At the end of January Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy. The company has continually failed to innovate in an industry whose customers are quickly moving to smart phone cameras. Those who are seeking more professional equipment are switching to Nikon, Fuji Film or Cannon. Finally realizing this Kodak has decided to drop its digital camera’s and digital picture frames business. But will it be enough?

Photo by West McGowan

Eastman Kodak will begin focusing its efforts almost primarily on licensing out its powerful patents in mostly the smartphone industry. Clients could include Apple, HTC, and Verizon.  Kodak will take several companies to court including Apple and HTC in an effort to protect their intellectual property licenses and raise much needed capital. They will also focus their efforts on photo printing stations and software. They will continue through all of their customer service to discontinued products and services through the end of the year.

The future of Eastman Kodak’s stock price is hard to gauge.  Investors lack certainty in the company but a small and growing number are interested in potential earnings from intellectual property licensing. If they win these court battles securing more protection, which Chapter 11 bankruptcy will permit, they could recover. But will Kodak ever look the same? And does the stock have any chance of rebounding?

The risks are substantial though and like any other penny stock Eastman Kodak is priced low for a reason. This once powerful photography company, the first to introduce digital cameras is struggling.  Keep an eye on this one and its daily trading volume. If court battles hold up we could be watching this one for a lot longer than others thought.

It would be great to just go on a bit of a spree and replace some of my tatty looking gadgets, but the way I came about this unexpected bundle makes me think I should be doing something a little more sensible with it.

It’s a sum that I’ve never really had at my disposal before. Having taken a look through some of the saving options out there, my eye has been drawn towards fixed rate bonds. I like the fact that I can put the money away and forget about it – considering it has come as an unexpected bonus, it’s not like I’m going to miss it.

I’m now trying to work out how long to lock the money away for, and thinking about what I can spend my profits on.

1 Year Bond
I’m not expecting megabucks, but should get enough to spend on a little treat. This would get me a much needed new suit, or perhaps I could get my wife something (very small) from Tiffany’s. What’s the point in money if you can’t spend it on the ones you love?

2 Year Bond
This would net me a decent amount of cash and it will be time to get a gift for myself! If my maths is correct (and there’s absolutely nothing to suggest that it is) two years from now will take us to 2014 and the World Cup in Brazil. If that’s not a good reason to invest in a new TV, I don’t know what is. Technology moves at an incredible rate and it’s impossible to estimate what I’d get for my money, although I’d hope it will be able to keep my beer cold and predict the score of each game.

3 Year Bond
The very laptop I type this on now has been my pal for around six months, and assuming nothing goes drastically wrong with our friendship I hope that will be the case for at least another three years. By then, it will probably be time to find someone a little slimmer and more powerful to hang around with, and my current sidekick can be laid to rest in the cupboard under the stairs along with my other discarded tech buddies.

5 Year Bond
Five years is a long time, but when there’s a nice chunk of cash to look forward to, it’s worth the wait. I expect by then I’ll have bitten the investment bug and will want to buy something that appreciates in value rather than something will need replacing in a few years time. A piece of art fits the bill perfectly. Whilst I won’t be at Sotheby’s bidding on a Pollock or Hirst, if I get lucky, it could provide nest egg for the future; and if not I’ll have something nice to hang on the wall.

Hopefully by the time my bond matures I’ll have figured out a good use for the original sum. Having always moaned about not having any money, I can’t believe I’m starting to feel sorry for those who have so much they don’t know what to do with it.

Logan Bell doesn’t come into money very often, but when his fixed rate bonds mature he’s looking forward to spending the proceeds.

Property

Property has long been one of the most popular alternative investments. Investors typically purchase property during a down market, or choose buildings that can be fixed up and sold at a higher value. An alternative to selling property is to rent it out, collecting funds over a long period of time. Historically, property is one of the safest alternative investments. However, housing values are still dropping in many areas. This may still be a wise choice for properties that are purchased at a very low price through short sale or foreclosure. It is also a better option for investors choosing to rent property out, as they are more likely to keep property long enough to net a return.

Photo by Ttcopley

Wine

Collecting wine is both a hobby and alternative investment. While people have collected wine for thousands of years, investing in rare wines did not become popular until the 1970s. Wine investors need to be knowledgeable about wines, vineyards, and the different ageing abilities of wine. The market for these wines is driven by both collectors (particularly in emerging Asian economies) and vineyards, making it a safer bet than some investments. However, there are risks. Choosing wines that age poorly, spoilage, or loss of popularity are all concerns.

Photo by Johnathan Caves

Art

Another popular alternative investment that also serves as a hobby is collecting art. Single paintings done by a particular artist can fetch millions of dollars in the right market. While art is guaranteed to have some extreme stars, it can be hard to determine which artists will end up being popular. Art investors typically end up getting lucky by purchasing a piece at low cost from an up and coming artist. When the artist achieves fame, the demand for the piece skyrockets. However, as noted above, this requires a good deal of luck. Investing in art is something that is usually done by those who really enjoy art and have a lot of experience with quality pieces of art.

Photo by Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

Antique Coins and Bank Notes

While coins and bank notes come with a printed money value, rare and antique pieces of money typically have a much less concrete value. Their value fluxes with collector’s demand. Additionally, coins made of silver or gold can often fetch more for the precious metal than their printed worth. Savvy coin collectors can find these items at flea markets and other venues and sell them later at an increased value.

Photo by Lichfield District Council

Vintage Cars and Other Antiques

Vintage cars and antiques are popular collectibles for many people. This is precisely why there are an excellent alternative investment. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to determine which items are going to be popular in the future. Vintage cars are somewhat safer for those experienced in automobile collecting and repair, as it is possible to purchase run-down vehicles cheaply. With some fix-up, these cars can then go on to be sold for much more than they originally cost.

Photo by Tim Tyson

Whether looking to avoid the risks of the stock market, seeking investment diversity, or simply trying to find an enjoyable hobby that also pays, alternative investments are a great choice. So long as the investor is knowledgeable about the subject and is willing to wait for a return, these investments can net an even greater return than more traditional investments.

Andy has written many articles (like these) about saving and managing money for CreditCardCompare.com.au, one of Australia’s leading websites to compare credit cards from the country’s top banks and building societies.

LinkedIn is trading at a high premium now. With a P/E of almost 1,800 and a forward P/E of 166 most traditional investors would not touch it! LinkedIn though is part of a growing bull market in social media. The difference in this social media from many others is it is professional and it is making money. With zero debt to equity and over $6.5 million in income there is a lot to love and growth is promising.

JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth predicts there is still plenty of room to grow on this stock as it has yet to reach the wide array of corporate clients.  Not only that but there is evidence to suggest better opportunities than Google or Facebook in China.

LinkedIn does have an advantage over many other social media companies and their poorly performing stocks; a non-advertising based revenue model. Google is perhaps most famous for its PPC Adsense program. The Facebook IPO filing has also drawn attention to this model. LinkedIn relies on contracts with reliable and more consistent clients to make the bulk of their revenue. Although advertising is still present it is not the model for success.

One thing about social media I always like to analyze is the barriers to entry for the company’s model. If it can be easily duplicated, why buy it? That is why I am so cautious on these companies. LinkedIn does have a model that can be duplicated quite well which their competition Monster WorldWide Inc. does not impress anyone. LinkedIn has an impressive platform for showing off resumes and is gaining far more traction.

Although it is not clear how easily LinkedIn could be duplicated, its competition is far behind them in implementing the hiring and career resources LinkedIn provides. Obviously anyone can collect resumes and put ads on their website. However LinkedIn is powerful for enable the social media aspect to more fluidly connect user to employer. This is going to result in further growth. There is little reason for job seekers to turn away as the majority of the service is completely free.

Keep an eye on LinkedIn’s stock. It is a little expensive right now but it is riding on successful earnings and great growth prospects. If you are interested in acquiring it, consider the ETF SOCL that owns a portion of LNKD. Otherwise watch the stock and look for long term trends to set it apart from competitors. If it becomes quite clear the competitors are not reacting this one may be worth buying.

Managing your finances is much the same. If you were lucky enough to be born with a ‘silver spoon in your mouth’ you stand a fair chance of going through life making the right choices, especially where your finances are concerned, but for the rest of us who live in the real world, we’re bound to make more than a few mistakes when it comes to money.

Hopefully though you are able to learn from your own mistakes and the mistakes of others and learn how to make the right choices at the right time for a positive financial future. To make the point of how important making the right financial choices at the right time are to the average person, the following 10 examples of typical mistakes can tell us what to avoid when confronted with such a situation:

1. Continue going about spending more than you earn.

This is that obvious to all of us that it shouldn’t even rate a mention but how many people do you know who live on credit. Maybe you do yourself. If this is the case it is a train wreck waiting to happen. Get off this track now and do it fast.

2. Take out the biggest mortgage you can afford.

Sure if you are worthy of it banks and finance houses are happy to lend you more than you can really afford. That way they can make more money out of you, but don’t fall for it. Surely that great big McMansion is not really that important if you have to live on baked beans for the next 20 or 30 years, or worse, live on credit. There is no surer way of going broke than borrowing more than you can afford to pay back, something will be certain to break and it won’t be the bank that loses.

3. Gambling is the answer to great wealth.

You certainly give yourself an outside chance that you might experience the odd win at the casino but unless you can afford to lose millions you won’t finish up making a cent. In fact most people who gamble heavily with the dream of future riches finish up losing everything they have ever worked for.

4. Keeping that big V8 engine as your primary transportation means.

The days of being able to buy cheap fuel are behind us. Diesel and petrol prices have only one way to go and that is up. It is a fact that pumping fuel into a big engine just to travel across town will keep you poor. Is the grandeur of luxury motoring all that important? If you think so it is your pocket that is going to suffer the most in the long run.

5. Lottery tickets are a better bet than making a sound investment.

It seems like every week that you hear of the person who won millions in the lottery. Next week it could be you. Have you ever worked out the odds on you winning the lottery? Dream on. A sound investment might be a slower way of creating wealth but it will get you there in the end. There is merit in being patient.

6. Credit Card Misuse.

You’ve got yourself a credit card but somehow it’s reached its limit so you take out another, then you balance transfer your original card for another, with a lower interest introductory offer. It all starts getting out of hand. Why? It is the interest you will be paying on the money you owe each month. It will finally grind you to a financial halt. You will finally have your credit cards taken from you but you will still have to pay the money you owe. Your credit rating will be at zero. No other financial organization will even talk with you. Forget credit cards altogether if you can’t pay the balance owing every month. You can do exactly the same with a debit card but the difference being it will be your own money you are using.

7. Why buy when you can rent.

It is much easier to rent that monstrous entertainment system that is the envy of all your friends. The same goes for all your furniture because you can furnish your whole home for a small payment each month. The kids all need a laptop each, rent them one each. It all seems pretty easy and cheap on the surface but it’s not. You will be paying about double the price of each item you rent. Keep this up throughout your life and you can guarantee you will never get ahead financially.

8. Don’t trust banks, stashing your money in your mattress is much safer.

If you believe this you are probably also waiting for your UFO to arrive to whisk you away to a distant paradise in another galaxy. If the major banks of the world crash, with all their government guarantees helping prop them up going with them, your money would be worth zilch anyway. Whilst your money is in a bank it can earn interest or you can arrange to put it into fixed interest investments.

9. Make sure you spend every cent you earn.

Why even think about saving when you can earn good money and you know your job will still be there next week? It’s a much better life when you are a spendthrift. Friends abound and life is one big party. However, life in reality is full of ‘what ifs.’ What if your job wasn’t there next week? What if you became injured or sick? What if you had no insurance policies to fall back on? What if you finally grew up and started saving for retirement or that ‘rainy day.’

10. Don’t bother making a budget.

A budget is boring and sometimes it restrains you when you know there is something better to do with your money. It’s always best to not know what is happening, that way you have no financial worries. In truth, however, in order to stay on track you must know what your money is doing for you at all times. The only time you will get a respite on having to watch your spending will be when you do win that big lottery, you can hire an accountant to do it for you then, or when you make it big time at the blackjack table. It appears that knowing the odds against any of those two events actually occurring, it will be advisable to stick to your budget.

Kristy Ramirez is a debt free and frugal personal finance writer for Life Insurance Finder where you can easily compare life insurance quotes from the comfort of your own home and without it costing you a cent.

Taxes

The only certain things in life are death and taxes. That you’ve earned the money through affiliate marketing or the sales of an e-book does not mean that the IRS won’t find out about the earnings. The fact is that they will know about the earnings, they will expect you to pay taxes on them, and failure to do so will land you in hot water. PayPal will soon be expected to report all money that flows through their system, and most affiliate opportunities will report payouts to the IRS. In addition to setting aside money to cover the federal taxes, you should also set funds aside to cover state taxes, local taxes and self-employment taxes. It does not matter how the income was earned. If you have received a check as a result of online activity, you should plan on paying taxes on that income.

The bright side of having to report all this income is that you also gain access to tons of deductions. You can write off part of your Internet access fees, a percentage of your home utilities, any expenses for your blogging site and other fees. If you do reviews of products, you can even write off part of the purchase price of those products. Check with your accountant to determine exactly what percentage, or visit the IRS home page for rules on personal expenses and deductions.

Copyright Laws

Just because it’s on the Internet, that doesn’t mean it can be copied and plugged into your website or blog. Copying articles and information from other sites is a violation of United States copyright laws, and you can face criminal charges for it. Copyright infringement for profit usually results in civil lawsuits, but the U.S. Attorney may get involved with a criminal investigation in some cases. When using images or videos from the Internet, be sure to look for public domain images that are available free of charge. A better option is to take your own pictures and use them.

The money you earn online as a blogger, affiliate marketer and independent contractor is absolutely legal. However, failing to claim the earnings and pay the tax man is not legal. Keep yourself out of legal hot water with the IRS by tracking all revenue and claiming it at the end of the year. Reduce your tax burden by also tracking any expenses for domain renewals, hosting fees, product purchases and shipping charges. If you drive to meet clients you can also write off the mileage.

The final step to staying legal when working online is to be aware of copyright laws. When someone writes an article and puts it on a website, it is their intellectual property and to cut and paste it into another site without permission is a crime. When adding content to the Internet, make sure it is your intellectual property so you can stay legal while also earning a living.

Francine Gomez is a career consultant and loves giving people new ideas on how to make money from their home offices. Their are lots of ways you can make money online, from doing paid surveys to writing article content for websites.

1) Conduct Market Research

If you lack a clear understanding of the current investment market you won’t be able to make informed decisions about how to invest. Your first step should be to get a thorough grasp on what is happening in the market, which investment plans are performing well and which are under performing, and to identify potential long term investment opportunities. There are many different types of investment plans, which have varying structures and different sets of benefits and risks. Consider them all.

2) Know Your Finances

Can you afford long term investment? Have you the capital to invest with peace of mind? It is vital to accurately budget so that you can properly manage your income and costs. In the current climate, it is wise to set aside an emergency fund to cover any investments which might underperform. Seeking professional assistance can help you devise a budget that you can carefully monitor throughout 2012 and beyond as you build your portfolio.

3) Set Clear Goals

To set clear goals for your long term investment plan you will obviously need to have a good idea of what you need and want to achieve with your investments. While it will be difficult to accurately predict what the final pay out from your investment plan will be you must have a clear targets to maintain drive and direction. Write down your goals and seek professional advice on the best types of investment for you and the assets you should allocate. Personal targets are vital for any investor, so put some effort into devising yours.

4) Choose a Strategy and Stay with It

Knee jerk reactions when the going gets tough should be avoided by investors, particularly in the current unstable economy. When you’re putting together your long term investment plan you will hopefully have conducted some research into current investment strategies and identified, with some professional guidance, which strategy is right for you. Once you have a strategy you feel is suited to you stay with it. Constantly switching between different investment and fund plans only leads to confusion and changing because of short term troubles could be worse than staying the course.

5) Keep a Long Term Perspective

This can be hard to do. Whether your investments are performing well or underperforming in the short term, keep your eyes firmly fixed on the future. Naturally, short term investments can be a good idea, but keep these separate from your long term investment plan. As previously mentioned, you should have clear targets and a strategy to keep to, so stay resilient and follow your long term investment plan through.

Investors must remember: to conduct research and seek advice before deciding on their investment plan. Investment plans are all viable options and should be considered when you choose to start or extend your investment portfolio. 

This post was provided by a leading savings and investment opportunities comparison site.

As you’re studying to give yourself a shot at a well-paying career, you’re struggling to avoid too much debt in the process. In a hard twist of fate, being a college student is really expensive. Tuition, rent, textbooks, and tons of other bills stretch every dollar you have to the max. And in other cruel reality, many college students aren’t extremely good at managing their money.

It takes practice and restraint to budget and save, and you’re still trying to get the hang of it all. In the meantime, on your road to financial freedom and higher education, there are some simple things you can do to cut your costs and save at least $50 every month.

Cut Out the Takeout

College students aren’t usually very good at cooking, and they tend to spend a lot on pizza delivery, restaurants, and Chinese takeout. One of the easiest ways to save money every month is to reduce the amount of food you buy. If you skip buying your meal from takeout just three times per month, you can save at least $50.

Bring your lunch to class and avoid the food court five more times per month, and you can save another $50. If you buy more at the grocery store, stock your cabinets, and try your hand at a home-cooked meal more often, you can easily save a great deal of money. It might not be easy to skip out on the fast and easy way to eat, but your bank account will thank you.

Buy Used Textbooks

At the beginning of every semester, don’t go to the campus bookstore to purchase your textbooks. Search online for the most inexpensive used copies you can find. This can save the average college student at least $200 each semester, which equates to about $50 every month of the school year.

Also, find out from your professors if the newest versions of your textbooks are really necessary. Most updated editions only have a few changes, and many times the previous versions will suffice for your classroom needs. If you can purchase an older edition, you’ll save big.

Enjoy Campus Activities

When you take a night off or go out on the weekend, you probably spend a good deal of money on entertainment. Movie tickets, concert tickets, and admission to bars, clubs, and museums can be costly and add up quickly. You certainly don’t want to sacrifice your social life or stay at home to save money, so try to find other, cheaper forms of fun.

There are lots of campus activities going on all the time. Look into school sponsored trips and events, which are often free or have very reduced rates. By taking advantage of things going on around campus instead of always going out off-campus, you can save at least $50 every month. Not to mention it’s a great way to meet people or try something new.

College student and blogger, Trisha Callahan strives to help others be as thrifty as she is. She always checks her essays with a grammar checker and may or may not own a few too many Irish shirts.

The Facebook IPO will change the entire landscape of investing for young people. Now millions of twenty somethings will take an interest in investing and stocks.  Will there be enough shares of Facebook stock for us to buy? Will Facebook’s stock (FB ticker symbol) be affordable enough to buy? Let’s take a look at these questions and more before investing in Facebook.

Facebook is Growing Faster by the Day and Approaching 1 Billion Users. Investing with Them Seems Like a No Brainer. Photo By Scott Beale

What is Facebook Worth?

In 2007 when Microsoft made their historic investment in Facebook the company was valued at $15 billion.  Think that sounds crazy? As of 2011 the value has jumped to over $84 billion due to the Goldman Sachs investment and many project the value to go over $100 billion when Facebook goes public.

The Facebook IPO will raise $5 billion for the company, considerably more than rival Google whose IPO raised $1.67 billion.

Twitter has been valued at only $10 billion in comparison.

What are Facebook’s Assets?

Facebook has almost 1 billion users, more than any other social media.  According to Fool.com Facebook has 483 million daily users with 2.7 billion ‘likes’ per day. This makes for excellent advertising opportunities.

Let’s not forget what Facebook is. Facebook provides a social forum for its users not unlike the MySpace of the .com crash. Although the system has been improved upon and the metrics are slightly different Facebook along with other social media uses a similar model.

Facebook relies on users to use its template to remain in touch with their friends, family, coworkers, etc. through private messaging and public sharing.  Is any of this an exclusive asset? Not likely. Although other companies have thus far been unable to duplicate Facebook’s success, it is nevertheless able to be copied.

Most importantly Facebook has a brand and can easily branch out against competitors like Google or Yahoo and begin offering search and other functions from the IPO.

How Does Facebook Make Money?

Although Facebook is free to use, 60% of its revenues come from advertisements.  The second highest revenue margin comes from credits on games and applications produced by other companies using Facebook as a platform at over 15% of revenue.  This is according to Trefis.com.

In addition, Trefis reports that revenues are expected to be at $3.8 billion. Using the metric of 1 billion users this works out to be about $3.80 per user in revenue. This assumes they will receive 1 billion users, which they are fast approaching.  Although this may not seem like much and certainly not much compared to the valuations it is quite impressive for a service that is ‘free.’ Any growth would be substantial.

As the second most visited website online, behind Google, Facebook has a lot of room to run and growth will be the greatest value of the company.

Will Facebook Last? What about Facebook Security and Privacy Concerns?

Facebook is growing strong and analysts predict that such large valuations are actually quite conservative compared to the amount of revenue it is currently making and the growth in users and social media in general.  The value of Facebook could increase in multiples as well if it is able to branch out into other avenues, like a Google or Apple have. If prospects were that good I would be investing in Facebook.

Facebook is very convincing. They spend a lot of time and money reminding you and me how they are on our team and help us so much. Is it working on you? By Michael Porter

One difference I see is in general happiness with customers. Google has a relatively positive reputation among twenty something’s and most youth.  Facebook on the other hand has poor customer relations and is #1 of the top 10 most hated brands in the United States. Where does this all come from? Privacy issues.

CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has continued to disappoint users by sacrificing privacy for profit with each new update. The latest, Timeline has turned a rather sleek social media platform into a mess which eerily reminds of the layout on the once great MySpace.

Soghoian also predicts that once people find something better to use, they will move on.  My analysis comes from much of the same camp. When evaluating Facebook and many other social media and .com companies the best analysis comes from their users, you and me, not Wall Street.

5 Reasons Not to Invest in Facebook IPO

1. Stock price will get high, really high, really fast – You might end up overpaying just to own a share.

2. Do you think it is fair for a company to be worth $100 billion dollars because it sells your interests, birth date, location, work history, schools you have attended, etc.?

3. How much more aggressive will they get when Wall Street demands further  earnings and growth?

4. Who’s to say someone will not just as easily duplicate Facebook’s model?

5. Other social media have gone public but are struggling such as Groupon, Zynga, Linkedin, etc.

5 Reasons to Invest in Facebook IPO

1. Revenues are impressive and growth is still incredibly easy – Searching on Facebook and use of Facebook games are hot and growing

2. Facebook has yet to branch out beyond its original business model – with an IPO at $5 billion that money could be used to expand heavily

3. You use it all the time, do you think you will stop?

4. Buying the IPO and selling soon after (next day or week) may net huge profits as everyone wants a piece

5. Facebook could turn out to be a long term bet like Google and Apple of which many wish they bought at the IPO price – those who did are easily millionaires now

Facebook is likely to have an amazing IPO, one that is highly anticipated with incredible media hype. They also might work out a PR deal with their Facebook users to encourage the sale of shares to them directly.and get ready for the IPO. It is going to be historic.

The Research in Motion Playbook has received mostly mixed reviews. Users have called it a copy or inefficient substitute to superior units such as the iPad. Photo By Clinton Jeff.

Research in Motion has Been Slow in a Sector in Which Today’s Technology is Already Outdated

• Playbook was released without some fairly standard capabilities,  email being the biggest head-scratch
• The worldwide outage during last October was hardly handled properly
• Waiting until the end of 2012 to introduce the Blackberry 10 operating system will make it irrelevant

Thorsten Heins and Barbara Stymiest Have Few Options

• “Stay the Course” of coming up short is not convincing to loyal customers or shareholders
• Analysts have suggested the new management will seek to be bought up for the highest price
• Others talk of the uphill battle in trying to regain market share with stained confidence

Failing to accommodate a loyal customer base

• Those who favor security and reliability are now looking at iPhones and Androids
• Wealthy and prestigious feeling of Blackberry stained by strange marketing ads, inconsistent with the brand
• Attempting to gain customers in a base filled with users more interested in games and apps is the wrong audience

Lackluster Management for Way too Long

• After leading RIMM to the top of brand respectability, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis relaxed as the company rapid cooled off in competitiveness
• With Balsillie and Lazaridis still on the board and the majority shareholders will Heins have any say?

Apple, Google, etc. are too strong

• Already lost 75% of previous market share to competitors (less than 9% in the US right now)
• Apple and Google have protected their market share by aggressiveness, something RIM has lacked
• Apple could purchase RIM and all of its assets from its revenues in the latest quarter alone

Research in Motion needs to return to its loyal customer base; professionals and its hallmark; security, sleek design and efficiency.  Heins and Stymiest have strong backgrounds and must push the company for reliability and efficiency.

Although branching out and trying to steal some of the iPhone and Android market might seem logical, RIM needs to allocate its resources to damage control. Shareholders and customers are demanding RIM to stop with the excuses and return to their prominent niche.