5 ms·

It's incredible that parts of Microsoft were considering a tablet without email, and excellent of Ballmer to go get Gates to tell him no (though odd that Ballme

by cryptoz 15y ago

It's incredible that parts of Microsoft were considering a tablet without email, and excellent of Ballmer to go get Gates to tell him no (though odd that Ballmer couldn't figure that one out himself). Then RIM launched a tablet with no email, and....yeah. Not such a good idea.

rrrazdan 15y ago
I don't get your comment. Web based email. All I have ever used in my life.
- shabda 15y ago
  I have an iPad and I have never used mail.app. I use Browser+gmail, so I agree with you statement. Tablet without email is reasonable IMO.
  - cryptoz 15y ago
    Does this mean you never get email notifications? In order to check your email, you have to pick up your tablet, turn it on, unlock it, open the browser, navigate to gmail.com, log in, and then see? On the Xoom, it notifies me if anything happens and my email is a home screen widget - the process seems significantly smoother and faster this way.
    - paganel 15y ago
      > On the Xoom, it notifies me if anything happens and my email is a home screen widget - the process seems significantly smoother and faster this way. If I were to have a tablet I think I'd only use it at home, among family members and enjoying my free time. In that case NO email is that important to require immediate action, and for the few, inevitable exceptions (web-server going down, payment system not working etc.) I've instructed my boss to call me on the phone directly.
    - philwelch 15y ago
      Email was never intended as a real-time, synchronous medium.
      - deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
      - cryptoz 15y ago
        Time changes all things.
        philwelch 15y ago
        I'm not unsympathetic to the argument that, if you're a manager, you should keep on top of your email. If your work involves coordinating other people, you'll spend most of your time in email anyway. But that's as far as it goes. I'm not a manager. When I'm at work on my computer, I want my email client to not pester me. Instead, I will go to it once or twice a day when I've reached a natural pause in my work. When I'm at home on my tablet, I want my email client to not pester me. Instead, I want to read the news, watch a movie, or otherwise enjoy myself unmolested. If something is urgent, I can receive calls and pages on my phone. My phone has an email client. I don't want it to pester me, either.
- zmonkeyz 15y ago
  Yeah. I wonder if these same people bitching about no email client still use Eudora.
cavalcade 15y ago
the lack of email integration was the least of RIM tablet's problems...
- commandar 15y ago
  How do you figure? The same basic hardware is remanifesting as the Kindle Fire, so that's not where RIM screwed up. When I talked to non-tech types about the Playbook, one of the common themes was "it's a Blackberry without email? That's stupid." I mean, to the average consumer Blackberry is largely synonymous with email and BBM. What made the move particularly bizaro is that RIM tried to sell this anti-feature as a corporate security thing... for a device whose primary appeal was to end consumers. Either way, it was a stupid waste of the Blackberry brand.
  - cavalcade 15y ago
    From RIM's marketing and positioning, Playbook was a companion device for the Blackberry and aimed squarely at the iPad. So in that POV, the playbook was for the people who already had email and bbm. I think the high developer friction (poor tools, poor stores, etc.) and the wrong direction were among the bigger problems.
    - commandar 15y ago
      >So in that POV, the playbook was for the people who already had email and bbm. I don't know a single person that uses a tablet that doesn't use it for email. >I think the high developer friction (poor tools, poor stores, etc.) and the wrong direction were among the bigger problems. You're looking at it from a technical perspective, and the Playbook's failure was a complete lack of demand from consumers. When the people that actually buy tablets react to your marketing strategy with "that's stupid" and in turn refuse to buy your device, it doesn't matter if you have the best developer tools in the world; you've still set yourself up for failure.
      - cavalcade 15y ago
        >So in that POV, the playbook was for the people who already had email and bbm. >I don't know a single person that uses a tablet that doesn't use it for email. Didn't say it CANNOT do email. webmail and email apps were welcome, and i didn't say that it wasnt a mistake (it was) but i think RIM went for an MVP (BB style email must've had a big time-to-market cost) to get to market faster. >I think the high developer friction (poor tools, poor stores, etc.) and the wrong direction were among the bigger problems. >You're looking at it from a technical perspective, and the Playbook's failure was a complete lack of demand from consumers. When the people that actually buy tablets react to your marketing strategy with "that's stupid" and in turn refuse to buy your device, it doesn't matter if you have the best developer tools in the world; you've still set yourself up for failure. We are on the same page (hence the "direction") part. Playbook was a misguided attempt, instead of zagging. it wen t and battled with iPad squarely without the 10x improvement or any unfair advantage. In summation, i think the rank of problem of RIM's tablet strategy are: 1st: Wrong angle of attack, 2nd: platform friction , (close)3rd: key features weren't in the MVP.
alecperkins 15y ago
It's not that the Courier wouldn't have email, but that its reason for existence was not going to be hooking in to Exchange and Outlook.
- cryptoz 15y ago
  Yeah, I realize as I kept reading that the conclusion I reached may be the same as Gates but for entirely different reasons. I would fear any tablet that launches without email because (for me and everyone I've ever met) Emailing is Use Case #1. It sounds like Gates feared the launch because it didn't align with current revenue.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]

by cryptoz 15y ago

rrrazdan 15y ago

I don't get your comment. Web based email. All I have ever used in my life.

shabda 15y ago
I have an iPad and I have never used mail.app. I use Browser+gmail, so I agree with you statement. Tablet without email is reasonable IMO.
- cryptoz 15y ago
  Does this mean you never get email notifications? In order to check your email, you have to pick up your tablet, turn it on, unlock it, open the browser, navigate to gmail.com, log in, and then see? On the Xoom, it notifies me if anything happens and my email is a home screen widget - the process seems significantly smoother and faster this way.
  - paganel 15y ago
    > On the Xoom, it notifies me if anything happens and my email is a home screen widget - the process seems significantly smoother and faster this way. If I were to have a tablet I think I'd only use it at home, among family members and enjoying my free time. In that case NO email is that important to require immediate action, and for the few, inevitable exceptions (web-server going down, payment system not working etc.) I've instructed my boss to call me on the phone directly.
  - philwelch 15y ago
    Email was never intended as a real-time, synchronous medium.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
    - cryptoz 15y ago
      Time changes all things.
      - philwelch 15y ago
        I'm not unsympathetic to the argument that, if you're a manager, you should keep on top of your email. If your work involves coordinating other people, you'll spend most of your time in email anyway. But that's as far as it goes. I'm not a manager. When I'm at work on my computer, I want my email client to not pester me. Instead, I will go to it once or twice a day when I've reached a natural pause in my work. When I'm at home on my tablet, I want my email client to not pester me. Instead, I want to read the news, watch a movie, or otherwise enjoy myself unmolested. If something is urgent, I can receive calls and pages on my phone. My phone has an email client. I don't want it to pester me, either.
zmonkeyz 15y ago
Yeah. I wonder if these same people bitching about no email client still use Eudora.

cavalcade 15y ago

the lack of email integration was the least of RIM tablet's problems...

commandar 15y ago
How do you figure? The same basic hardware is remanifesting as the Kindle Fire, so that's not where RIM screwed up. When I talked to non-tech types about the Playbook, one of the common themes was "it's a Blackberry without email? That's stupid." I mean, to the average consumer Blackberry is largely synonymous with email and BBM. What made the move particularly bizaro is that RIM tried to sell this anti-feature as a corporate security thing... for a device whose primary appeal was to end consumers. Either way, it was a stupid waste of the Blackberry brand.
- cavalcade 15y ago
  From RIM's marketing and positioning, Playbook was a companion device for the Blackberry and aimed squarely at the iPad. So in that POV, the playbook was for the people who already had email and bbm. I think the high developer friction (poor tools, poor stores, etc.) and the wrong direction were among the bigger problems.
  - commandar 15y ago
    >So in that POV, the playbook was for the people who already had email and bbm. I don't know a single person that uses a tablet that doesn't use it for email. >I think the high developer friction (poor tools, poor stores, etc.) and the wrong direction were among the bigger problems. You're looking at it from a technical perspective, and the Playbook's failure was a complete lack of demand from consumers. When the people that actually buy tablets react to your marketing strategy with "that's stupid" and in turn refuse to buy your device, it doesn't matter if you have the best developer tools in the world; you've still set yourself up for failure.
    - cavalcade 15y ago
      >So in that POV, the playbook was for the people who already had email and bbm. >I don't know a single person that uses a tablet that doesn't use it for email. Didn't say it CANNOT do email. webmail and email apps were welcome, and i didn't say that it wasnt a mistake (it was) but i think RIM went for an MVP (BB style email must've had a big time-to-market cost) to get to market faster. >I think the high developer friction (poor tools, poor stores, etc.) and the wrong direction were among the bigger problems. >You're looking at it from a technical perspective, and the Playbook's failure was a complete lack of demand from consumers. When the people that actually buy tablets react to your marketing strategy with "that's stupid" and in turn refuse to buy your device, it doesn't matter if you have the best developer tools in the world; you've still set yourself up for failure. We are on the same page (hence the "direction") part. Playbook was a misguided attempt, instead of zagging. it wen t and battled with iPad squarely without the 10x improvement or any unfair advantage. In summation, i think the rank of problem of RIM's tablet strategy are: 1st: Wrong angle of attack, 2nd: platform friction , (close)3rd: key features weren't in the MVP.

alecperkins 15y ago

It's not that the Courier wouldn't have email, but that its reason for existence was not going to be hooking in to Exchange and Outlook.

cryptoz 15y ago
Yeah, I realize as I kept reading that the conclusion I reached may be the same as Gates but for entirely different reasons. I would fear any tablet that launches without email because (for me and everyone I've ever met) Emailing is Use Case #1. It sounds like Gates feared the launch because it didn't align with current revenue.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]