A Perfect Storm?  Not.

Posted by: Scott Hauman

Blackberry phones all have simple, memorable, logical names instead of incomprehensible model numbers. There’s the BlackBerry Pearl (with a translucent trackball), the BlackBerry Flip (with a folding design), and the BlackBerry Bold (with a stunning design and faux-leather back).

With the recent unveiling of the new Blackberry Storm, R.I.M introduces a touch-screen BlackBerry. Its famous thumb keyboard is the defining feature of a BlackBerry – why let this go? Why try to become the iPhone and continue to shed light on their brand? Why throw out your differentiation pillar? Eagerness to cash in on some of the iPhone touch-screen mania is such a short-term fix.

And the name, Storm, steps away from the successful pattern already in place.  I can see how the product managers fell in love with the storm metaphor – “There’s a storm coming, thunder on the horizon,” and so on. This again is a short-term idea.

I really think they could have tried harder with this effort. 

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