Show Notes

Chuck Howitt, author of BlackBerry Town joins Bob Jonkman to talk about writing, journalism, and technology.
You can buy BlackBerry Town Online at Lorimer or from Words Worth Books in downtown Waterloo.
The interview starts at 5m30s.
Online:
- Website: https://www.chuckhowitt.com/
- Twitter: @ChuckHowitt | Twitter
- Facebook: Chuck Howitt | Facebook
- Instagram: @chuckhowitt | Instagram
- YouTube: chunkhow | YouTube
- E-mail: chunkhow@gmail.com
Podcast
Download: ckms-community-connections-2020-11-30-episode069.mp3 (56.2 MB , 58m30s, episode 069)
Podcast Index
Time | Title | Artist | Album |
---|---|---|---|
0m00s | Theme for CKMS Community Connections ccc | Steve Todd | ![]() |
00m48s | Take It | In/Vertigo | ![]() |
4m27s | Bob introduces In/Vertigo, reads Keaton’s letter | ||
5m30s | Chuck Howitt talks about his time at The Record; how BlackBerry Town came to be; the research involved in writing a book; a rival book, Losing The Signal appears; finding a publisher with the help of Steve Izma; Lorimer Publishing accepts, but imposes a deadline. Chuck writes to meet the deadline; changes suggested by Lorimer made it a better book. Not a history book, but about people and stories and technology. Chuck explains what happened with RIM and its stock options. Talking about patents, patent trolls, and RIM’s patent lawsuit. What took BlackBerry down? Chuck thinks it was distractions (buying hockey teams, physics institutes), complacency, and failure to innovate. Discussing the technology offered by the competition. With RIM’s centralized infrastructure, how secure was the BlackBerry technology really? Chuck Howitt reads some excerpts from BlackBerry Town. Talking about other technology companies in Waterloo. “Unicorn companies”, worth billions of dollars on paper, but what are they really worth? Promoting the book in the media. Chuck is now writing a blog. How to buy the book: Online at Lorimer, IRL at Words Worth Books. Audio book on CKMS-FM? Stay tuned! | ||
57m10s | Empty To Fill and Bob Jonkman gives the end credits |
Peach & Quiet | ![]() |
CKMS Community Connections Hour One airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 on Monday from 11:00am to Noon, and Hour Two airs on Saturday from Noon to 1:00pm.
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Bonus Footage
YouTube: CKMS Community Connections for 30 November 2020
Show notes and podcast interview content is Copyright © 2020 by the participants, and released under a Creative Commons Attribution Only license. Copy, re-use, and deriviatives works are allowed with attribution to Radio Waterloo and a link to this page. Music selections are copyright by the respective rights holders.