[SaintThomasAquinas]

"But then I guess you think 500 million (and growing) people just use it to follow celebs."

I know exactly what 500 million plus people use it for... To somehow prove they are more important than the rest of us. I used Facebook for a few months. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say Facebook used me for a few months. I spent hours telling on myself uncontrollably. Updating photos, adding people I felt were worthy of being my Facebook friend [Yes there is a distinction] and generally reading about how someone just, "woke up!". Or perhaps they had, "Just got home from work and ordered a Pizza." Maybe they found their favorite ______ [whatever fill in the blank] on sale. So I canceled Facebook [although they retain my information and rants indefinitely] and used my time not worrying about what my friends due every second of their 24 hours and enjoying that much more when they actually call me or we meet for dinner and drinks. Funny thing is I no longer know how many coffees they have had. What shows they are watching at any given time of day and yet I have lost nothing because of it.

[jessi449]

"But then I guess you think 500 million (and growing) people just use it to follow celebs."

I know exactly what 500 million plus people use it for... To somehow prove they are more important than the rest of us. I used Facebook for a few months. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say Facebook used me for a few months. I spent hours telling on myself uncontrollably. Updating photos, adding people I felt were worthy of being my Facebook friend [Yes there is a distinction] and generally reading about how someone just, "woke up!". Or perhaps they had, "Just got home from work and ordered a Pizza." Maybe they found their favorite ______ [whatever fill in the blank] on sale. So I canceled Facebook [although they retain my information and rants indefinitely] and used my time not worrying about what my friends due every second of their 24 hours and enjoying that much more when they actually call me or we meet for dinner and drinks. Funny thing is I no longer know how many coffees they have had. What shows they are watching at any given time of day and yet I have lost nothing because of it.

Yikes. Sounds like someone may have had a few friend requests ignored?

[DAMION99]

"But then I guess you think 500 million (and growing) people just use it to follow celebs."

Funny thing is I no longer know how many coffees they have had. What shows they are watching at any given time of day and yet I have lost nothing because of it.

How old are you? I think you missed the point. Facebook might not be for everyone. but realize that if your part of an older generations then it might not be significant for you. I find it very significant because been a people person and been able to joke around with my friends online about numerous stuff enhances our relationship. I'm not judging you or your opinion but yeah knowing how many coffee your friend drink might not be significant but maybe him saying that he is going through depression might alert you to start asking him about that.

[raptorstv]

Playbook is useless since I already have my Torch

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[si_chindo]

The first wave of reviews of the playbook are pretty disappointing. But I am still optimistic that it'll improve with time.

I didn't get the bold when it first came out. I waited till early issues got fixed and was glad I did.

Also regarding apps, it would be cool to have options for apps. Otherwise might as well get a laptop.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[SaintThomasAquinas]

Yikes. Sounds like someone may have had a few friend requests ignored?

A few were and I myself ignored a few the point being no real net loss either way.

[kbz1960]

Yikes. Sounds like someone may have had a few friend requests ignored?

Yikes. Sounds like someone defines them self by how many "friends" they have online.

[SaintThomasAquinas]

How old are you? I think you missed the point. Facebook might not be for everyone. but realize that if your part of an older generations then it might not be significant for you. I find it very significant because been a people person and been able to joke around with my friends online about numerous stuff enhances our relationship. I'm not judging you or your opinion but yeah knowing how many coffee your friend drink might not be significant but maybe him saying that he is going through depression might alert you to start asking him about that.

I am in my forties. I prefer to deal with people when possible face to face [no pun intended] turn off the Blackberry alerts and talk. I use Blackberry to keep organized and enhance my ability to arrange my life. I would rather much meet and have a few beers in person with friends then post that I am having a beer alone.

You have an interesting point about depression or anything else. Although I would hope that such personal matters would not be layed out for public consumption.

Yes I know... Who am I kidding right? Nothing is personal we all have a right to interfere with other peoples personal matters.

Maybe I cannot understand that people somehow feel that laying out what in many cases is very personal information that has very real consequences when they are most vulnerable and not thinking clearly because the ability to do so is a few clicks away is not a thing that should be embraced.

This takes off topic and for that I apologize.

[RescueCop]

I haven't bought a Playbook - and I'm not sure yet if I will - but I did spend some quality time with a demo unit at the Best Buy at Hamburg Pavilion in Lexington, KY today. (Nate, the sales guy, was great. Of course, they didn't exactly have a line of people to deal with, which helped.) I can't swear that the unit that I was running has the very latest software update, but I was told that it's pretty close. My impressions so far are listed below.

I don't care for 10" tablets like the iPad or Xoom, because they're simply not portable enough for me. I compared the Playbook (PB) to another 7" tablet, the Android-based Galaxy Tab (GT). The PB is slightly wider than the GT, but not unduly so, and considerably heavier. The PB feels very substantial and solid, like a thin slab of marble, while the GT has a bit of a "plastic" feel. With that said, the GT would be less obtrusive in a jacket or cargo pant pocket, while the PB is heavy enough that it might weigh down one side of a jacket a bit if it's carried in a pocket.

The PB screen is gorgeous, the speakers are clear even when the volume is high, and playback is incredibly smooth. The audio and video apps are pretty basic, but they work. Hopefully more options (audio EQ, etc.) will be available in future updates. Compared to the GT, the PB screen was marginally better but the PB audio was dramatically better. The UI was easy to use, and felt a bit snappier than Android on the GT, though the GT was plenty fast enough.

The PB web browser was great, with one exception - the memory management issue noted by some reviewers seemed to be a problem in some cases. I tried loading some photo gallery pages from web sites that I manage, to see if I could (a) use the PB to show off my work and (b) use it for remote management of my sites. Both of the galleries use Java script-based photo carousels and slide shows and take quite a bit of memory to load. The PB browser simply failed (closed) without explanation each time I tried to load either of the galleries. It handled the rest of each site well, so it seems likely that it's trying to load all of the gallery page into memory at once and lacks the available memory to do so. The browser on the GT loaded the same gallery pages without any problems and displayed them fairly well.

Except for the photo gallery pages that bombed the browser (see above), web pages opened fairly quickly. The lack of a page load progress bar is a little irritating but not a major issue. Flash does seem to work well, though I didn't have time to check out many Flash-based web sites.

The WiFi connection seemed fast and solid. I didn't try any Bluetooth pairing. I had no way to test out the battery life, but I was told that the demo unit I was using - which was at about 20% battery life - had been used sporadically for three days without needing to be recharged. That would be fine for my potential uses for the device.

Overall, the PB looks nice and has snappy performance. It's a bit heavier and wider than I'd prefer, but not enough so to keep me from buying it. It is, however, still lacking in a few areas. The inability to load portions of my web sites is a real concern for me, especially given RIM's "whole Internet" approach to marketing the PB. If I can't view my sites on the PB I can't manage them with the PB, and that's a major issue for me.

The lack of both a memory card slot and support for USB On-The-Go means that there's no way to get photos directly from my camera to the PB. As an amateur and semi-pro photographer, the ability to show photos in the field is one of the potential uses that would make a $500+ USD tablet useful enough for me to buy it. Having to go through a PC first means that I have to carry my netbook anyway, so why invest in a tablet? Hopefully RIM will enable USB OTG in a later software update.

The lack of apps, while unimportant to some people, is not a trivial factor. Yes, I know... they'll eventually arrive. The issue is that, until they do, the PB is (IMHO) mostly an entertainment and mobile presentation device. With the right apps, it could be much more. I can live without Twitter and Facebook apps - though I'll admit that they'd be convenient - but I need to see some apps that'll let me do useful things beyond read and create Office documents. Some examples include:
- a web browser that doesn't close whenever I try to open a large web page
- a mobile database app
- image editing software with support for many more image formats
- a full featured, turn by turn navigation app (without a monthly fee)
- support for widgets, so that I can create a home screen "dashboard" that shows me current information (weather, sports scores, etc.) at a glance

I know that apps are being developed, but without more information being released by RIM as to what they will include in future OS updates, and without information from developers about what's in the pipeline, I'm just not ready to sink hundreds of dollars into a device that may - or may not - eventually do what I need it to do.

Finally, AT&T's efforts to block Blackberry Bridge from being used on their network are alarming. Without Bridge, there's NO access to e-mail, contacts or calendaring at the moment, and no way to use the WiFi-only PB for these functions in the field even when native apps for them arrive. I know that there's currently a way to install Bridge onto BlackBerry phones on the AT&T network (many thanks to those responsible!), but it's hard to believe that AT&T won't demand that RIM lock it out in future OS updates for phones on the AT&T network. That would make the PB much less useful, even when native apps for e-mail, calendaring and contacts become available.

Just my opinions... YMMV.

[Homo Erectus]

just got off the phone with netflix it should be AVAILABLE in 2 weeks

[1812dave]

just got off the phone with netflix it should be AVAILABLE in 2 weeks

cool. they told me in January that they would have an app forthcoming for the PB.

[edyts]

well hopefully you are able to save bookmarks on your homescreen and use them as shortcuts like you are able to do on the ipad

lol no thanks, thats a terrible idea

[anon(835884)]

People that like apple will say no, people that like RIM will say yes, people that like android will be mad you didn't even mention them.

Not everyone - I like RIM but IMO I think the iPad2 is better...

Maybe when RIM FINISHES the OS and AT&T lets me bridge without a hack I'll change my mind

[jstarett]

Not sure what Blackberry.com/beta plans on doing about apps but I would suggest if you have the playbook and going there and updating your profile to say you do have the playbook... its under Profiles>Technologies

[ots1960]

I am not going to say the PB is better or worse than the ipads. Mainly because I don't own the ipad. I am going to say that while waiting for the PB release I did have a epad for a couple of weeks and the PB is alot better. And yes I have seen the ipad functioning but I have been a BB fan for the past few years and have to stick with it and Im sure any bugs will be worked out. I do hope that my carrier gets nicer phones though :-).

[bjw408h]

2 hours into my PB experience I am very pleased indeed. Full Flash, HTML5, etc seems get me to much more of the web as expected than with my 11 month old iPad.

iPad keyboard is more intuitive and familiar, so preferred.

PB screen is superior, albeit smaller and the full HD is spectacular.

Too soon to say which is better, but right now I hope both thrive.

[nyc_rock]

2 hours into my PB experience I am very pleased indeed. Full Flash, HTML5, etc seems get me to much more of the web as expected than with my 11 month old iPad.

iPad keyboard is more intuitive and familiar, so preferred.

PB screen is superior, albeit smaller and the full HD is spectacular.

Too soon to say which is better, but right now I hope both thrive.

Pretty sure the ipad 2 will be OK. Just a hunch.

[a1jatt]

Ipad2 is way better than pb, here is my experience with the pb

http://forums.crackberry.com/f222/wh...aybook-606516/

[dennie82]

Pretty sure the ipad 2 will be OK. Just a hunch.

Not much difference between iPad 2 and iPad. Plus he mentioned screen quality, which there's no upgrade for iPad 2 screen. iPad 2 simply faster than iPad. That's all.

[nyc_rock]

Not much difference between iPad 2 and iPad. Plus he mentioned screen quality, which there's no upgrade for iPad 2 screen. iPad 2 simply faster than iPad. That's all.

Faster, thinner and two camera's. Thats all.

Wasnt even speaking of the differences, simply trying to ease his concerns that the Ipad 2 may not thrive.