O2 Refuses to sell BB Playbooks

[Blakjack]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/16/o2-uk-spurns-blackberry-playbook-cites-issues-with-end-to-end/

Today is the PlayBook's official launch day in the UK, but one of the island kingdom's biggest mobile players won't be taking part. O2 has apparently been reaching out to subscribers who've expressed an interest in acquiring RIM's 7-inch tablet on the network with word that the company "will not be selling the device." The communiqué to those users states that "unfortunately there are some issues with the end to end customer experience," though O2 continues to work with RIM on future PlayBook products and releases and doesn't rule out carrying this particular slate in the future. We reached out for an official statement and the company confirmed that it has no plans to sell the PlayBook at this time. Maybe once it gets a native email client, eh?

 

[jav6454]

Not having contacts, and email unless you have a BlackBerry paired is beyond idiotic. I can see where O2 is coming from.

 

[BergerFan]

RIM was more concerned with getting their multimedia players up to scratch, and ensuring this Business-Grade tablet shipped with Need For Speed Undercover installed, to worry about minor things, such as native email and calendaring.

 

[Mac.World]

O2 didn't want to deal with the huge headache of customers calling and complaining that they can't access their BB calendar/e-mail/etc. I don't blame O2 one bit.

 

[darngooddesign]

Not having contacts, and email unless you have a BlackBerry paired is beyond idiotic. I can see where O2 is coming from.

What's idiotic to some is extremely secure to others.

 

[Mac.World]

What's idiotic to some is extremely secure to others.

If you are selling to a corporation or business sure. Selling to the public, not so much of a selling point.

 

[jav6454]

What's idiotic to some is extremely secure to others.

The whole point of the PlayBook is sell to the consumer... lacking these features is not a way to sell to the consumer.

 

[wordoflife]

I'm sorry but this is a BlackBerry playbook. How did they not put a dedicated email client on it?!?!? 😱

 

[darngooddesign]

The whole point of the PlayBook is sell to the consumer... lacking these features is not a way to sell to the consumer.

Obviously, due to the BB Bridge thing, the point was to sell to Blackberry owning business users in corporations. While regular users would be nice, they are not the intended demographic BB wanted to sell to first.

I'm sorry but this is a BlackBerry playbook. How did they not put a dedicated email client on it?!?!? 😱

Because if you lose it there is no personal information on the tablet. The point is to connect it to a BlackBerry.

Right or wrong, I do understand their decision.

 

[BergerFan]

You're more likely to lose the phone, than the tablet, I reckon. 😀

 

[poloponies]

Because if you lose it there is no personal information on the tablet. The point is to connect it to a BlackBerry.

Right or wrong, I do understand their decision.

Which is why everyone is implementing "remote wipe" options for these devices. People are so up in arms when Apple imposes their will on users but somehow RIM convinces people that not having a mail app is actually a good thing?

 

[vrDrew]

Obviously, due to the BB Bridge thing, the point was to sell to Blackberry owning business users in corporations. .

I may be missing something here, but if RIM wanted to sell this thing to corporations, then why call it a Playbook? Especially since the strongest selling point seems to be the ability to output HDMI movies to a TV screen while the operator does something else..

But hey, it supposedly runs Flash. So I guess all those corporate types can spend their days earning points on Club Penguin or playing some of those awesome Flash games everyone keeps raving about. Which is just as well, because there isn't a lot else you can do with it. According to the (UK) Guardian:

Yes, the PlayBook has an app store, just like every other tablet out there! But what makes the PlayBook's special is that it has something else that Apple and Android can't boast in theirs: enormous empty spaces.

Bottom Line: They'll have a tough time convincing a lot of flinty-eyed MIS managers that the Playbook is a "must-have" accessory.

 

[Mr.C]

I may be missing something here, but if RIM wanted to sell this thing to corporations, then why call it a Playbook? Especially since the strongest selling point seems to be the ability to output HDMI movies to a TV screen while the operator does something else..

But hey, it supposedly runs Flash. So I guess all those corporate types can spend their days earning points on Club Penguin or playing some of those awesome Flash games everyone keeps raving about. Which is just as well, because there isn't a lot else you can do with it. According to the (UK) Guardian:



Bottom Line: They'll have a tough time convincing a lot of flinty-eyed MIS managers that the Playbook is a "must-have" accessory.

Good points.

 

[BergerFan]

Good Lawd. I just saw a totally cheesy PlayBook ad on tv here, highlighting how runs Flash.
Nothing wrong with that, but it went along these sort of lines: "Unlike other tablets, the BlackBerry PlayBook runs... FLASH!... Aaaaa!"(I'm not kidding).
Expect an Engadet post by Vlad, once it hits YouTube. 😀

 

[rdowns]

Good Lawd. I just saw a totally cheesy PlayBook ad on tv here, highlighting how runs Flash.
Nothing wrong with that, but it went along these sort of lines: "Unlike other tablets, the BlackBerry PlayBook runs... FLASH!... Aaaaa!"(I'm not kidding).
Expect an Engadet post by Vlad, once it hits YouTube. 😀

That ****ing ad runs all the time on daytime cable news. So annoying.

 

[Blakjack]

"PLAYBOOK" like a football playbook. A football player studies his playbook

It's the corporate worlds work playbook. A CEO will study his "PLAYBOOK" They explained it that way when they first introduced it months ago.

It's not like a play book as in child's play.

 

[vrDrew]

It's the corporate worlds work playbook. A CEO will study his "PLAYBOOK" They explained it that way when they first introduced it months ago..

I'm sure that was their intention. And stroking corporate chieftains egos with the delusion that they are like football coaches may not be a bad marketing strategy.

But it falls apart if there isn't much actual business-orientated software (or even an e-mail client) to run on the thing.

I can see an Android-running tablet with decent specs. (like the new Samsung Galaxy) getting some traction among Android-enthusiasts. But I doubt there are more than a relative handful of QNX-enthusiasts in existence (it is an operating system originally designed for use on car display panels).

RIM is making a huge bet that the link to the succesful Blackberry name is going to carry a lot of weight with companies. I think they are wrong, because the Playbook fails to leverage much, if any, of the things that originally made Blackberry a winner.

 

[blueroom]

Good Lawd. I just saw a totally cheesy PlayBook ad on tv here, highlighting how runs Flash.
Nothing wrong with that, but it went along these sort of lines: "Unlike other tablets, the BlackBerry PlayBook runs... FLASH!... Aaaaa!"(I'm not kidding).
Expect an Engadet post by Vlad, once it hits YouTube. 😀

Good song, I even like the movie. BUT for Petes sake did they have to loop it like that. Just let the song play out, if the iPad is magic what wrong with the Playbook being the Savior of the Universe. 🙂

IMHO they could now add "in the pan" to their theme song. What? Too soon?

 

[DeaconGraves]

Obviously, due to the BB Bridge thing, the point was to sell to Blackberry owning business users in corporations. While regular users would be nice, they are not the intended demographic BB wanted to sell to first.

I'm sorry, but narrowing the market to people who have bought your other devices is incredibly moronic.

It's why Apple quickly released an iPod compatible with Windows, why an iPad doesn't require an iPhone, and why something like the Xoom doesn't require another Android device.

Not to mention that RIM's phone market share is SHRINKING, losing ground to both Apple and Android. Heck, where I work, iPhones have slowly become the majority (Android's aren't currently supported, but I'm sure that would nail another hammer in the coffin).

RIM's strategy should have been to market the device to non BB users as well. Have them fall in love with the device, and lure them to a similar experience on the Blackberry.

 

[BergerFan]

I'm sorry, but narrowing the market to people who have bought your other devices is incredibly moronic.

It's why Apple quickly released an iPod compatible with Windows, why an iPad doesn't require an iPhone, and why something like the Xoom doesn't require another Android device.

Not to mention that RIM's phone market share is SHRINKING, losing ground to both Apple and Android. Heck, where I work, iPhones have slowly become the majority (Android's aren't currently supported, but I'm sure that would nail another hammer in the coffin).

RIM's strategy should have been to market the device to non BB users as well. Have them fall in love with the device, and lure them to a similar experience on the Blackberry.

Indeed. One only has to look at thisismynext.com's recent post, after RIM's earnings call, to see further signs of decline, many predicted over a year ago.

 

[robbieduncan]

"PLAYBOOK" like a football playbook. A football player studies his playbook

It's the corporate worlds work playbook. A CEO will study his "PLAYBOOK" They explained it that way when they first introduced it months ago.

It's not like a play book as in child's play.

That would explain why O2 in the UK won't sell it. None of that makes sense over hear. That's basically a North American only naming strategy/analogy. No one here would every "study their playbook". The phrase alone sounds alien and weird.

 

[psonice]

What's idiotic to some is extremely secure to others.

Sorry, but the "email and messaging are missing for security reasons" was pure marketing spin:

- The missing features are right there on the phone. You have to have your phone with you for them to work. Why would a tablet be less secure than a phone? You're just as likely (perhaps more so) to lose the phone. The tablet software can be made just as secure as the phone software, and can be remotely managed in exactly the same way as the phone.

- If they're missing due to security reasons, why are RIM adding them to the tablet in a few months? Are they going to make it less secure with an update? Or have they found a way to prevent people losing their tablets?

It's very, very obvious that these features just weren't ready in time, but they released the tablet anyway. Maybe it was necessary to push it out fast, and maybe it'll be a great tablet once these features are added, but RIM seriously damaged the playbook's image by doing this.

 

[NutsNGum]

If contestants on The Apprentice had come up with the Blackberry PlayBook - they would have been fired.

It's a joke not to have an email client on your flagship-supposedly-being-offered-as-a-consumer-device tablet, this will sell to the United States government, and no-one else.

 

[dave420]

I thought the playbook was a wifi device, so why would a phone company sell it anyway? Do AT&T and Verizon sell it? Can't someone just go to a store and buy one? My understanding is that it gets it's Internet connection from a paired blackberry.

 

[darngooddesign]

I may be missing something here, but if RIM wanted to sell this thing to corporations, then why call it a Playbook?

A playbook contains your project strategies and important information. See Football for example. It is not a play-book