RIM was taken completely taken off guard when Apple’s iPhone became an overnight success, according to a former RIM employee.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]”RIM didn’t expect iphone to take off the way it did because it was so badly flawed from day one,” the former RIM employee said in a Reuters report [PDF]. “They believed that users wanted great battery life, great security, great mail handling, minimal network use, and a great keyboard experience. They never expected users didn’t care.”

Speaking as an iPhone user from the beginning, and a former BlackBerry user, I find the battery life, security and mail handling of the iPhone to be exceptional.

Of course, RIM seems to have misjudged the popularity of the iPad as well. In recent interviews Reuters said RIM co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie “have painted the playBook as a gilded object blessed with perfect timing and pedigree.”

“For me, it’s all about mobile computing and always was. And it’s about always choosing the right moment, the right time, the right technology,” said Lazaridis.

It seems to me the right time was last year, but of course, RIM is a follower, not a leader. And what about Apple selling 15 million iPads and its control of the tablet market?

“We decided the tablet market was still in its infancy, it hasn’t really taken off yet,” said Lazaridis.