In yesterday’s post, I quoted a great Benedict Evans piece in which he explained that Android’s marketplace, Google Play, was most likely a tactical afterthought. That is, Google created Android to compete for mobile search users and then figured out the rest as it went along.

Well, e-commerce is even more of an afterthought for RIM, which just this week, finally got around to launching an iTunes-like marketplace this week…

Yep, just when you though RIM was going to actually give up and concede defeat, they launch the media marketplace that BlackBerry users have been clamoring for since… 2009?

Remember when BlackBerry was the smart phone leader? Seems like a long time ago, right?

Starting this week, the BlackBerry App World has been re-branded as “BlackBerry World,” and its fully stocked with “millions” of songs available for free download for a 30-day trial period, according to TNW. After 30 days, BBMusic will cost users $4.99 per month.

That’s good news, right? BlackBerry users can finally enjoy the media connectivity that iOS and Android users have enjoyed for, well… years.

Okay… I guess there’s no reason to kick a former tech powerhouse while its down. And there are actually some original features available to BB users that are unique, if not modestly appealing.

For example, your $4.99/month apparently buys you 50 songs, 25 of which you can swap each month with others in the BB community. That’s cool, though it does require that you have some friends that use a BB. I don’t…

I get the idea here, and I think it a valiant effort on RIM’s part. But I’m not in the camp that believes music is, as Spotify founder Daniel Ek claims, inherently social.

As such, I think BB users would benefit much more from a true, e-commerce storefront, with a la carte songs and videos just like iTunes and Google Play offer.

According to CNET, movies and TV shows will also be available through BBWorld, but I can’t seem to find them in the navigation…

BlackBerry users — please feel free to chime in! What do you think of the new BBWorld? Do you like the music sharing scheme, or would you rather just buy music in a typical e-commerce format?