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The Outsiders Movie Trailer!

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Heritage Fair Multimedia!

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“Behind the Scenes” Of Mike Lazaridis and The Blackberry

Mike Lazaridis and The Blackberry

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 By: Saad 

 

Mike Lazaridis and The Blackberry

Canada is a great country. What makes Canada a great country is the Canadian heritage. The Canadian heritage includes the Canadian people, places events, history and inventions. One person who has helped Canada become a better country is Mike Lazaridis. Mike Lazaridis has put an impact on Canadian Heritage by inventing one of the most innovative inventions in Canadian History, the BlackBerry.

Mike Lazaridis was born on March 14, 1961 in Istanbul, Turkey. Late in 1966, Mike’s family sailed with his uncle Paul and his family, across the Atlantic Ocean with all their valuables in three suitcases. Two of the three suitcases were large and one of them was small. Mike, who was five years old at that time, stood at the stern of the ship flying his plastic airplane kite, beginning the path of a new life. As a kid Mike always loved science and wondered how things worked. Mike’s family moved and settled in Windsor, Ontario. Ada C. Richards public school was so close to their house that Mike’ s mom could watch him walk through their neighbor’s yard, across the playground and in the school. The basement of the house became Mike and his friend’s private lab. They would do all kinds of science experiments in the basement. Mike was into electronics, Doug Fergin made model airplanes and Ken Wood’s mom was a chemistry teacher who provided them with the ingredients they needed for their science experiments. Mike spent so much time at the Windsor Public Library that when he was twelve years old, he won an award for reading every science book in the Windsor Public Library. Mike’s family was so poor at that time that his dad couldn’t afford a sled but that was no problem. They got two pieces of wood from the garage and there was some left over metal from building the garage door. They cut the wood so it had a curve to it. Then they had some cross braces, a piece of metal and a few nails to hold the wooden frame. Next, they put a rope in it and painted it white and blue. Mike had a sled now to go sledding with his friends down the big hill in the schoolyard. All it took was one afternoon to build the sled. At W.F Herman Secondary school, Mike and his friend Doug Fergin took combined academic subjects with technical shops, which was a fairly difficult curriculum that only a very few students took. Mike became skilled in a variety of areas. He also took science and technology courses to be acceptable and succeed in the university.

Mike chose to attend the University of Waterloo. The University of Waterloo was three hours east of Windsor, which is more than halfway to Toronto. Because of Mike’s family being poor, he had to take help from a Co-op program that combined study terms with paid work experience. He also applied for two scholarships won both, which were added to his earnings. In Mike’s final year at Waterloo, Mike started thinking of starting a business of his own. So he phoned Doug Fergin, Mike’s friend since grade school and said,” I’m thinking of starting a company. I need your help”. That‘s all Doug needed to hear and he dropped out of the University of Waterloo. Graduation seemed pointless to Mike. The rules of the university also allowed taking a two year leave from studies. If things didn’t go well, Mike would return anytime during those two years and continue on with his studies. However, this required a personal permission from the president of the university. The president of the university was Doug Wright, who was also a former dean of engineering. So Mike met with him who listened patiently to what Mike had to say and supported him with his business plans. Then Doug leaned forward looking directly at Mike, and said,” speaking personally, just between you and me, go for it.” So Mike postponed his graduation.

Mike’s first choice for the name of his company was Paradigm Research, but he was told that it was already taken. One evening, Mike was watching a story on his old Black-and-white TV about football players trying to improve their running skills. As the footage went on, the words at the bottom said: “Poetry in motion”. That’s when it hit Mike. He applied “Research In Motion” for the registration and it got accepted. On March 7, 1984, research In Motion (RIM) was officially established by Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fergin. Even if Mike’s parents were not happy with the decision he made of postponing graduation, they lent him $15000 to help start his business. Mike and Doug rented a 500 square-feet two-room office on the second floor of a strip mall. Monthly rent of the office was $330. The business phone number 519-880-RIML (7465) is still the same today. RIM won a $600,000 contract from General Motors, known as GM, for making a 6 by 1 feet LED panels. In 1986, Mike awarded Micheal Barnstyn and Doug Fergin with 20 percent of the ownership. RIM’s fortunes had improved to the point where the company was able to move to a larger location.

In 1992, Mike started to struggle business side of operations. He had hardware engineers and software developers and innovative thinkers who could solve any technical problems but he badly needed help with the business side of operations. Then Mike was joined by James Laurence Balsillie. James was known by the name of Jim Balsillie. Jim was born in a small town of Ontario called Seafort in 1961. Jim was five weeks older than Mike. Jim joined RIM in August 1992 as RIM’s new vice-president of finance and business development. Jim invested $125,000 and Mike awarded him with 33% of the ownership making Doug and Micheal 13% each. The arrival of Jim Balsillie was a turning point for the company. As Jim settled into his role, Mike made the decision of giving him the title of chief executive officer.

In March 1998, RIM came up with 36 products and eliminated 30 of them in order to focus on what this new device would be. RIM was finalized with a hand held wireless Person Digital Assistant (PDA). RIM’s focus for the new device was the ability of e-mailing or texting whenever a few minutes became available. This new device also needed a name. In August 1998, RIM hired David Placek, the founder and president of Lexicon Branding Inc., of Sausalito California, in the search of a suitable name for the device. By 1999, the device was ready to be sold but it still needed a name. David noticed that the oval keys on the keypad looked like berry seeds. Then David was hit by the simple fact that the handheld was black. So he thought, why not call it Blackberry. Lexicon presented 40 names to a group that included Mike Lazaridis, Jim Balsillie, Dave Castell, and three more of the RIM’s employees. The name “BlackBerry” was the last out of all forty. After they were done showing the names, Mike said in a very loud voice, “I don’t like any of the names.” Everyone fell silent but after a while he said, “Except for the last one.” That’s how Blackberry was born.

Now BlackBerry is known all over the world. BlackBerry is designed for e-mailing, texting, web surfing, video recording, and GPS etc. It comes with a built in QWERT keypad, camera, multi-media and social networking softwares, wireless internet connectivity etc. It has software called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) which makes calls better quality and cheaper. RIM generates an annual revenue of approximately 15 billion dollars. It had employees up to 12000 in 2010. RIM’s international corporation worth was $68 billion by the end of year 2007. Fortune Magazine ranked RIM number one on the list of “100 fastest growing companies in the world.”

RIM’s success provided generous support to their communities and country. On April 30, 2004, Mike Lazaridis also donated $33.3 million to the Institute for Quantum Computing. In 2002, Mike was awarded Canada’s national builder of the year by globe and mail.

The invention of BlackBerry has affected Canada a lot. Now people can contact each other without going on the computer. RIM has produced lots of BlackBerry models including Electron, Pearl, Curve, Bold, Storm, Torch, and many more. RIM plans on producing such device that will make iPad look like a piece of junk. Who knows what the future holds for BlackBerry.

This is the “behind the scenes” of BlackBerry.

My 46 Million Dollars Wish List!

Letter to Sodapop

Dear brother, Sodapop. It’s me Ponyboy. I miss you a lot. I am writing to you about what happened the night I ran away. I know you are worried but I’m fine.

When I ran away that night, Johnny and I ran to the park. I had no idea what I was doing. Johnny calmed me down and I decided to come back. We started to walk when a blast from a car horn made us both jump. The blue mustang was circling the park slowly. Five Socs got out of the mustang and started to walk towards us. It was Randy, Bob and three other Socs. I ducked and tried to run but the Soc caught my arm and twisted it behind my back. Then the Soc shoved my face in the fountain. I fought, but the hand behind my neck was too strong. I though and wondered what was happening to Johnny. I held my breath too long. I couldn’t hold it anymore. Then a red gaze filled my mind and I slowly relaxed. The next thing I knew I was laying on the pavement beside the fountain, coughing water. I pushed myself up and leaned against the fountain. Johnny was sitting next to me. He was a strange greenish-white and his eyes were hunger than I’d ever seen them. Bob, the handsome Soc was lying there in the moonlight, doubled up and still. Johnny had killed Bob. After a while we ran because the police was going to be there soon. We needed a plan to get away and a gun to protect us. We didn’t have any idea how we were going to get the gun. Dally was the only one who could provide us the gun and the plan. So we ran to Dally’s and got the guide. After that we got on a cargo train and according to the plan, we got off at our stop, which is Windrixville. We are staying in an old church right now.

I might come back home, but I am not sure yet. The police think that we are headed to Texas. So obviously we are not going to Texas. I have no idea where we are going next. We can’t stay here either because the police is going to be here soon. I’ll inform you when I get more information. Keep in touch!

Sincerely,

Ponyboy Curtis

Similarities between Ponyboy and Greg

          Ponyboy and Greg are two very different people. Ponyboy comes from a place where poverty and crime are common. He lives with his two older brothers since his parents are dead. The oldest one is Darry Curtis, second-oldest is Sodapop Curtis, and Ponyboy is the youngest. Ponyboy and Sodapop are both in a gang called “The Greasers.” Greg comes from an ideal family with parents who love him dearly. Greg has two brothers, one older and one younger. The older one is Rodrick and the younger one is Mandy. Even though, they are two different people, they do share similarities.

            Both Ponyboy and Greg have the important similarity of needing to fit in. Ponyboy tries to fit in his gang even if he likes books and has a high I.Q. He tries to fit in by wearing clothes like the greasers, making his hair like the greasers and acting like the greasers. Steve Randle, Sodapop’s best buddy since grade school thinks that Ponyboy is a tag along. On the other hand, Greg does anything to fit in his middle school. He wrestles, becomes a safety patrol officer. He even sings to try to fit in. Not to mention being mean to his best friend. Greg tells his best friend that he dresses funny, he doesn’t know anything about being cool. Greg even breaks his best friend’s arm and doesn’t even apologize. He is not loyal to his friend. So both, Greg and Ponyboy are insecure and don’t think that just being themselves would be good.

            Another important similarity is that Ponyboy and Greg are both bullied. Ponyboy is bullied by his brother and the Socs. The Socs is another gang from the west side of the city. Darry doesn’t want Ponyboy to get in trouble that’s why Ponyboy is under strict orders. Greg is picked on by Rodrick, his older brother and Patty, a girl he knew from younger grade. Rodrick is a jerk and he didn’t do well in middle school that’s why he doesn’t want Greg to do well. Patty on the other hand bullied Greg because he made fun of her name in younger grades. So she is getting back at Greg for making fun of her name.

            The last important similarity that I noticed is that they both don’t use their heads. What I mean by “not using their heads” is that they don’t think. They both are dreamers. They jump to conclusions. For example, Greg thought that he can be popular if he wrestled. Why can’t he just be himself? For Ponyboy a perfect example is when he walked home by himself. He could have got one of the gang members to come but he didnt , so he got jumped by the Soc.  Ponyboy also tries to fit in by acting and dressing like the greasers. Why can’t he just be himself?

            So there are some similarities that Ponyboy and Greg both share. Even though they come from a very different place and time. There are many other similarities that they share, but I think these three are the most important ones. They both are bullied, both try to fit in and both don’t use their heads. What if Ponyboy did have his parents, do you think that they would have the same similarities then?