A Brief History Of The BlackBerry

BlackBerrys are cult devices, inspiring a kind of slavish devotion perhaps matched only by Apple products. But while Apple's corporate history is familiar to many, no one has written a comprehensive corporate history of Research In Motion, the company behind the iconic BlackBerry.

Canadian historian and author Alastair Sweeny is set to release the first such book in September. Called BlackBerry Planet: The Story of Research in Motion and the Little Device that Took the World by Storm, it tracks the evolution of the BlackBerry from RIM co-founder Mike Lazaridis' 1960s childhood to present day. Forbes reached Sweeny at his Ottawa home to discuss Lazaridis' similarity to Steve Jobs, what RIM thinks of his book and why future BlackBerrys may morph into telepathic gadgets he calls "telebrain." …