I Brought About the Downfall of Blackberry
Photo by Amanda Hortiz on Unsplash
If you can remember back as far as 2013 you might remember the app store wars.
“The battle was bloody between Apple, Microsoft, Google and Blackberry. The fight went on and on for years.
Sure, we all know the outcome. What you might not be aware of is the role of The Secret Developer in this fight.”
The situation
Remember when apps were everything? Apple trademarked “There’s an app for that” as companies entered a battle to have the most useful mobile apps for users.
Apple started out streets ahead of the competition often shouting about the number of apps that were in their store and parroting the “There’s an app for that” catchphrase in TV ads at the time.
Then the desperation started.
“The mobile platforms started to get desperate. They wanted more apps. I remember Nokia gave me a free phone to become a developer, which I happily sold on for ramen money.
The app battles were on.”
How The Secret Developer Broke Blackberry
When BlackBerry offered $100 for each mobile app accepted to their store they gave a 36-hour deadline. The idea was for developers to port existing apps to the BlackBerry app store.
“I stayed up all night getting apps in there on the deadline uploading as many apps to the store as I could.
You can imagine the quality. Not only that, but it also wasn’t all my code. I went on github and pulled some apps that could be uploaded to the store.
I’m not proud of it, but I know people who have done worse things in their youth for money.”
The result
Presumably, BlackBerry wished to multiply the number of apps on their app store at any cost. The quality didn’t matter, just the raw number to impress those mobile purchasers.
Predictably the company didn’t last much longer.
The sales figures were already dropping by 2013, and this desperate ploy did nothing to halt the decline.
BlackBerry sales figures in millions $USD
2012 = 18,423
2013 = 11,073
2014 = 6,813
2015 = 3,335
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry_Limited
2013 saw a steep decline, and The Secret Developer seemed happy to take the money.
“I think I got ~15 apps on the store and over 10 accepted. They sent a cheque for more than $1000 that I probably spent on a mechanical keyboard, coffee, and a gaming chair.
I now feel regret. It’s like taking money out of a dying man’s hand.”
Conclusion
We have learned much about The Secret Developer today. We can all agree that it’s not all good.
“I can’t have been the only one to have done this. Can I?
Anyway, do you think Apple will give me a Vision Pro for making an app for that? I’m hoping so.”