gdp's Comments

Alec Saunders : What are friends for?

Thu, 11 Sep 2014 04:44:29 +0000

I saw! That's awesome. I just followed through on my commitment to donate another $250. Let's see if we can get to $20,000 by end of tomorrow :)

Alec Saunders : Next Up - The Internet of Things

Mon, 27 Jan 2014 19:48:55 +0000

If you thought the videos were nerdy before, Dan, wait until we make one about an embedded OS...

Alec Saunders : Alec is dismantling and rebuilding the venerable Weber BBQ. 11:41am

Mon, 7 May 2012 11:17:38 +0000

I just cleaned it. Paint seemed to be an iffy prospect.

Alec Saunders : It’s time to hang up the spurs, Alex.

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:57:42 +0000

Done, and thank you.

Alec Saunders : It’s time to hang up the spurs, Alex.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:47:09 +0000

Yanic, in most cases it's just prioritization. I can't speak to specific cases, but I can tell you that there's a huge amount of competition for developer mindshare these days. When I started at RIM 8 months ago, I took the job because I believed in the technology, and I knew that the company needed to find a way to recruit developers. And you know, it's not going to be an overnight thing.

Alec Saunders : It’s time to hang up the spurs, Alex.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:45:02 +0000

Most devs tell us they make more money on BlackBerry than on other platforms. Frankly, it's because there's less competition, and more willingness to pay. There have been countless studies to that effect -- Evans Data last fall being one of the more prominent ones, citing 13% of developers earning more than 100K from the store. I can't speak to YouMail's experience on other platforms. I've been in the platform business, though, since the early 90's -- first at Microsoft, and ultimately here. When the platform has a built in version of what your product provides, you need to absolutely spank the ball out of the park with your product. Think Symantec and Microsoft -- Symantec built a great business out of providing better anti-virus, disk defrag and so on than Microsoft provided. If you're not head and shoulders above the competition, then you've got a very tough selling proposition. That's not disingenuous, or a smear, that's just fact.

Alec Saunders : It’s time to hang up the spurs, Alex.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:21:26 +0000

See you in Orlando for sure.

Alec Saunders : It’s time to hang up the spurs, Alex.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:39:14 +0000

Hey Lionel, Thanks for the critique. A couple of comments: there are two or three book vendors in AppWorld today, none of whom received seed units. The big issue with the "clutter" caused by these apps is that there is no separate book category in AppWorld. We're going to have to address this. I'm not sure what you mean by "devaluing our Playbooks with the world's stupidest marketing move". If you're talking about the sideloading issue, I'd refer you to this blog post in which we backed away from the original plan: http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/04/side-loadin.... I'd also note that it was Twitter that helped us to change that plan. I'm a huge believer in being accessible to customers, and social media is the best mechanism. And yes, I share your frustration on the marquee partners. We've got a huge team of folks who do nothing but work with these partners, but each one of them is a unique deal and they all take time. By way of reference, one very popular title that shipped at Christmas was actually done in August, but the deal terms this vendor required took months to negotiate.

Alec Saunders : Chatting with @Scobleizer about RIM

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:06:33 +0000

These aren't goals. We're already doing all these things. We're running the events, seeding the devices, the browser is already built, and we've got the repository of ported open source already open... Go visit http://blackberry.github.com to see it all.

Alec Saunders : Chatting with @Scobleizer about RIM

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:03:44 +0000

Respectfully, I disagree. I had a front seat while we (at Microsoft) during the 90's made PC manufacturers into low value commodity players. That's what Android will do to the smartphone industry. RIM's shareholders deserve better than that.

Alec Saunders : Chatting with @Scobleizer about RIM

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:44:57 +0000

I know this is an unsatisfying answer, but I can't quite yet John. We're holding a lot of those details for later in the year as we get closer to launch.

Alec Saunders : Chatting with @Scobleizer about RIM

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:27:44 +0000

Thanks for the note Aashish. For you, what is "great hardware"?

Alec Saunders : Try Something New Today!

Mon, 9 Jan 2012 19:48:19 +0000

LeAnne, Themebuilder 7 is under development right now. As soon as it's ready we'll release it. I don't think it's correct that we've given no attention to existing developers. A large part of my team, and every day, is devoted to existing developers. We work hard to help them with the issues they face, as well as provide opportunities for them to move their applications onto PlayBook and BlackBerry 10.

Alec Saunders : What's With the 712 Area Code?

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:55:07 +0000

Some carriers charge a premium. Read the fine print on your long distance agreement. You may find that it has a loophole that allows them to charge extra for dialing free conference call services.

Alec Saunders : illumio 2.0 is truly engrossing

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:33:37 +0000

It was changed, and then I believe discontinued.

Alec Saunders : New Beginnings @BlackBerryDev

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:34:58 +0000

Thanks Dad!

Alec Saunders : Seesmic’s decision reflects on their business, not Blackberry

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:05:55 +0000

Loic, thanks for being so much more forthcoming here. You raise some valid points, and points which might have lent a different spin to the story as it came out a month ago.

Alec Saunders : Viber–the best iPhone VoIP experience yet.

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:17:57 +0000

Hi Hugh, sorry to hear about your troubles. Have you tried contacting Viber directly?

Voice on the Web : Skype Video Calling: An Invention … Like The Wheel..

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:47:26 +0000

Great interview Jim. I really enjoyed Larry's story, as well as the video.

Alec Saunders : Fixing Canada Revenue Agency's stock option rules

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 01:40:25 +0000

I haven't heard of any changes, but I don't track this very closely either.