The Blackberry is on a slow painful march toward irrelevancy.  I know, pundits often claim something is “dead” as a means to  generate exposure and attention.  But, really, the Blackberry is dying.  Apple put the first nail in the coffin when it launched the iPhone.  The iPhone is the lightening rod that ended the debate between feature phones and smart phones.  Nobody wants a feature phone anymore.

And why would they want a feature phone when there are so many amazing smartphone options to pick from?  If Apple was the first nail, the Blackberry Bold, Storm and every other Blackberry launched after the iPhone were several others.  None of them lived up the expectations people had for Blackberry as a company and more importantly they didn’t even remotely begin to deliver the experience expectations created by Apple.  As Apple and Google/Android innovated at breakneck speeds, the folks at RIM couldn’t keep up.  Apple and Google chipped away slowly at RIM’s market share.  They filled in the gaps that originally existed (eg enterprise email support) and now provide legitimate reasons to switch.  The numbers don’t lie.

So what was the smoking gun?  Simple, people wanted apps.  They wanted the web to look like the web.  They wanted their phones to do more than just offer email and text messaging. And let’s face it, that’s really all the Blackberry was great at doing.   OK, fine, it also did Blackberry Messenger (which is basically the same as texting).

As the competition evolved, Blackberry remained stagnant.  Even their new Blackberry Torch is underwhelming relative to the competition.  As companies like Apple and Samsung set off to do battle in the tablet arena, Blackberry decided to enter as well…albeit ill-equipped.

Part of the problem is the hardware.  But, the real issue for Blackberry is the software.  In short, their operating system is holding back their progression.  There’s a reason why the Blackberry App world has less than 4,000 apps, while the Android Market has over 25,000 and the Apple App Store has over 100,000.  That reason is quite simple; developing for the Blackberry operating system is challenging at best.  Add in the fact that developing for the Blackberry is also uninspiring and you have a real conundrum on your hands.

So here’s the deal; how can Blackberry remain relevant, interesting and a player?  It won’t be through hardware.  It won’t be through marketing.  It won’t be through corporate IT’s stranglehold on security or rather the perception of security. No, it will happen through humility.

Humility you ask?  Yes, humility.  If I were employed at RIM, I’d be pushing one radical idea: switch to Android.  Huh?  That’s right, stop developing a proprietary operating system that stunts innovation, fails to inspire and clearly demonstrates a lack of commitment to the end user.  Instead, spend time and effort innovating on top of the Android operating system.  Hardware manufacturers like Motorola, HTC and Samsung have done a great job leveraging Android to create truly differentiated products.  Samsung really seems to understand the concept the best.  They started with the Galaxy S line of phones and are now applying their secret sauce to the Android operating system to the Galaxy S tablet.  Smart.

On the other hand, we have RIM developing a Blackberry operating system driven tablet called the Playbook.  Per the folks at Engadget, The Playbook “will utilize an OS created by the recently acquired QNX (just as we’d heard previous to the announcement) called the BlackBerry Tablet OS which will offer full OpenGL and POSIX support alongside web standards such as HTML5 (which is all tied into RIM’s new WebWorks SDK).”  Ok, so, they are getting the message…sorta.  RIM is realizing that they can’t go at this alone…they need help.  But, real help, the kind of help that will sustain RIM in the future isn’t going to come from creating a competing operating system.  The Blackberry OS has taught us that.  No, real help will come from Google.

Simply put, the key to Blackberry’s survival is in embracing Google and the Android platform.  When you combine the insights from RIM, the equity it has with corporate IT and the innovation made available by Android, that’s when you get magic.  RIM, you can’t keep going at this alone.  It’s like bringing Vern Troy to a fight against Mike Tyson…you’re going to get knocked out.  Find some humility and take back your relevancy.

You know that scene in every action movie where someone says, “you know, it’s so crazy, it might work.” Well, this is one of the scenes. Tools like WordPress, Blogger, and Drupal have empowered everyone to be a potential publisher. That’s right, YOU, can make and report on the news…or just about anything for that matter.

News networks like CNN have even created programs that let the public create the news.  The day Google News started including blogs with traditional news publications (eg WSJ and NY Times), it was clear something was changing…or maybe it had changed. Individuals were now being given near instant credibility by Google. Very cool.

The media outlets like Fox, MSNBC, and Tribune Co. continue to have their journalistic credibility questioned. This happened throughout the 2008 presidential election. Hell, it’s still happening if you listen to the jokes at the White House Correspondence Dinner.

OK so we have:

1. Technology enabling people to become self publishers
2. New networks leveraging people for stories
3. Individuals being given near equal credibility to long established publications
4. A certain level of public mis-trust of the media

So what am I missing? Oh, two other things:

1. The concept of personal branding is at an all time high
2. Newspapers are closing down left and right

This is the part now, where I lean in, and almost with a whisper say, “I’ve got an idea so crazy, it might just work.”

I want to turn the publishing model upside down. I think people would pay publishers to let them have a daily, weekly, or monthly column. Yeap, that’s right I think people would pay the NY Post to have their name seen in ink. REAL INK. Not just digital ink, but real ink on paper.

Think I’m crazy? Ok, walk with me for a second. Companies are always pitching publications for a chance to have a featured column. Really. Companies kill themselves trying to get 1,000 words. You know why? Because their name and their company in a publication carries clout with the industry, analysts, clients, etc.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a mutual exchange taking place when it actually happens. AdAge for example gets great content from Steve Rubel, that their readers want to read. In exchange Steve is able to build his brand and Edelman’s. Seems like a fair exchange.

I think this could work. It’s a win-win. People build their personal brands, the publications/newspapers/etc. get fresh content and a revenue stream, and the public hears from real people.

So that’s my plan. Wall Street Journal – I’ll pay you $12,000 annually for a weekly column. You game?