No doubt if they had Playbooks in front of them they'd constantly be taking time out from their news broadcasts to do "important work" on the Playbooks.
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Blackberry Playbook no hype, no lines, no one really cares
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No doubt if they had Playbooks in front of them they'd constantly be taking time out from their news broadcasts to do "important work" on the Playbooks.
Poorly prepared
The problem with this device right now has nothing to do with the device itself, the problem is that Blackberry is so unprepared after all this time. They obviously are hoping to appeal to the enterprise market first, but as of this moment their bridge software isn't yet supported by AT&T and the unit itself won't do what enterprise users would expect it to do. Who wants to have to go through the hassle of having to bridge this device to another device simply to be able to check your contacts or send an email even when you have a wifi connection to access. They are totally unprepared to make sure their long term customers can use the device without a hassle. At the same time, at least here in the US, Blackberry's smartphone market share is plummeting. Well if you don't appeal to the consumer market and you're unprepared for the enterprise market, you have really set yourself up for a struggle. The quality of the hardware and the basic OS might be enough to save the playbook over time, but I don't think it's ever gonna have the impact that Blackberry thinks it will. 6-8% of the table market tops after a couple of years....maybe.
The problem with this device right now has nothing to do with the device itself, the problem is that Blackberry is so unprepared after all this time. They obviously are hoping to appeal to the enterprise market first, but as of this moment their bridge software isn't yet supported by AT&T and the unit itself won't do what enterprise users would expect it to do. Who wants to have to go through the hassle of having to bridge this device to another device simply to be able to check your contacts or send an email even when you have a wifi connection to access. They are totally unprepared to make sure their long term customers can use the device without a hassle. At the same time, at least here in the US, Blackberry's smartphone market share is plummeting. Well if you don't appeal to the consumer market and you're unprepared for the enterprise market, you have really set yourself up for a struggle. The quality of the hardware and the basic OS might be enough to save the playbook over time, but I don't think it's ever gonna have the impact that Blackberry thinks it will. 6-8% of the table market tops after a couple of years....maybe.
At this point in time the Playbook is meant to be a companion to your Blackberry and echo its mail app. So it's really on sale for BB owners right now.
Later on, RIM says they plan to add standalone mail clients to attract regular consumers.
In my case, I don't care about corporate mail access on the Playbook, so I'm quite happy using web based GMail over WiFi around my home office. I also have plenty of other devices to view mail on, so it's not a huge factor for me. YMMV
No kidding... it's certainly a messy launch in several ways, from boot problems, to slow download servers, to ATT being jerks and not wanting to support the tether (which people found a way around anyway).
But c'mon. It's from Canada, eh? Give them a break. (I joke; I've spent tons of time there and love everyone!)
I think the device and OS are sweet enough that if RIM keeps moving forward, it'll do fine. Delays are not an option. Palm showed us that.
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And you know this because you work at the station? Maybe you're part of the broadcast? Part of the camera crew perhaps? I fail to see how putting unused iPads on their desks and taking up precious real estate helps the broadcast. I'm sure there is a reason for their presence.
These can be used as toys if you wish. They can also be used for lots of other things. The app you're using defines whether the iPad is a toy or not. That's the beauty of touch screen gadgets these days; when it's just a big pane of glass (or small one if you're using a smartphone), it can turn into whatever the developer wants it to turn into. It can be a mixing board, a guitar, a blank canvas to draw on, a word processor, a game with 1,000 buttons, whatever you want.
If you think it's a toy then you probably have only bothered using it as a toy.
It's a toy if you want it to be a toy, or if you have no business application for it.
I don't use it as a toy at all, for me it's an invaluable business tool. I think it will depend quite a lot on what you do for a living, and if you value mobile connectivity and applications as part of your business day.
It's almost the flipside for me, a laptop is pretty much a toy for me now. Most of my working day is now spent on the iPad and not on the laptop.
I'm curious as to why you come to macrumors.com and push non-Apple stuff so much. And please don't take that statement as me trying to start an argument or a flame war--I'm really trying to ask respectfully. I'm just curious--you always seem to spread the gospel of whatever is NOT an Apple product. How can you possibly defend this thing? Why on earth would you want to sell a tablet at launch without integrated e mail? Yes, I know you can go online and get it, but it just seems dumb to release an internet device that needs a phone attached to it to run native e mail.
Furthermore, why would you want to buy a tablet that's most likely DOA?
One thing to remember is that the Playbook doesn't even have access to the Android Market. Per http://crackberry.com/press-release...em-blackberry-playbook-android-apps-playbook:
Competition is good, but RIMM just made some really odd choices with this thing, and it's hard to defend it after they hyped it up so much. Maybe it will sell well, and if it does, then whatever. But they need to fix some stuff.
The ITC is quite secondary. The main business is a proper court case. But everyone having patents also goes whining to the ITC to stop products from being imported to the USA; that will actually happen in the very rarest of cases. Nokia whined to the ITC first, then Apple did the same, then the ITC rejected Nokia's request, and now they rejected Apple's request. That's just normal.
For a tablet that's supposedly sporting killer hardware, having it tripped up, by something as undemanding as Twitter in the browser, (10:50 in) is a tad poor.
More software optimization is needed.
Proof, that specs alone ain't gonna cut it.
More software optimization is needed.
Proof, that specs alone ain't gonna cut it.
Let's be clear. I never start a thread on other devices. I'm in responsive mode only, as are many others here who also post corrections and counterviews on various device topics. Lord knows there's enough misinformation around here.
I don't evangelize other devices unless they're brought up. As it happens, I can see positives in most gizmos
As for Apple's stuff, well, good grief, there's plenty of people here who are capable of defending their products.
How can I defend RIM's decision? Because it does makes sense in an enterprise environment. You have no idea what hoops we go through trying to get field applications approved because of data security worries. Email and calendars are the last things we care about in a non-consumer device... and that's what this currently is IMO.
As in the days of old with IBM, nobody gets fired for recommending RIM!
I don't think it's going to be DOA in the enterprise. That's my bread and butter.
Click on my name, choose Public Profile, then About Me.
I'm a senior mobile developer, contracted to various customers, developing on multiple platforms. So of course I buy as many iOS, WebOS, RIM, Android, WinMo and J2ME devices as I can, to develop and test UI experience on.
Also, knowledge is power. Sometimes I buy devices just so I can speak intelligently about them, from experience instead of hearsay.
For example, not long ago I picked up used Eris, Intercept, Droid and Galaxy phones from eBay, to see if it was true what people said about delays etc. I was concerned in case a customer wanted to use an app on them. Turned out some of the speed and fragmentation issues were not anywhere as bad as a few bloggers and posters had claimed.
Cheers! KD
Well, I think you missed my point. The iPad, iPod, iPhone (Apple's whole brand in general) is an aberration, the electronic version of Elvis or Michael Jackson if you will. If you judge every other performer based upon the popularity of those two cultural icons, all of them will come up failures. But you don't, because you know that they are the exceptions in the industry, not the norm. They are in a category of their own. My point is that for whatever reason, at this point that's where the iPad is in the tablet market. The iPad isn't the leader in the tablet market because it's become it's own market. You have the iPad, and then tablets, just like you have cellphones, and then you have the iPhone...a device thought of as a product category of its own. The day iPads become just tablets in the minds of consumers is the day the lines will go away and Apple will lose its dominance.
So comparing the Playbook to other tablets is fair. Comparing the Playbook, or any tablet, to the iPad, at least right now, is just unfair.
Hulu doesnt work on a PlayBook so dont know where that came from, it is blocked.
The PlayBook has great potential, and it brings some great things to the tablet market that Apple should incorporate into its next iPad.
1. Real Multi-Tasking
2. A more seamless way of switching between apps
3. A touch sensitive bezel
4. OTA updates
5. Wireless file sharing (which might be a feature that is now part of iOS that I don't know about, I had the first gen. iPad a few months back)
Competition is a good thing, makes everything better for us the consumers.
I also agree that the iPad is not part of the tablet market, it is its own market. The iPad is to tablets what the Kindle is to eReaders. The iPad is by far the best tablet on the market, but there are tons of things that its missing that are present in other tablets like the things I mentioned above. That's why we need competition, because we need these features to be included in the iPad.
1. Real Multi-Tasking
2. A more seamless way of switching between apps
3. A touch sensitive bezel
4. OTA updates
5. Wireless file sharing (which might be a feature that is now part of iOS that I don't know about, I had the first gen. iPad a few months back)
Competition is a good thing, makes everything better for us the consumers.
I also agree that the iPad is not part of the tablet market, it is its own market. The iPad is to tablets what the Kindle is to eReaders. The iPad is by far the best tablet on the market, but there are tons of things that its missing that are present in other tablets like the things I mentioned above. That's why we need competition, because we need these features to be included in the iPad.
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I think the opposite actually, as do most analysts; though they're wrong all the time so maybe that's a good sign?
Everything is pointing towards the "consumerization" of the corporate world so I don't know how this will fair for them.
http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-chart-blackberry-playbook-2011-4
This same thing about having a blackberry device to use email and contacts just boggles my mind. What kind of people are running this company? I'm surprised it doesn't violate any antitrust laws or something. Playbook is just another palm pre waiting to happen.
Heaven knows I'm not a huge RIM fan. I got dragged kicking and screaming into programming for Blackberrys about five years ago, yet have slowly gained some respect for their setup.
It's always possible that such a survey could come true, although I take little stock in surveys about future buying. They always end up incorrect. And RIM has always sold enterprise first, consumer second, the opposite of that article's predictions.
The reality, I think, is that corporations have a huge investment in RIM infrastructure, and that isn't going to be given up lightly.
In addition, RIM still rules without peer in some areas. How many times have you heard of someone hacking a Blackberry? Right, it's nearly impossible. Plus battery longevity is tops. As for the future, combining QNX and The Amazing Tribe's work together is a brilliant move, and has incredible potential.
Umm. So I think that many people are trying to fit the Playbook square peg into the iPad round hole. The fact is, not everything has to fit the same target market.
Yes, their share of the overall consumer market is dropping, but that's because of Android pushing everyone, even Apple, aside. But just like Apple, RIM's sales continue to climb and that tells me that predictions of their death are hugely overrated.
Regards.
as of right now having the ipad 2 and playbook I like using the playbook more. the portability, battery life, and full web experience are perfect for me. Don't get me wrong the ipad is better its just very big to carry and difficult to use the keyboard. its just a different experience.
I played around with the Playbook yesterday finally. You make some interesting points. Excellent portability, yet for some reason it feels a little cramped, had me desiring a little larger of a screen. I fault it to not zooming in on paragraphs on double taps. I like the portability, yet feel if I need the portability that much, I'll enjoy the experience in a little smaller of a format on my iPhone. the web froze and stalled periodically on me as well.
The OS has a lot of potential, it is definitely smoother than Android, and I would put it on par with iPad in regards to speed and GUI experience. Releasing it with no apps was not very smart. It allows android apps, but they don't yet have a store to sell them to you. No Kindle or Nook apps make it a poor dreaded, to be fair that will be fixed. It has potential, let's see how quick they get it up to spec with more versatility and it will probably sit in it's own market having Blackberry users, and those preferring the smaller screen.
I can't believe they launched it *WITHOUT* the essentials, namely Email, Contacts and Calendar. Who in their right mind at RIM made that decision?!
pac
Just played with one at BestBuy, obviously it still has a long list of flaws, but I was going to post a comment here about how "incredible" the multitasking is, and how "amazing" it is to have a full featured browser on a tablet. Then I realized how ridiculous these sound. Apple, please step up with iOS 5.