RIM Death Watch

With the markets opening in a little more than two hours, we are about to see a reprise of the Northern Telecom meltdown last decade. They are now bleeding cash. The stern is in the air and it is about to slip under.

Blackberry 10, if it ever arrives, may be dead on arrival. The release of Google's Nexus, with its $200 price tag and 7" form factor and a real developer community, kills the Playbook. And if the phone that will surely follow is as good and as cheap, then there seems to be little reason for Blackberry hardware.

The seventy million plus subscribers are a selling point, as is perhaps the upcoming OS. And of course the couple of billion cash in the bank. But make no mistake, RIM is over and the impact on Kitchener Waterloo will be devastating.