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I own a Playbook and it's really, really a nice device. It's fast, browsing is convenient, it can multi tasks, the form factor is better than the iPad and it ca

I own a Playbook and it's really, really a nice device. It's fast, browsing is convenient, it can multi tasks, the form factor is better than the iPad and it can be used as a mass storage on my PC. I've played with the iPad, the iPad2 and the Samsung Galaxy but I prefer the PlayBook. The big problem: no apps.

qdog 15y ago
Browsing at the store, the playbook didn't seem as responsive or the UI very intuitive. Just getting back out of an app seemed like a chore. In fact, I'd say it seemed to be the hardest ui to navigate of any of the tablets I looked at. So maybe owning it and getting used to it takes some time, but it would take a lot of convincing for me to think about buying one after the quick store browsing. Most of the people around me didn't seem very interested in it, either. Does it have a kindle app?
- marekmroz 15y ago
  > Just getting back out of an app seemed like a chore. In fact, I'd say it seemed to be the hardest ui to navigate of any of the tablets I looked at. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the bezel to get to home screen. How is that hard? Personally I really like how PlayBook uses the bezel for UI. >Does it have a kindle app? Not that I know, it has a Kobo app. No side-loading though.
  - qdog 15y ago
    Right, knowing how it works it's probably easy enough, but the short time I looked at it, there were no instructions. My point was it seemed unlikely to attract buyers easily who are browsing all the tablets at the Best Buy like I was. Perhaps I am biased, I have an old HP 48GX programmable calculator, learning to use it required a fair amount of work, but that was expected. For a tablet I expect to be able to use it pretty easily by picking it up. I can certainly listen to why you like the playbook, but the 2 minutes my wife played with an ipad2 she was already adding calendar events and playing with the book app. I don't particularly care for Apple the company, but the 2 minutes hands-on examination heavily favored the ipad2 for what I would call the average user. The Android ui also seemed pretty intuitive, but maybe I'll re-examine the Playbook in more depth.
    - marekmroz 15y ago
      There were no instructions b/c the display unit had the screen foil with bezel gestures printed on it removed. Also, during the initial setup of the device (after you take it out of the box) there is a tutorial that you have to complete to advance that shows how to get to app options and how to switch between apps. I agree that just putting the device on display with no instructions can cause confusion. Better choice would have been to run that tutorial whenever someone tries to use the unit, before switching to the real thing. But then what are the CSRs in the store for? Once you know how to use it (and it is nowhere near as complex as mastering an HP calculator ;) ) the UI is pretty straightforward.
  - adriand 15y ago
    And actually, Apple borrowed the swipe-from-bezel functionality for iOS 5. You swipe down from the bezel to get to the notification center on the iPhone, for example.
    - joshu 15y ago
      That was an android thing, IIRC.
troymc 15y ago
I heard that Unity (the game SDK) and Marmalade SDK can now be used to create apps for the PlayBook (as well as iOS, Android, etc.) Developers who use those SDK's might make a PlayBook version just so they can be the "only fish in the pond" (unlike other app stores, where it's easy to get lost among the zillions of other apps).
smilliken 15y ago
It really is a nice device, I was pleasantly surprised since I was expecting something closer to a BlackBerry. If I didn't already have a tablet I'd strongly consider the PlayBook.
bishnu 15y ago
I agree. I gave it a 20 minute test drive at Best Buy alongside TouchPads and Samsung Galaxy Tabs and it blew them out of the water, the only thing I've seen so far that felt close to an iPad in terms of useability and overall design. What's there is very good. But it's pricey, there's no apps, it's missing key functionality, and RIM execs have their head up their own ass.
- bryanlarsen 15y ago
  $200 is pricy?
  - bishnu 15y ago
    I'm referring to it's introductory price.
benwerd 15y ago
I've got a Playbook, and I completely disagree with you. The lack of apps is a symptom, not a problem. The development environment is very poor, the app store itself is slow and badly designed, and it's missing important glue like Android's killer universal share screen. They didn't want to cannibalize their phones, and missed the fact that their phones are going away - and that phones, computers, tablets are turning into a spectrum of connected devices that are expected to do more or less the same things but in different form factors appropriate to different contexts. The hardware itself is pretty awesome, so that's not at fault. And there are neat UI touches like the active borders. But overall, it's just a terrible operating system, and they didn't have a clue what it takes to create a developer ecosystem. Even the apps they do have feel like cheap knock-offs. Have you played Angry Apes?! It's no wonder that RIM's now talking about pushing its enterprise lock-down functionality - its only real selling point at this stage - to iPhones and Android devices.
- foobarbazetc 15y ago
  RIM will never win, because they're developer hostile. The developer environment sucks, the APIs have always sucked, the signing system has always sucked. Keep in mind that until very recently, the BlackBerry OS had no way for you to execute a HTTP request without implementing your own logic about which of the 500 different esoteric connectivity options you wanted to use. It's just a clusterf*ck.
zmonkeyz 15y ago
I agree. While the lack of apps is an issue the tablet itself is fantastic. This is coming from someone who never used a Blackberry.

qdog 15y ago

Browsing at the store, the playbook didn't seem as responsive or the UI very intuitive. Just getting back out of an app seemed like a chore. In fact, I'd say it seemed to be the hardest ui to navigate of any of the tablets I looked at. So maybe owning it and getting used to it takes some time, but it would take a lot of convincing for me to think about buying one after the quick store browsing. Most of the people around me didn't seem very interested in it, either. Does it have a kindle app?

marekmroz 15y ago
> Just getting back out of an app seemed like a chore. In fact, I'd say it seemed to be the hardest ui to navigate of any of the tablets I looked at. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the bezel to get to home screen. How is that hard? Personally I really like how PlayBook uses the bezel for UI. >Does it have a kindle app? Not that I know, it has a Kobo app. No side-loading though.
- qdog 15y ago
  Right, knowing how it works it's probably easy enough, but the short time I looked at it, there were no instructions. My point was it seemed unlikely to attract buyers easily who are browsing all the tablets at the Best Buy like I was. Perhaps I am biased, I have an old HP 48GX programmable calculator, learning to use it required a fair amount of work, but that was expected. For a tablet I expect to be able to use it pretty easily by picking it up. I can certainly listen to why you like the playbook, but the 2 minutes my wife played with an ipad2 she was already adding calendar events and playing with the book app. I don't particularly care for Apple the company, but the 2 minutes hands-on examination heavily favored the ipad2 for what I would call the average user. The Android ui also seemed pretty intuitive, but maybe I'll re-examine the Playbook in more depth.
  - marekmroz 15y ago
    There were no instructions b/c the display unit had the screen foil with bezel gestures printed on it removed. Also, during the initial setup of the device (after you take it out of the box) there is a tutorial that you have to complete to advance that shows how to get to app options and how to switch between apps. I agree that just putting the device on display with no instructions can cause confusion. Better choice would have been to run that tutorial whenever someone tries to use the unit, before switching to the real thing. But then what are the CSRs in the store for? Once you know how to use it (and it is nowhere near as complex as mastering an HP calculator ;) ) the UI is pretty straightforward.
- adriand 15y ago
  And actually, Apple borrowed the swipe-from-bezel functionality for iOS 5. You swipe down from the bezel to get to the notification center on the iPhone, for example.
  - joshu 15y ago
    That was an android thing, IIRC.

troymc 15y ago

I heard that Unity (the game SDK) and Marmalade SDK can now be used to create apps for the PlayBook (as well as iOS, Android, etc.) Developers who use those SDK's might make a PlayBook version just so they can be the "only fish in the pond" (unlike other app stores, where it's easy to get lost among the zillions of other apps).

smilliken 15y ago

It really is a nice device, I was pleasantly surprised since I was expecting something closer to a BlackBerry. If I didn't already have a tablet I'd strongly consider the PlayBook.

bishnu 15y ago

I agree. I gave it a 20 minute test drive at Best Buy alongside TouchPads and Samsung Galaxy Tabs and it blew them out of the water, the only thing I've seen so far that felt close to an iPad in terms of useability and overall design. What's there is very good. But it's pricey, there's no apps, it's missing key functionality, and RIM execs have their head up their own ass.

bryanlarsen 15y ago
$200 is pricy?
- bishnu 15y ago
  I'm referring to it's introductory price.

benwerd 15y ago

I've got a Playbook, and I completely disagree with you. The lack of apps is a symptom, not a problem. The development environment is very poor, the app store itself is slow and badly designed, and it's missing important glue like Android's killer universal share screen. They didn't want to cannibalize their phones, and missed the fact that their phones are going away - and that phones, computers, tablets are turning into a spectrum of connected devices that are expected to do more or less the same things but in different form factors appropriate to different contexts. The hardware itself is pretty awesome, so that's not at fault. And there are neat UI touches like the active borders. But overall, it's just a terrible operating system, and they didn't have a clue what it takes to create a developer ecosystem. Even the apps they do have feel like cheap knock-offs. Have you played Angry Apes?! It's no wonder that RIM's now talking about pushing its enterprise lock-down functionality - its only real selling point at this stage - to iPhones and Android devices.

foobarbazetc 15y ago
RIM will never win, because they're developer hostile. The developer environment sucks, the APIs have always sucked, the signing system has always sucked. Keep in mind that until very recently, the BlackBerry OS had no way for you to execute a HTTP request without implementing your own logic about which of the 500 different esoteric connectivity options you wanted to use. It's just a clusterf*ck.

zmonkeyz 15y ago

I agree. While the lack of apps is an issue the tablet itself is fantastic. This is coming from someone who never used a Blackberry.