1. chrysaurora's Avatar
    I was at FutureShop earlier today and I noticed few people on Playbook corner. I wanted to see what their reaction would be so I went and stood next to them. They were talking among each other 'this doesn't work.. it's not switching on.. maybe battery is down..'

    Turned out, they didn't know the finger swiping gesture to wake-up a Playbook. So, I showed them how it works and then I left.

    Those PlayBook(s) had stickers, on right hand side bezel, saying "OS 2.0" and other features of PlayBook. But it'd be a GREAT thing if RIM included a sticker explaining basic gestures. Like a sticker showing, the swipe gesture required to wake-up the PlayBook. This sticker, in my opinion, is more important than the sticker saying "OS 2.0"

    Because BlackBerry 10 Z10/L-series also lack an iPhone like button, I think it'd be GREAT if RIM included a sticker of some sort on those BB 10 devices too, explaining 1 or 2 most important gestures. It'd be shame if people came to check out display models and couldn't figure out how to even turn-on the phone.

    The display models should (especially) contain some sort of sticker explaining these gestures. A brand new BlackBerry, I think, comes with a guide of some sort to explain these things. But display model, they remove the screen protector and leave it on the desk for people to play with. Now, it'd be a shame if people came in to BB 10 corner and saw that the screen is off and couldn't figure out how to turn it on.
    01-06-13 12:56 AM
  2. howarmat's Avatar
    this was a huge flaw on RIMS part with the playbook. Everyone keeps saying how the gestures are intuitive and such which is true if you are told about it. Walking up to a device and learning all of this with no direction is NOT intuitive and the situation you describe is exactly what happened to many people. They would walk away thinking something was wrong with the device and never come back to looking at it
    pantlesspenguin likes this.
    01-06-13 01:03 AM
  3. Phill_UK's Avatar
    My PlayBook came with a screen protector showing pictures of the top and bottom bezel gestures.
    What RIM should have done with the PlayBook was add an 'in-store demo' program. Every store I went in when looking for mine had non-functioning units. People were playing games etc. on all the other tablets on display, but the PlayBooks were just sitting idle, locked on the start-up screen trying to establish a wifi connection to check the OS was up-to-date.
    No wonder sales and public perception are poor.
    anon(3896606) likes this.
    01-06-13 02:15 AM
  4. chrysaurora's Avatar
    My PlayBook came with a screen protector showing pictures of the top and bottom bezel gestures.
    What RIM should have done with the PlayBook was add an 'in-store demo' program. Every store I went in when looking for mine had non-functioning units. People were playing games etc. on all the other tablets on display, but the PlayBooks were just sitting idle, locked on the start-up screen trying to establish a wifi connection to check the OS was up-to-date.
    No wonder sales and public perception are poor.
    Absolutely! The screen protector showing top and bottom bezel gestures is NOT enough. Once screen protector is removed, how is a person to know what basic gestures are? Sure, they are intuitive but only after you've been told at least ONCE about them.

    And retailers are not going to display PlayBooks on their shelves with screen-protector on. They open the devices, charge them, connect them to power cord and some theft protection cord and display them on their shelves. People come and play with them. Now, if you see a PlayBook with screen display-off (with no screen protector to guide you what basic gestures are), you'd look for button to turn it on. If it doesn't turn on, you'd think battery is low or it's not connected to power and move on (possibly to the iPad or Android display)!

    There should be a side sticker or a board or something to explain basic gestures! Or let the damn thing turn on by a side button or volume/up/down button or something. Something that people will try.

    Kevin or anyone who has ability to talk to RIM marketing folks : please, please let them know. They made a mistake with PlayBook but they haven't fixed it yet. This FutureShop incident happened today. After so many months of PlayBook being in the market, there still are no side-sticker or boards telling customers what they NEED to do to turn the damn thing on! \

    One would imagine that RIM / Team BlackBerry would have by now sent some updated stickers/marketing material/board to retailers so that they can be displayed along with PlayBooks. But no. The PlayBooks are sitting there in stores and potential customers have no clue how to turn them on!


    Team BlackBerry needs to go to FutureShop, BestBuy in major cities and check out PlayBook displays for themselves! They look "dead". People don't know how to turn them on and move on. There are no instructions on how to use basic gestures. And it doesn't take much to fix the situation. All they need to do is ship some marketing material (side stickers, boards etc.) to retailers.

    I hope this doesn't happen with BlackBerry 10 devices!

    Dear Research In Motion / Team BlackBerry: are YOU paying attention?. Somebody please point them to this thread.
    jakie55 likes this.
    01-06-13 04:05 AM
  5. Thunderbuck's Avatar
    It's tempting to say that this is trivial but I think you're on to something.

    I've already met multiple PlayBook users who had no idea about wake up gesture.
    01-06-13 04:19 AM
  6. drum's Avatar
    doesn't the playbook come on from standby by touching the power button?

    Sent from my BlackBerry 9900
    Toodeurep likes this.
    01-06-13 05:40 AM
  7. Shanerredflag's Avatar
    Agree...London Drugs is the same story. At minimum a sticker, at best an intuitive display mode which teaches the basics.
    01-06-13 06:33 AM
  8. reeneebob's Avatar
    Our district RIM rep brought us a new display PB when OS2 dropped, and it had the side sticker as well as back signage explaining the gestures. I can't speak as to whether that is the same rep that FS/BB would have though... RIM does need to do something though because our PB has been a useless brick for almost 4 months (I even took it home trying to doctor it back to life using every trick in the sub forum for help) and not only did we have to remove it from display (since it made the PB look bad and we sell a LOT of PB, my store alone I think did about 200 between October and Christmas) but the rep can't be reached. In the 2 years I've worked in the corporate location, I saw a RIM rep once. That's it. We used to have a BB certified expert on site but that program is long gone (and the BB certified guy who was bleeding BB for 8 years just sold his PB to get a Galaxy Tab to go with his GS3, officially the store that had 7 BBs for 6 staff now has 2 - the corporate provided one for the boss and the bosses Torch that he is is turfing for a windows phone when his contract expires this month). RIM has definitely shot itself in the foot with its reps and carrier support compared to 5 years ago.

    Our display PB paperweight? It's sitting in a drawer in the back, waiting for the RMA request from head office.

    It's possible that the other stores got the same pamphlets and signage from RIM that we did and either just didn't put them out or couldn't (if those displays are planogrammed they can't modify how head office wants them to look, even for RIM provided pamphlets).

    Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
    01-06-13 09:52 AM
  9. belfastdispatcher's Avatar
    Our district RIM rep brought us a new display PB when OS2 dropped, and it had the side sticker as well as back signage explaining the gestures. I can't speak as to whether that is the same rep that FS/BB would have though... RIM does need to do something though because our PB has been a useless brick for almost 4 months (I even took it home trying to doctor it back to life using every trick in the sub forum for help) and not only did we have to remove it from display (since it made the PB look bad and we sell a LOT of PB, my store alone I think did about 200 between October and Christmas) but the rep can't be reached. In the 2 years I've worked in the corporate location, I saw a RIM rep once. That's it. We used to have a BB certified expert on site but that program is long gone (and the BB certified guy who was bleeding BB for 8 years just sold his PB to get a Galaxy Tab to go with his GS3, officially the store that had 7 BBs for 6 staff now has 2 - the corporate provided one for the boss and the bosses Torch that he is is turfing for a windows phone when his contract expires this month). RIM has definitely shot itself in the foot with its reps and carrier support compared to 5 years ago.

    Our display PB paperweight? It's sitting in a drawer in the back, waiting for the RMA request from head office.

    It's possible that the other stores got the same pamphlets and signage from RIM that we did and either just didn't put them out or couldn't (if those displays are planogrammed they can't modify how head office wants them to look, even for RIM provided pamphlets).

    Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
    RIM needs this badly, more reps and even secret store visitors to weed out those nasty sales people, unfortunatelly there's a lot of them. They hurt BB sales more then anything.
    01-06-13 10:17 AM
  10. Toodeurep's Avatar
    doesn't the playbook come on from standby by touching the power button?

    Sent from my BlackBerry 9900
    Yes. Also, when connected to a power source it wakes by simply touching the screen. These methods are greater than other tablets.

    The real problem with the Playbooks that are shown in stores has been the overall lack of adoption by the consumer and ultimately lack of maintenance by the store/RIM reps.

    All of the PlayBook's I have seen in stores (now down to the local Radio Shacks) have been connected to rapid chargers with the special retail screen covers showing how to use the device. I'll try to swing by again and confirm that this is still true. Again, if properly maintained, the device wakes by swiping, tapping or pressing the power button. Not to shabby IMO.
    01-06-13 10:23 AM
  11. reeneebob's Avatar
    RIM needs this badly, more reps and even secret store visitors to weed out those nasty sales people, unfortunatelly there's a lot of them. They hurt BB sales more then anything.
    We still support RIM and are probably the only location in our area that still recommends RIM product, but it's a 2 way street and the stores need RIMs support too.

    We couldn't use rapid chargers. The device charging is bundled into the security system for the tabs, so we have to use the port. That being said, even the rapid charger can't bring this puppy back.

    Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
    01-06-13 10:40 AM
  12. Toodeurep's Avatar
    That being said, even the rapid charger can't bring this puppy back.
    Sorry to derail here but what about "stack charging"? I've never done it, wouldn't know how to and it definitely isn't your job to do it but I read F2 explaining it and others thanked him.
    01-06-13 10:52 AM
  13. reeneebob's Avatar
    Sorry to derail here but what about "stack charging"? I've never done it, wouldn't know how to and it definitely isn't your job to do it but I read F2 explaining it and others thanked him.
    Tried it.

    She's dead, Jim.

    Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
    01-06-13 04:15 PM
  14. Snap51's Avatar
    Our district RIM rep brought us a new display PB when OS2 dropped, and it had the side sticker as well as back signage explaining the gestures. I can't speak as to whether that is the same rep that FS/BB would have though... RIM does need to do something though because our PB has been a useless brick for almost 4 months (I even took it home trying to doctor it back to life using every trick in the sub forum for help) and not only did we have to remove it from display (since it made the PB look bad and we sell a LOT of PB, my store alone I think did about 200 between October and Christmas) but the rep can't be reached. In the 2 years I've worked in the corporate location, I saw a RIM rep once. That's it. We used to have a BB certified expert on site but that program is long gone (and the BB certified guy who was bleeding BB for 8 years just sold his PB to get a Galaxy Tab to go with his GS3, officially the store that had 7 BBs for 6 staff now has 2 - the corporate provided one for the boss and the bosses Torch that he is is turfing for a windows phone when his contract expires this month). RIM has definitely shot itself in the foot with its reps and carrier support compared to 5 years ago.

    Our display PB paperweight? It's sitting in a drawer in the back, waiting for the RMA request from head office.

    It's possible that the other stores got the same pamphlets and signage from RIM that we did and either just didn't put them out or couldn't (if those displays are planogrammed they can't modify how head office wants them to look, even for RIM provided pamphlets).

    Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2
    There is no way for me to verify this, but a friend of mine who manages a Staple store in Canada says that there are no RIM "reps" but only third party "reps" that represent RIM, as well as 2 or 3 other brands. If true, that may also be part of the problem as far as store displays and information sharing are concerned.
    01-06-13 04:28 PM
  15. chrysaurora's Avatar
    There ought to be RIM employees on this board.
    Hope they are looking and passing this on to relevant (marketing?) folks inside RIM!
    01-06-13 04:39 PM
  16. skyrocket9's Avatar
    There ought to be RIM employees on this board.
    Hope they are looking and passing this on to relevant (marketing?) folks inside RIM!
    What difference does it make RIM is laying off everyone and their grandma.
    01-06-13 05:05 PM
  17. chrysaurora's Avatar
    What difference does it make RIM is laying off everyone and their grandma.
    Well, it is clear that RIM is trying to fix their problems. At least, that's how it looks (I see tremendous amount of attention being paid to developers/development tools for BB 10, and that poor quality dev tools was a big issue previously). Anyway.. if they fix their problems, they have a good chance of attracting more customers. And as they grow, they'll start hiring again to keep up with customer demands. Sure, they are laying off now but the company isn't really doing well right now. And even when they laid people off, they tried to get their workers placed in other companies. Eg: I read they partnered with government (Waterloo job center) to help their about-to-be-laid-off workers.

    I know they haven't really, openly started marketing BlackBerry 10 yet. They are going to probably start that after launch - Jan 30th - but I hope that when they do, they take care of such small problems as lack of instructions/stickers explaining basic gestures on a display-models! Looking at how they are going all out to attract developer community (pre-launch), I am hopeful that their post-launch marketing will be spot-on too. Let's see how it pans out.
    01-07-13 09:46 AM
  18. kemj's Avatar
    If RIM sends me a RIM/BlackBerry branded polo shirt, I would gladly go into local stores and take care of these things. Every time I walk in an AT&T store I have to reboot the Bold 9900 because it is stuck with an error or something and reactivate the demo video, which sometimes won't even load.

    RIM needs to perform a real perfect launch and marketing for these BlackBerry 10 phones. It's a tough work, but pretty reachable if they use common sense and team up with the very BlackBerry fans out there.
    I also think RIM should have an exclusive BB10 booth in AT&T stores (and of course all other carriers too) just like the one iPhones have. All other smartphones and feature phones share similar booths with really nothing helping the devices to stand out. The first thing you see in the store is the big, shiny white exclusive iPhone booth to the side of the pile of all other smartphones...
    Toodeurep likes this.
    01-07-13 10:15 AM
  19. chrysaurora's Avatar
    If RIM sends me a RIM/BlackBerry branded polo shirt, I would gladly go into local stores and take care of these things.
    Yeah, I'd volunteer do this too in my spare time. Dear RIM - please send us BB branded polo shirts, we will go fix your PlayBook demos in our neighborhood for free!
    jakie55, kemj and Toodeurep like this.
    01-07-13 10:20 AM
  20. Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes's Avatar
    What difference does it make RIM is laying off everyone and their grandma.
    You must not be in the mix of the waterloo region. RIM has not been doing major layoffs of any kind for a long time. I have only heard of hiring...
    01-07-13 11:47 AM

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