Keeping the Sidekick name wasn't an option unless they continued to partner with T-Mobile, the owner of that trademark. Their first action WRT to T-Mobile was to cancel all future Sidekick development, only to be forced by Danger's contract to develop one more phone. After that show of bad faith it's hard to imagine fruitful future collaboration and any possibility of that was probably lost when they put the Sidekick backend on life support (while no doubt getting paid for the old level of service) and then screwed it up so badly.
Your general point is well made, but when the project became nothing more than a check box for a turf obsessed manager it's hard to see how it could succeed in any market. Steve Ballmer presumably have cared about its success, but that hardly matters when he allows the people below them to play these games without fear of retribution.
Your general point is well made, but when the project became nothing more than a check box for a turf obsessed manager it's hard to see how it could succeed in any market. Steve Ballmer presumably have cared about its success, but that hardly matters when he allows the people below them to play these games without fear of retribution.