RE: A Better Understanding! Mr_Market, I have been the first to point out that RIM is a speculative investment. As you point out, it does not pay a dividend, its fundamentals are deteriorating, and it is in a very competitive industry where in many ways it is behind. That's why I have limited my investment in RIM to a small part of my portfolio. And as the saying goes, high risk high reward.
Posters get the respect they deserve. If they mindlessly bash or pump a stock irrespective of the facts, they deserve little. If they criticize the company/stock based on facts in a rational way, that's great and adds to the forum. There is certainly room enough for criticism in RIM's case.
I would take issue with your overall premise that if you can't hold a stock for 10+ years you shouldn't invest in it. You buy stocks when they are cheap, and sell them when they are dear. If they go from cheap to dear in five years, why would you hold it for even longer if better opportunities exist? Using your example, you wouldn't have bought Apple until it started paying a dividend, by which time most of the easy gains had already been made. Also, companies experiencing rapid growth in new markets can often do better by shareholders by investing in the business rather than distributing capital.