Uh oh. More bad news for BB? Plastic Mobile ponders RIM’s future…

This week RIM announced that CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis will step down from their positions, though they will maintain majority of their shares and stay on as board members.

Thorsten Heins will take on the daunting role as RIM’s new CEO. In spite of seriously declining share prices, Heins has signalled that he will largely stay the course set by Balsillie and Lazaridis.

In a Star interview, Heins notes that RIM is still a solid financial performer and that it is the number one smartphone in many countries outside of the US. He goes on to say the their problem isn’t technology, it is in their communications and that is where they need to focus their efforts. “The perception just doesn’t match the reality,” Heins told the Star. “We’ve got $1.5 billion in the bank, and virtually no debt. We’ve also got a 75 million subscriber base.”

Regardless of this assurance, shares dropped even further after the announcement of the RIM pioneers’ resignation. Ugh. Sorry RIM, we can’t help but think the future looks grim.

What do you think? Will Heins be able to pull RIM out of its US despair? Tweet us with your thoughts @plasticmobile.

While Plastic Mobile has known the title of this blog post to be true all along, it seems the general population is also warming to the sentiment. According to the October 28th Career Mashup survey results, the popularity of a tech career is on the rise! In fact, 47% of those who were previously unsure about a tech career are now interested. The same applies to 24% of those who were previously not interested in the tech industry. Meanwhile, CareerMash also takes credit for driving the interest of those who were already inclined towards a tech career up by 64%. Plastic Mobile attended the event to showcase our Joomo program, and we can attest that the energy was amazing and was seemingly able to lay the foundation for changing perceptions around ICT-related careers.

CCICT launched CareerMash.ca for high schoolers and influencers on September 15th of this year, with TechnoCompétences launching the complementary MaCarrieretechno.com shortly thereafter. Between the two programs, outreach in Ontario and Quebec has exceeded all expectations and the message is apparently resonating with students. Consider the following metrics:

• Students at Roy Thomson Hall event October 28: 1650 (target: 350)
• Today’s careers mash up tech with anything you imagine
• They come in 4 categories: leader (jobs have doubled in 10 years from 100,000 to 200,000), innovator, builder and problem solver
• Tech jobs are in demand (only 2.5% unemployment) and lucrative (25% pay over $85,000/year), with many opportunities for personal growth
• Young women can find fabulous and challenging careers in tech

The great news is that the CareerMash campaign now plans to live long for the next few years. Hurrah! Plastic Mobile is excited and in full support, and will be participating in this important initiative to raise Canada’s performance and competitiveness in the digital economy of the 21st century.

As part of our ongoing efforts to educate the community and stay in touch with the people who matter most (our youth), we have joined forces with Career Mash to showcase a day in the world of Mobile App Development. We hope that we can help bring the real-life experiences and excitement of a career in the technology field.

Watch Melody Adhami provide her perspective: