BlackBerry 9000: Internal Spec Sheet Answers Your Questions
Enough with the speculation, the rumors, the spokespersons commenting on our blogging abilities — we're setting it all straight right here with this internal RIM doc we just got a hold of. You might be thinking that cover page above …
Context & Ripple Effects
The BlackBerry 9000 has been the subject of a months-long rumor cycle on Boy Genius Report, starting with early whispers about the device in October 2007 and followed by a leaked spec rundown that November. By year's end the coverage had turned skeptical, with CrunchGear asking whether the device was a major disappointment. This new internal RIM document is positioned as the definitive answer to that speculation — a rare case of an internal spec sheet surfacing to settle a public rumor war.
First-order effects
- The speculation phase ends: readers, carriers, and developers now have RIM's own specifications for the BlackBerry 9000 rather than pieced-together leaks, fixing expectations ahead of launch.
- RIM loses control of its pre-launch messaging — an internal document is now public, forcing the company to respond to or implicitly confirm details it hadn't officially announced.
Second-order effects
- Competitors and carriers can now plan against confirmed 9000 specs, sharpening positioning decisions for rival devices shipping into the same window.
- Leak-driven coverage becomes a proven traffic and influence engine for blogs like BGR, raising the stakes for other outlets to source internal documents — and for vendors to tighten document handling.
Third-order effects
- If internal documents keep leaking ahead of launches, the industry norm shifts toward de facto pre-announcement by leak, compressing the value of official keynotes and press releases.
- For RIM specifically, this pattern foreshadows the pressure it faced as consumer-focused rivals set the news cycle — a dynamic visible later in its touchscreen push with devices like the Storm.
The trend: This is one data point in the shift from vendor-controlled product reveals to leak-driven pre-launch cycles, where internal documents become the primary source of market expectations.