BlackBerry CEO supposedly says dumb things about the future of tablets, but what are the smart things?

BlackBerry CEO supposedly says dumb things about the future of tablets, but what are the smart things? | iMore.com Skip to main content Android BlackBerry iPhone / iPad Windows Phone webOS SIGN UP|LOG IN iMore Forums Apps Games Accessories Reviews How-To Podcasts Contests iPhone iPad mini iPad iPod touch Apple TV iOS iCloud iTunes Mac Hot: iPhone 5S Guides: iPhone buyers | iPad buyers | iOS users Free: Wallpaper | iPhone apps, games | iPad apps, games Shop Online Cases Chargers Screen protectors Headsets & More Free shipping on orders over $50 BlackBerry CEO supposedly says dumb things about the future of tablets, but what are the smart things? By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 a 9:09 pm 15

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins was quoted today as saying tablets didn't have much of a future, product or market-wise. Given the huge, and still growing success of the iPad, even the idea sounds ridiculous. Here's what Bloomberg posted:

"In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model."

I love a good CEO-snap story as much as the next blogger. Almost every time Ballmer or Schmidt open their mouths, it's gold for everyone in our industry. Hell, the previous leadership at BlackBerry, co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, said amongst the dumbest things in the recent history of mobile. To see such affluent, powerful people come off as utterly out of touch with reality is about as great a shot of schadenfreude as it gets. So to think the only man currently responsible for a purely mobile computing company on the planet -- BlackBerry carries no legacy desktop or services business -- doesn't think there's a future in the most computer-like form of mobile technology today is... stupefying.

Granted, he wasn't talking about today, but about 5 years from now -- and the velocity of mobile makes it difficult if not impossible to predict the market even a couple of years out, never mind five -- but I'd put good money on the tablet having a bigger future than the desktop for most people, most of the time. That's why Steve Jobs reportedly said the iPad was the most important product of his life.

BlackBerry's version of the tablet, the PlayBook, hasn't been anywhere nearly as successful to date. I've gone on record as saying the PlayBook was probably an ill-advised distraction that led to BlackBerry being even further behind in the phone business than they might otherwise have been, and for BlackBerry it certainly doesn't seem to have been a good business model.

Here's BlackBerry PR's response:

The comments that Thorsten made yesterday are in line with previous comments he has made about the future of mobile computing overall, and the possibilities that come with a platform like BlackBerry 10. We continue to evaluate our tablet strategy, but we are not making any shifts in that strategy in the short term. When we do have information about our PlayBook strategy, we will share it.

And Kevin Michaluk of CrackBerry sums it up this way:

What he did say is that the mobile device in your pocket.. aka. your smartphone... is getting to the point where it has enough computing power in it that it can perform processing tasks akin to a computer. Especially when hooked up to the cloud. And also considering you can connect it up to peripherals like a monitor, keyboard and mouse. It's not that hard to picture a use case where at your home and office are your big screens, and you just walk in and drop your phone down and your work environment is setup off your phone.

The futurist in me wants to take that a step further, to where the computing is decoupled from device, and the "brains" are a constant thing we always have with us, hooked in everywhere, capable of being expressed as a phone or tablet or laptop or desktop or holodeck for that matter. All my stuff, existing everywhere, accessible everywhere, through any hardware interface available.

In that world, interface becomes commoditized. Panels, even beautiful ones, would be utterly interchangeable and transfigurable. In that future, what would an iPhone or iPad look like? What would an iTV or iWatch look like? Manifestations?

Yes, Heins' comment came off sounding ludicrous in the context in which it was presented, and if that's how it was given, he deserved the headlines he got this morning. But funny blog headlines only last a few hours or days. In the greater context, and in the way BlackBerry has been positioning themselves, and in the way Apple has been building out iOS, and in the way Microsoft could figure out 3 screens and the cloud, and in the way Google could take Android or ChromeOS, given some time and coherent thought, the idea of ultra-personal computing 5 years in the future is fascinating.

Feel free to lay into the CEO of BlackBerry in the comments if that's your thing, but also let me know -- where do you see the future of tablets and of computing in five years?

Rene Ritchie

Editor-in-Chief of iMore, co-host of Iterate, Debug, ZEN and TECH, MacBreak Weekly. Cook, grappler, photon wrangler. Follow him on Twitter, App.net, Google+.

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More of: Blackberry, Ceo-snap ? PreviouslyCurrency for iPhone review: Convert between currencies on the go Next up ?Thor 2: The Dark World hits theaters this fall, but you can get lots of great Thor stuff from iTunes right now There are 15 comments. Add yours. elpolodiablo says: Apr 30, 2013 at 9:19 pm - 7 hours ago

I watched to interview on bloomberg and I think everything was taking out of context and I don't think he said anything horrible, i think it's just it's blackberry so dump on him. He basically said that other than apple nobody has figured out a way to make money on tablets because you can't make money off the hardware, it's the services you deliver on them. Apple has said the same thing. Tim Cook basically said they are strategically given margin up on the ipad mini as it's the introduction of apple to emerging markets. So unless you have some idea of what type of service you're going to provide on the tablet It's difficult to make money on it. I think that view point is right. I think he's also said that blackberry isn't going to compete in that market because they can't provide a useful servce on a tablet. They have a phone and their core competency is managing devices for enterprise and making sure they are secure in a BYOD world. I think those are fair statements. I think the whole tablet is dead in 5 years is dumping by the media to get clicks, apple has been getting a fair bit of this lately also

Reply Rene Ritchie says: Apr 30, 2013 at 11:25 pm - 5 hours ago

It's a "man bites dog" story -- something people will buy/click on. We tell the media what gets our attention, they feed us back more and more of it.

Media gets some blame, but we get some blame too. (I'm both, so I get double blame.)

Reply kvanh says: Apr 30, 2013 at 9:38 pm - 7 hours ago

This was the same thought I had. He thinks the phone will be powerful enough to simply be docked in different contexts. Desktops and Tablets would go away with this.

I don't think this is a bad vision of the future. It's certainly possible, but generally the bigger the device the more power. I can see the phone being the CPU being the center if we don't come up with things needing more power than we currently use tablets for. If games or some other interfaces get developed that need significantly more power than even 5 years from now mobile units will posses than I can see that as a possibility.

Mind/computer interfaces might be one area where a significant amount of processing power or large amounts of memory might be needed.

Reply Rene Ritchie says: Apr 30, 2013 at 11:27 pm - 5 hours ago

I think there are several sizes of things that have transcended media evolutions. We have the small pocket size, be it paperback or phone, the larger lap size, be it hardcover or tablet, and the even large desk size, be it tome or desktop.

That likely won't change until stuff is injected straight into our brain.

Reply gordol says: Apr 30, 2013 at 9:56 pm - 6 hours ago

IMO, he may be right. Tablets took off primarily, imo, because people want something bigger than a phone, more portable than a traditional laptop and more useful-powerful than the Netbook was. But now with Ultrabooks taking off and starting to come down in price, I think that will eat into tablet sales moving forward.

Why settle for a boxed in system (regardless of whether iOS, Android or Win8) when you can, for not much more money and about the same portability, have a "full" computer experience? If I had the money for it last year, I'd have gotten a Win7 ultrabook instead of the iPad2 for that very reason.

Reply Rene Ritchie says: Apr 30, 2013 at 11:29 pm - 5 hours ago

Trucks vs. cars :)

Reply NegatronDev says: May 1, 2013 at 1:56 am - 3 hours ago

I so agree with you on your last statement. However, I am trying to break the dependency on Windows. As I see it I can use my smartphone for just about anything accept developed application which is how I make my living.

That's the only reason I keep my Windows Laptop.

Otherwise I would design my own docking station, charging block with mouse, keyboard and screen and ill be using my smartphone only.

Reply coolhaircolor says: Apr 30, 2013 at 9:57 pm - 6 hours ago

I have been saying this for the past two years, and I am seeing my predictions come true, the laptop is on it's way out. Laptops have always been bulky, but ever since tablets have hit the scene, many companies have been trying to streamline their laptops, by making, ultra books, but people are buying more tablets now, than laptops. What did computer companies do in response to this growing trend, they have created hybrid tablet/computers with removable keyboards, thus turning it back into tablet. Truth is I actually use my tablet more then my ultra book. I use my ultra book to make changes to my website and edit pictures. I use my tablet more because it is more compact, and easier to carry around.

Reply markbyrn says: Apr 30, 2013 at 10:00 pm - 6 hours ago

The issue isn't whether or not his dubious prediction is going to come true; the issue is poor judgement in making a statement that can readily be perceived as a self-serving excuse for why the Playbook didn't succeed or make the Playbook obsolete ala the HP Touchpad. Also, as the CEO of a company that's trying to regain lost ground, you probably want to avoid putting your foot in your mouth, and getting mocked and pilloried by the tech press.

Reply dannyd86 says: Apr 30, 2013 at 10:33 pm - 6 hours ago

The future where we hold the brains In our pocket and connect them to other devices as we move through the world is fascinating. Would eliminate a lot if problems we have with cross compatability. And it is totally in line with what QNX is designed for. As far as tablets, do we really need a tablet with its own core and everything. Why not just a screen, possibly flexible sold as an accessory to our phone. With a battery nfc and bluetooth. That simply streams what's on your phone. Is buy one.

in previous interviews he has mentioned blackberry can't beat the ipad in ipad game. Which is apps and games. And to a less extent browsing and cloud sharing. But he's willing to release a tablet if it means something new. If u knew what that was I'd be a rich man lol.

The headlines will be gone tomorrow. Stuff out of context is what you can expect in 5 minute interviews and 5 minute blog reposts. Thanks for putting in some thought to the subject Rene, why I come to mobile nations

Reply SockRolid says: May 1, 2013 at 1:44 am - 3 hours ago

Re: "The headlines will be gone tomorrow."
And BlackBerry will be gone the day after tomorrow.
Kicked down the Palm staircase.

Reply schmittdog says: Apr 30, 2013 at 11:19 pm - 5 hours ago

I love how people can pass judgment when a CEO of a tech company provides a little insight to what he holds for the future... Steve Jobs can go on conference calls and say how bad Android and BlackBerry is and that's ok? That's some illogical thinking on everybody's part for not letting Thorsten talk on what he holds for the future. Is everybody really gonna be biased and say that no matter what Thorsten does or says is wrong like that Jack Rabbit Boy Genius? Give me a break Rene. It's dump on BlackBerry once again cause Apple is throwing 60 billion and iBonds to it's shareholders. It's crap and everybody knows it! Would it be as funny if Thorsten would have said 5 years ago that the SmartPhone is gonna replace your digital camera? Tell me how well it goes to sync your 10" iPad to your iCar on the dashboard.

Reply SockRolid says: May 1, 2013 at 1:39 am - 3 hours ago

What Heins said: "In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore.”
What Heins meant: "We give up. Apple won."

Reply NegatronDev says: May 1, 2013 at 1:43 am - 3 hours ago

I agree with Thorsten Heins. To me the Tablet is already obsolete. It's to much of an inconvenience using and moving around with a 10" device. My smart phone is all I need. There is nothing I can't do on my smart phone that demand that I carry a tablet.

The fact of the matter is, I haven't used my iPad in months. My five year in the future is now.

Reply Ashish Asawa says: May 1, 2013 at 1:51 am - 3 hours ago

My Vision of table in five years. Its going to get much better, more lighter, better processing capabilities, touch responses, new sensors, a much better speech AI, (kind of jarvis in Iron Man), more and better apps, more communication with other devices (already started are cars, philips hue).
I dont see tablet going away now in five years, as the kind of impact they have make, its made human computer interaction more natural, a device which can be easily used by any age group, with such a less learning curve, it has limitations though, and so does with any product, their is no silver bullet, but yah I am sure its going to get better and better. Take first generation iPad and current one, you can see the difference.

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