Unlike the iPhone set in our office, when confronted with a recent upgrade decision I went for the new BlackBerry Storm. The subject of much discussion on various blogs, the merits of the device are a subject for another day.

Until I went home over Christmas and did the software upgrade on the phone I would have recommended carrying out open heart surgery on yourself with a rusty spoon rather than own a Storm. However – since completing this upgrade the phone works a lot better, runs quicker and generally does what I ask of it.

My point is why on earth this phone was allowed onto the market in it’s utterly useless and infuriating state? A lot of reviews have suggested that the Storm was launched too early – and rightly so. It quite clearly wasn’t ready.

As PR sorts this presents another problem. BlackBerry has built a fantastic reputation for efficient phones that are the best for business sorts and email access. The recently launched Bold is a good example of this. So why on earth did they let the Storm launch when they did? Now RIM has risked its reputation by launching a product too soon.

As PR people we are often way down the list of decision makers on when a product is launched, with the executives and accountants dictating when a launch takes place. But this is a good example of how a product launched too soon can potentially destroy months or even years of good PR work.