russd

USA

Software Architect

What does this mean for the Blackberry? Very little. The problem with the iPhone (in the US) is that it is only available with AT&T. While there are hacks available to unlock the iPhones, most prosumers are not geek enough to hack their phone. The other problem with the iPhone being tied to a sole carrier is that carriers use contracts as a means for customer retention (because from a service standpoint, they're all pretty bad -- or pretty good at ticking off the customer depending on your perspective), given that most prosumers usually carry contracts, rather than pay-as-you-go, switching to an iPhone will be costly for all (in the US) but AT&T subscribers.

Crackberries, on the other hand, are available on all networks. As for outages, what networks do not have occassional outages? The key is having a backup plan.

I would submit that the two outages seen on the Blackberry network are evidence that Blackberry is a victim of its own success.