Blackberry Playbook no hype, no lines, no one really cares

[lsvtecjohn3]

The way the tablet market is shaping up the iPad is going to have the iPod market share numbers.

With the bad reviews I have seen about the Playbook it looks like it's going to do Xoom numbers.

Unless these other manufacturers can get their tablets starting at $399 I don't see them having a chance.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

What kind of business need such a high security level ? Bank ? Beside that do you think hacker care about x or y business ? Security is a biaise selling point create by rim ? If use properly ipad can do the job in term of security for most business ?[/

You must not work in a corporate climate. Security is a really big concern in the business world. Even corporate emails can contain sensitive company info that needs to be kept secure.

iOS supports data storage encryption for applications that want to take advantage of it.

in the end, almost anything could eventually be hacked, regardless of how business oriented is.

 

[steviem]

I do like how RIM has found a way to make their tablet basically useless without one of THEIR phones.

At least with the iPad, you activate it with your Mac or PC (oooh - some choice there RIM....) and you don't really need to connect it to your computer after unless you like to get new media on there from your computer.

One of the great things about tablets is being able to read and reply to your email or actually look at your calendar, with a need to be tethered to another device just to see these wherever you are isn't practical for me.

Saying that, HP's approach with Synergy looks much more compelling.

 

[eastercat]

Reviews are not so good for playbook. Those reviews may be hurt the playbook launch day ?

I think it's more the fact that a blackberry is required to access minor apps, like e-mail, calendar and address book. Of course, the blackberry-free apps are going to be available later, but that's like going to a restaurant and getting a half-baked cake. This kind of stupidity makes me shake my head.
I understand why RIM did this, security-wise, but it's not going to help them in the consumer market. Shipping products not ready for launch is dumb.
On the plus side, it looks like they've met the apple price point, which seems to be the one really smart thing they did--unlike, cough, Motorola.

 

[stridemat]

SNIP

Every day a new tablet is announced and is almost as quickly forgotten, like so many remora riding a shark. It almost seems as if the competition is helping the iPad rather than hurt it.

Good comment. All 'other' tablets are doing at the moment are highlighting their shortfalls against the iPad 2.

 

[Consultant]

Arguably the Playbook isn't aimed at the same sorts of consumers as the iPad, in fact some observers are suggesting it's not really a consumer product at all, especially since it has to be paired with a Blackberry handset.

So the fact that there are no lines or hype is fairly irrelevant. Time will tell if it manages to carve out its own niche in the tablet market.

Wrong. Most of the failbook's product images show games games and games.

 

[GadgetAddict]

...lets hope HP's TouchPad can give Apple some competition.

+1. It's coming out sometime in June, right?

As for the Playbook, I don't know how its future is going to be. Personally I never got along with BB devices.

 

[EthanNixon]

I sold my iPad 2 to reinvest in the BlackBerry system. I purchased my PlayBook today and I am happy with it, there are still flaws. The flaws I have couldn't be done on the iPad either, but I expected them to work on the PlayBook since it has Flash built into its core.

The only major disappointment I have is my online job's website doesn't work. It literally crashes the browser. It works fine on every other device too...

I am overall happy with my decision.

 

[VTMac]

The iPad isn't really designed for a secure business environment. Not to say it doesn't work in that capacity, but RIM's products are designed with security in mind. And many companies already have built-in support for BB via BES. For many companies looking to adopt tablets, the PlayBook makes a lot of sense...

Ya. RIMs products are extremely secure, unless of course you use your device in certain countries where the governments basically said hand over the encryption keys or leave. Note that RIM is still in said countries and as of last week RIMs co-CEO still refuses to public state that RIM have not given those governments access. He says the question is "unfair".

There are many reasonable things to claim the Playbook is better at than an iPad. Security is not one of them. The centralized approach that RIM uses is exactly what gov't and law enforcement types world wide love. A single point of snooping.

 

[iPadThai]

All I can tell you is this:

When I hear the word Blackberry, I instantly cringe and think of the lame phone device. I would not buy anything Blackberry branded.

And yes, I put my $1300 down on two ipad 2's...so I don't care about Blackberry play-anything.

 

[PBz]

All I can tell you is this:

When I hear the word Blackberry, I instantly cringe and think of the lame phone device. I would not buy anything Blackberry branded.

And yes, I put my $1300 down on two ipad 2's...so I don't care about Blackberry play-anything.

When I hear Blackberry I think email but apparently RIM is on that WestCoastWackyWeed cause it ain't got friggin' email.. wassup with that?

 

[Mac.World]

I sold my iPad 2 to reinvest in the BlackBerry system. I purchased my PlayBook today and I am happy with it, there are still flaws. The flaws I have couldn't be done on the iPad either, but I expected them to work on the PlayBook since it has Flash built into its core.

The only major disappointment I have is my online job's website doesn't work. It literally crashes the browser. It works fine on every other device too...

I am overall happy with my decision.

In the end, you own happiness is what matters. Besides, you'll be one of the few in the world with a Playbook. Hopefully, RIM will still support the Playbook in 6 months time.

 

[steve31]

I sold my iPad 2 to reinvest in the BlackBerry system. I purchased my PlayBook today and I am happy with it, there are still flaws. The flaws I have couldn't be done on the iPad either, but I expected them to work on the PlayBook since it has Flash built into its core.

The only major disappointment I have is my online job's website doesn't work. It literally crashes the browser. It works fine on every other device too...

I am overall happy with my decision.

I am happy with my ipad but I want a small 7inch tablet. So I went out and bought a Playbook today. I would say it still needs some minor tweaks and a lot more apps and a proper mail app but I have got to say that it is really impressive. Very fast and I love the multitasking on it. Give it a few months and I would say that Rim will have a real winner.

 

[tim916]

Yeah.

The playbook has potential, but right now it's just that...potential.

So many of the key parts of the os are missing at launch.

And this is why the playbook is DOA. Products like this have to be great from the start. I would not be surprised if RIM abandons this thing in a few months.

 

[falconeight]

I have both Ipad 2 and the playbook. They are both nice but different. I am watching hulu's website right now on the playbook which is awesome. Netflix on Ipad is also great.

 

[steadysignal]

I'm going to wait a bit to judge the Playbook's lifespan and not base it on a Best Buy employee's text message (who no offense to your friend, are mostly idiots).

mostly the operative word - leaning toward the high side of mostly.

its not because they are lazy, its that they just don't care...

 

[filmbuff]

I think the Playbook is going to do alright. I know reviews aren't good right now and it's lacking some features but it has the Blackberry name behind it. That is going to be a huge advantage when it comes to selling it to busnesspeople.

However, I think all the tablet companies are making a huge mistake by marketing their tablets "for businesses". A comany is going to be much more likely to buy its employees ipads that have a good standing in the consumer market and tons of apps than a Playbook, just because RIM says it's good for business.

 

[DougFNJ]

I sold my iPad 2 to reinvest in the BlackBerry system. I purchased my PlayBook today and I am happy with it, there are still flaws. The flaws I have couldn't be done on the iPad either, but I expected them to work on the PlayBook since it has Flash built into its core.

The only major disappointment I have is my online job's website doesn't work. It literally crashes the browser. It works fine on every other device too...

I am overall happy with my decision.

And happiness with our decisions....that's the important thing, that is all that counts

RIM unfortunately lost me. They had me for a long time with a good solid secure OS with excellent battery life that simply just worked. Then they released the iPhone killing Blackberry Storm, and introduced bugs into their platform with less battery life. If that wasn't enough they convinced me to upgrade to the much better Storm 2....that one REALLY killed the iPhone, eh? I sooo miss typing on the keyboard and having a letter freeze and stay frozen in the middle of a long email forcing the infamous battery pull followed by the nice long boot time completely assisting me in losing my train of thought on what I was typing to begin with.

While this was all going on, I had my iPod Touch and newly released iPad. I was LOVING the platform and couldn't wait until the ultimate release of the iPhone for Verizon. I have been in heaven ever since, this ultimately got me to move to Mac.

I still say competition is great. I am looking forward to seeing how HP competes with the WebOS platform, and I am also looking forward to seeing where Blackberry goes with their Phone OS moving forward. One thing HP and Blackberry are doing right is single device per platform on the tablets and a number of choices on your phones. This of course opposes to Android strategy with a Device release per day with too many manufacturers in their shuffle.

Exciting times for tech enthusiasts as we get to watch the mobile market unfold and see who will put up the good fights for marketshares. It's like watching the Personal Computing companies from a decade ago. Kind of funny how Microsoft isn't really in the mix much here this time isn't it? I don't count them out with the Nokia partnership behind the scenes....

 

[Nebrie]

Arguably the Playbook isn't aimed at the same sorts of consumers as the iPad, in fact some observers are suggesting it's not really a consumer product at all, especially since it has to be paired with a Blackberry handset.

So the fact that there are no lines or hype is fairly irrelevant. Time will tell if it manages to carve out its own niche in the tablet market.

That would be easy to accept if not for their Co-CEOs running around screaming about how they were going to crush the iPad for over half a year.

 

[iserian]

My PB just arrived. Nothing really new to add from all of the reviews that came out in the past 10 days. I really like the form factor - hardware build quality is very nice and so is the screen. Tethering it to my BOLD and email, calender etc... work nicely. It was built to run flash (See flash sub-system) and as expected is quite polished in this area.

The PB is not competing against the Ipad or even the xoom for that matter - its a tethered tablet at present. I expect it will be several months before it can even be used outside of the business environment with success.

 

[eastercat]

I would've figured by now you'd take that with a grain of salt.
I take those proclamations about as seriously as I take the headlines of the ipod killer, iphone killer, ipad killer . . .

That would be easy to accept if not for their Co-CEOs running around screaming about how they were going to crush the iPad for over half a year.

 

[darngooddesign]

...its not because they are lazy, its that they just don't care...

And they need to bridge to a BB phone to put a cover letter on their TPS Reports.

 

[silverblack]

I could have given the BB playbook or the Samsung Xoom a try... only if my life is so integrated with Apple's apps (Mail, Calendar, Contact, Safari, MobileMe sync) and hardware (iMac, Macbook Air, iPhone). I played with an Andriod phone for 2 weeks, and had to sell it because I couldn't stand using Google's Gmail, G-contact, etc. I am so deep into Apple's trap and is so hard to switch.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

And this is why the playbook is DOA. Products like this have to be great from the start. I would not be surprised if RIM abandons this thing in a few months.

You mean like the original iPhone?

Oh...wait.

 

[cwerdna]

it doesn't seem like people care much

I started a thread at http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=456489 (you'll need an account there to view it) on 9/28/10 and it has a whopping 2 pages of activity, unlike the very active iPad and iPad 2 threads.

At least the demographic there is different than here and in theory, has a lower % of Apple fanboys and computer enthusiasts.

Even though it became available today, I was the first to break the news. The post immediately prior was also mine, on 4/13/11 when I pointed to a bunch of reviews.