Just three letters separate RIM from RIP.
Coincidence? YOU DECIDE!
It seems RIM’s BlackBerry can’t catch a break, with dismal sales of both phones and the PlayBook tablet. As if things weren’t bad enough, bookseller Barnes & Noble this week quietly put the hammer to the BlackBerry. B&N sent an email to users of its ereader app on the BlackBerry to inform them of its upcoming dropping of the platform.
Barnes & Noble put it eloquently, but made its intentions crystal clear in regards to continued support of the BlackBerry app.
- As of October 5, 2011 only previously purchased B&N digital content will remain accessible and available on your device.
- As of October 5, 2011, you will not be able to purchase and download new B&N digital content on your BlackBerry device via the BN eReader software for BlackBerry. All newly purchased B&N digital content must be sideloaded onto your BlackBerry.
- Beginning January 1, 2012, BN eReader software for BlackBerry will no longer allow you to download any new and/or archived B&N digital content directly to your device. All new and archived B&N digital content must be sideloaded on your BlackBerry device.
- After December 31, 2011, previously purchased B&N digital content that has already been downloaded and/or sideloaded on your BlackBerry device will remain accessible and available to you on your device.
No reason is offered by the bookseller but it is telling that even though it already has the app on the BlackBerry, and it allows purchasing content from B&N, it is no longer going to let that happen. Perhaps the company finds it too expensive to maintain and support the BlackBerry. It is a drastic measure to kill a platform that can currently purchase content.
B&N has gone all in with its Nook app for purchasing and reading ebooks from its store, but there is not version of the app for the BlackBerry. Things just keep looking worse for RIM.
Image credit: Flickr user simonov
[via Crackberry]
