsuit, back-dated stock options, the introduction of the iPhone, the failure of the Blackberry Storm to counter the iPhone, Google’s decision to license Android for free, and the deteriorating relationship between Lazaridis and Balsillie ultimately undermined the company. Fiscal 2015 revenue was $3.3 billion, compared to the peak of almost $20 billion in 2011.
“Losing the Signal” is the fascinating story of the company’s dramatic rise and fall as well as the two men whose vision, persistence and single-minded devotion created the success – but failed to stem the downfall.
To order the book:
Publisher: Flatiron Books
us.macmillan.com/losingthesignal
ISBN-13: 978-1250060174
288 pages
$27.99 for the hardcover edition (list price)
$14.99 for the Kindle edition at www.amazon.com
