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I know I shouldn’t let it get to me, but all the anti-Leaf vitriol all over the social feeds is nonsensical. I’m not sure at what point it was decided that hating makes you a better fan. 

All this talk of choke and collapse takes so much credit away from the Bruins, who probably had more playoff games played on their top two lines than the whole Leafs roster. The way they smothered the last two minutes with the extra man was amazing. Horrifying, but altogether impressive. They made Toronto look like the untested underdogs that came out to be destroyed in Game 1.

This youngest team in the league, a postseason longshot for many at the start of the year, projected to be outclassed and knocked out in 5 or 6 by the more seasoned Bruins, clawed back from 3-1 and came within a couple minutes of doing the impossible. 

Proud all the same. And next time, I’m sure they’ll have a much better understanding of what it takes to close out a series in this amazing sport of ours.

So, the re-imagined, re-invented BlackBerry Z10 was released to the world today. From what I’ve seen of the launch event and early BlackBerry Z10 reviews, the consensus goes something a little like this;

Is this the best Blackberry yet?

Yes.

Is it enough to save RIM Blackberry?

We don’t know.

I’ve said before I’ve got a huge soft spot for BlackBerry, despite having moved pretty much all-in with Apple since my Crackberry-carrying days. It’s a soft spot so deep and wide that I’m on the fence about ditching the iPhone and giving BlackBerry another chance.

Everything I’ve seen of BlackBerry Flow, Hub, and what seems to be the best virtual keyboard you can find has me itching to try it. Just looking at the device in action at the launch event, by comparison iOS seemed so incredibly stale and bland. BlackBerry really has put together a pretty solid package to bring them back to the playing field, and with the BB10 operating system they seem to bring the focus onto the smartphone as a communications device first.

But… with the vast App Store and iTunes, my iPhone is much more than that. So much of my usage is app-centric, and the App gap for BB10 is pretty large at the moment. They’ve got a strong showing on the media store front, and as nice as carrier billing seems, I’m already invested in the iTunes ecosystem, and iCloud certainly makes managing purchases & related media simple, having new items pulled to all devices.

So, still on the fence. I’m itching to get a BlackBerry Z10 in my hands to see how it feels, and flows. In the meantime, it’ll be interesting to watch the response to BB10. I’m sure I’m not the only one trapped between optimism and skepticism, but compared to the previous generation of BlackBerry devices, and considering all the turmoil and struggle they’ve been through over the last few years, everything about BB10 and the Z10 should seem like an incredible triumph for BlackBerry. I hope for their sake, they see their efforts rewarded when the tech media dissects the sales numbers.

What happens when 3 Telco’s control more than 3/4 of the market for internet services from coast to coast?  

A not-so-lovely little picture painted below.   

Full infographic available here as well if you’d like to see more of the gory details. 

I can’t speak to the data one way or the other, but from a consumer’s perspective, I can’t help but corroborate that as a Canadian it feels like I’m paying an exorbitant amount for services that pale in comparison to other regions, and there are quite honestly little to no alternatives to choose from.  

The OpenMedia folks have put together a great amount of content in their Casting An Open Net plan, detailing cultural, economic and technological reasons supporting the need for a more open and affordable Internet for Canada.  I’d encourage one and all to take a peek at their action plan; worthwhile reading.