RIM BlackBerry PlayBook: Unfinished, Unusable 260
snydeq points out this InfoWorld review of the BlackBerry PlayBook, "an 'unfinished, unusable' tablet from RIM. 'At the core of it all, the design of the PlayBook as a BlackBerry-dependent device was simply a boneheaded decision by executives who hoped a hit product might entice more BlackBerry sales,' Gruman writes. 'Why RIM chose to ship the PlayBook in such a state is unfathomable. The iPad 2 and Xoom have been out for weeks, so there's no heading them off at the pass. Instead, the PlayBook debuted with all eyes on it — but instead of a world-class performer, we got the homeless guy who plays air guitar in front of the mall.'"
Not Dead on Arrival (Score:3, Interesting)
And they botched the launch, too. (Score:5, Interesting)
Not enough product shipped to stores (we got 3 64GB models, just enough to satisfy preorders on launch day), they didn't hype the fact that we'd be opening an hour early on launch day for those who wanted to pick up one, they didn't get a demo model out so people could play with it to entice more preorders, didn't get a demo out to stores so staff could learn a bit and show people fun stuff about it, or useful stuff about it, and accessories didn't reach the store for the most part until the day after launch or later. Three mediocre cases, that's all there was available for people to chose from. Seriously one of the worst product launches I've seen pretty much ever.
Also appears to contain typical RIM.. (Score:3, Interesting)
I admit I haven't tracked Blackberry much, but I remember many of us at worked had smartphones that implemented general standards (e.g. becoming a usb mass storage for getting files on and off via usb cable). Meanwhile, the blackberry users were still forced to use weird, proprietary programs to get at the device because RIM wouldn't implement standards. Once upon a time, this was typical, just like Palm's Hotsync, but those days should be long behind us except that RIM props it up.
Then I read in a review that the playbook does the same BS, requiring proprietary, RIM-only software that only works with Windows and OSX. Most of the world has this figured out, don't see why RIM is still going this route.
Then I see they decided to tie email/calendaring etc to a blackberry handset with *no* option to do it without it. Further complicating things, it looks like AT&T forbade it on their stuff.
Even with new shiny UI elements, they are in many ways stuck in their annoying ways. Of course, it's probably no coincidence they are annoying as hell *and* are so popular in the 'enterprise' space.