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> 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

> 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.

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.