Unfortunately, the way Mike Lazaridis was depicted in the recent Docudrama about BlackBerry it wasn't too far from the truth. They really believed Apple was lying about an all-touch, physical keyboard-less phone. Following the media buzz about the iPhone, Verizon put a lot of pressure on RIM to release a competitive device. The half-baked Storm 9500 was so rushed it released with a non-touch optimized OS that was hardly responsive to the piezo screen. Not to mention the bezel had such a gap around it that pocket lint often got stuffed in and under the screen, preventing the physical click. Sad.
Compounded by other failed strategic decisions/devices such as the PlayBook tablet and refusal to pay triple A developers to port their apps to BB10, it was a nail in the coffin by their own doing. There was such a hierarchical structure that completely stifled innovation.
A bitter-sweet story indeed.