There was a time when RIM (Research in Motion) used to be a popular anomaly. The company was a sensation through its signature handset The Blackberry. Often times, it was known as “Crackberry”, due to its addictive nature. I believe, when a I was in my teens, the Blackberry in my community was treated as a mighty chalice. There were days when a Journalist would go around, without touching the device, only to cover a report on its addictive nature.

Alas… things are just not the same anymore, as people are not looking down at RIM. According to reports from NDC, Gartner Inc. and other tech companies, RIM now resembles something totally absurd at the moment. Verizon, AT&T and other carriers are way ahead of the Blackberry manufacturers, through a slew of development news. There’s only 20 percent of the entire market, that’s still “hooked” to RIM products. Do you think that Research in Motion’s doldrums stop there? Nay, I say, they go far beyond that.

There’s more trouble to come as the company is already losing whatever little market share it has, against Apple and other rivals. It is true that Android smartphones are outliving all the Blackberries. I, once, covered a report about the new Blackberry OS and it wasn’t that good. I mean the OS, wasn’t promoting something new. What we saw was a mere repetition of the old features and a solid, “look-we’re-offering-the-same-features-as-of-Android-and-other-smartphones-so-please-buy-our-products”-attitude.

Here’s another unlucky part for this company. You know that they released the PlayBook tablet some time back. This tablet was released at the time when we’re hearing news about the iPad 2. The latter product, by Apple, is going to be released in 100 days from today. So what does it make of RIM? I feel a little sad for them.