I’d like to tip my hat to the people over at RIM, the developers of the Blackberry phone. I’m sure RIM was not thrilled when Apple launched the iPhone two years ago.  RIM could have done what many other competitors had done. They could have come out with a copycat device that, while marketed as better than the iPhone, cannot compare in functionality. But they didn’t. Instead RIM worked on innovation. They worked on actually making something unique rather than a copycat device. And they did. The Blackberry Storm that is coming out has a flexible screen so that when you push it, it can give you tactile feedback that you pushed a button. This sounds amazing. While I enjoy the iPhone, it would be nice to have some tactile feedback that I pushed a letter on my keyboard. Kudos to RIM for not taking the easy route. Consumers will show their gratitude with their money.

What’s funny is that what RIM did seems obvious to most. A device comes out that is better than yours. So you innovate to come out with an even better device. Seems simple. And yet, so many companies that I’ve worked with fail to see this. All they think about is the short-term implications. They come out with a product that can be marketed to be equal to the new/better product hoping that their sale numbers won’t go down. But they’re going to go down because the product that they’re introducing is not innovative or better. It’s just a copycat.

And so, my congrats to RIM on creating a truly innvoative product that will hopefully give Apple a scare. I’m looking forward to continued innovations.