Comments on: RIM Paid $8.3M for Dash: Proof That Hardware Is a Risky Business http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:52:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: We Called It: RIM buys Gist : Tech News and Analysis « http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-592697 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:07:38 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-592697 [...] Gist changes the trajectory of RIM. The handset maker has made several acquisitions such as the $8.3 million buy of connected navigation company Dash, WebKit browser experts Torch Mobile, and UI shop The Astonishing Tribe and has a tablet launching [...]

]]> By: How much did RIM acquire Dash for? - Quora http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-579440 Sat, 22 Jan 2011 10:56:46 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-579440 [...] Cheung, will work for upvotes. RIM paid $8.3 million for Dash, according to GigaOm:http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-…Insert a dynamic date hereView All 0 CommentsCannot add comment at this [...]

]]> By: RIM In Talks To Buy Gist « The BAT Channel http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-553470 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:57:08 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-553470 [...] as it has started to face intense competition from more Internet-savvy rivals, Apple and Google It acquired Dash for $3.8 million in 2009, and followed up with Torch Mobile and earlier this month it acquired Swedish design-house, The [...]

]]> By: RIM In Talks To Buy Gist: Tech News « http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-553360 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:40:14 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-553360 [...] as it has started to face intense competition from more Internet-savvy rivals, Apple and Google It acquired Dash for $3.8 million in 2009, and followed up with Torch Mobile and earlier this month it acquired Swedish design-house, The [...]

]]> By: Internet Evolution - Alan Reiter's Wireless Web World - A 'Dash' of BlackBerry Data Integration http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215487 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:31:32 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215487 [...] immediately thought about RIM's purchase of DASH Express (out-of-date Website). DASH sold its own in-vehicle GPS device incorporating GPRS [...]

]]> By: What Is It About e-Readers? http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215486 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:22:56 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215486 [...] can we expect? Dash Navigation with its personal navigation system and a $15 monthly subscription wasn’t a success, but I think it was the subscription, not the connectivity on a personal navigation device, that [...]

]]> By: SmartPhones Sales Up, But Mobile Startup Funding Down http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215485 Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:51:30 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215485 [...] acquisitions though many of them were small and included Amazon’s acquisition of SnapTell or RIM’s acquisition of Dash Navigation for $8.3 million. I wonder if the current iTunes App store fiasco is going to dampen investments in the mobile [...]

]]> By: Shawn http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215484 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:19:22 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215484 So the VCs lost 88% on their investment. What happened to the people that ran this company? The executive team. I guess everyone else got cut in Nov, 08; a couple of months after the DOW, NASDAQ and S&P crashed.

]]> By: This Week in BlackBerry #62 « This Week in BlackBerry http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215483 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:39:35 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215483 [...] Despite RIM’s veil of secrecy, it is thought to have purchased Dash for a deeply discounted $8.3M after Dash had garnered about $71M in venture capital.  Dash started out making a web-based navigation device that offered directions as well as user recommendations and real-time traffic information based on data gleaned from other Dash devices on the road. User adoption was slow, likely because the device carried a $600 price tag (later reduced to $399), but the service won praise from many reviewers.Gigaom [...]

]]> By: Bill http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215482 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:54:56 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215482 I was a beta tester for the Dash. My experience was good overall, the test units were big and bulky and the released unit wasn’t much better, but they did make many changes that the beta testers suggested. To me, the thing that killed it was the monthly fee, nobody wants to pay a monthly fee for a navigation system, no matter what it does. As reward for the beta testing, I was able to buy one at a significantly reduced price, but passed simply because of the monthly fee. I think that is why the adoption was slow, the software was great, the price was not. If RIM can integrate most of the features the Dash had in it into BlackBerry devices it will be a nice feature set for them.

]]> By: Alex http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215481 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:22:41 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215481 Hence, why John Chambers of Cisco says the future of Cisco is software.

If one must invest in hardware look to medical technologies.

]]> By: C.Babbage http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215480 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:14:00 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215480 She didn’t look up or call about the ~$30 mil Series C round.

]]> By: Stacey Higginbotham http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215479 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:03:19 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215479 Yes, Rocky I couldn’t confirm the linked story’s numbers so I went with the Dash numbers from the web site.

]]> By: Nicholas http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215478 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:54:06 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215478 I agree with that! In looking at the mobile space I see Apple and RIM as having the greatest advantages, and RIM is posed to lose that advantage to Android and devices like the Pre. With a decent Developer ecosystem, as opposed to investment in a touch device, they could remain strong in the face of Google.

We’ll see where they head, but developing for BB is not pleasant. The App Store as you have noted, is a front to back developer experience. The only downside at the moment is the irrational approval process.

]]> By: Yuvamani http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215477 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:50:53 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215477 A startup getting into the hardware business is dumb. Sure there are a few hits like the Flip, but that is the big time exception. Dash was doomed to fail and so is slacker and vudu and the ilk. I still have a little irrational hope in roku though.

Agree that Dash was a shrewd buy especially if the price was so low. The thing was Dash was a software company which sold hardware to make money. Making and selling hardware is not the best business for a valley startup.

That said for the right big (non valley startup) company, the hardware or the gadget business is not bad to get into. Its a hard unforgiving business but the big hits justify the risk. The Kindle may fail, but if it is a hit then Amazon wins and wins big. But if a startup made and sold the kindle, then the kind of investments required to make it and keep it going would ensure its failure.

Ross rubin argued in engadget that gadget sales while being affected by the recession were still strong ( http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/26/switched-on-iphone-3gs-is-fine-young-but-not-a-cannibal/) . I think gadgets still rule even in the presence of the great cannibal – the smartphone… But if you are a startup which is going to make said gadget. Please move on.

]]> By: Rocky Agrawal http://gigaom.com/2009/06/29/if-rim-bought-dash-for-8-3m-why-bother-building-hardware/#comment-215476 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:47:53 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=56370#comment-215476 FYI, the linked story says Dash raised $71MM vs. the $42MM mentioned above.

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