1. belsunce's Avatar
    Look, I wasn't exactly thrilled by the announcement that OS 2.0 would be delayed again, AGAIN, and I do feel somewhat cheated by RIM (60 days, summer, late summer, fall, after devcon.. wait, that last one's actually not false..)

    but the thing that really makes me REGRET buying the 64GB PB is NOT that we have yet again to wait months for calendar, native email and contacts. most of us already have that stuff on our smartphones so it's not the end of the world as we know it, even though it'll be nice to have at some point.

    no, what KILLS me is that the apps available to us are for the most part a joke. sure, there are a few gems here and there but on the whole, everything I've tried on the PB had a better (and usually substantially better) counterpart on iOS. This is supposed to be the first and only professional grade tablet. Then why are we still stuck with the most under-featured PDF application the universe has ever seen? I've bitched about this profusely over the last months but it cannot be said enough. Adobe's PDF reader is TERRIBLE. They're AN OFFICIAL PB PARTNER. AND NOTHING GETS DONE ABOUT IT. He11, even iOS now has a better Adobe PDF reader app! How is this acceptable??

    I need a PDF reader which lets me:

    - skip directly to a precise page, not approximately get there with a scroll bar
    - use bookmarks
    - highlight and annotate
    - file my PDFs in separate folders instead of having only one list with a thousand entries
    - copy-paste

    In a nutshell, I need goodiware's GOODREADER. I don't need OS 2.0 for that, now do I?

    Next up, stylus-based note-taking. A lot of people find that useful in meetings, never mind environmentally-friendly. I've installed just about every note-taking and drawing app the PB has to offer; they're all terrible! Even SKIT, which showed promise, is really not very good. text is super angular, recognition is so-so at best (many times I'll try to write something and it'll only register after the 3rd stroke or so). WHERE IS SOMETHING LIKE iOS' PENULTIMATE?? I wouldn't need OS 2,0 for that, now would I? Why is this not available now?

    I could go on and on; these are just a couple of examples I think are relevant in the context of a "professional" tablet; you know, a WORK TOOL.


    What happened to developer support? GOOD developer support I mean, not the sort of half-a55ed Programming 101 weekly homework-quality garbage that constitutes 99% of App World. Where is it?

    Why are all the interfaces so ugly, the apps so pathetic? Why can't we get more apps that have the visual flair of what TAT produced? You know, something that doesn't look like it was designed and programmed in 4 hours?

    THIS, THIS is what really baffles me. The PB could be great, it really could. But tablets really boil down to the quality of the apps they offer and I feel like most of us are missing the big picture (me included until recently) when all we do is complain about OS 2.0's delay. I believe QUALITY APPS would go a long way in making the PB a much, much better device than it currently is, even on 1.7.xxx.

    My two cents.
    Last edited by belsunce; 10-27-11 at 10:25 AM.
    FF22 likes this.
    10-27-11 10:22 AM
  2. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    In a nutshell, I need goodiware's GOODREADER. I don't need OS 2.0 for that, now do I?

    WHERE IS SOMETHING LIKE iOS' PENULTIMATE?? I wouldn't need OS 2,0 for that, now would I? Why is this not available now?

    Why are all the interfaces so ugly, the apps so pathetic? Why can't we get more apps that have the visual flair of what TAT produced? You know, something that doesn't look like it was designed and programmed in 4 hours? I believe QUALITY APPS would go a long way in making the PB a much, much better device than it currently is, even on 1.7.xxx.

    My two cents.
    I have taken the liberty of removing parts of your rant in order to give it considerably more value than just 2 cents. You deserve some answers to your questions.

    1. I suggest you contact authors of the two apps you cited and ask why they do not offer a PB version of their app. Like many others here, you assume that RIM can magically make developers adopt PB and write apps for the device. With the announcements at DevCon, RIM has finally created an attractive environment in the hope that developers will begin porting their apps to the device. But the comparatively tiny user-base is still a major problem. The authors you mention will not make the jump until the numbers rise to a point where they can make money. This is why OS 2.0 is so important.

    2. TAT announced their libraries at DevCon and the tools are only just now in developers hands. NDK has just beern released along with the beta OS2. It is not reasonable to expect them to have already created apps using these tools. These new apps will not run on 1.7.xxx. This is another very good reason why OS 2.0 is so important.
    10-27-11 10:57 AM
  3. rdkempt's Avatar
    (RIM didn't confirm February, they said they're planning for it)

    So you have half a year (or more) to wait to see if they can sell more PBs (which will probably have to compete with iPad 3) and get a larger number of users. If more users are using the PB, then it will attract developers who then have to start writing apps or port their existing apps.

    So although your complaints are legitimate, I don't think anything much will come from them until developers see how 2.0 turns out and then react. So in an ideal world, you're ~9 months away from the small possibility of good apps?
    10-27-11 11:05 AM
  4. bb.pl's Avatar
    no, what KILLS me is that the apps available to us are for the most part a joke. sure, there are a few gems here and there but on the whole, everything I've tried on the PB had a better (and usually substantially better) counterpart on iOS. ...
    That might be the case, but does iOS have flash. Also if you have Ipad -1 it doesn't have a camera. And playbook is a professional grade tablet but ipad 2 is not.

    Anyways, just wait and all the apps you mentioned will be available on the playbook before Devcon 2012 or after. ( if the playbook is still around and the developers make the app for the playbook )
    10-27-11 11:07 AM
  5. Darlaten's Avatar
    That might be the case, but does iOS have flash. Also if you have Ipad -1 it doesn't have a camera. And playbook is a professional grade tablet but ipad 2 is not.

    Anyways, just wait and all the apps you mentioned will be available on the playbook before Devcon 2012 or after. ( if the playbook is still around and the developers make the app for the playbook )
    Its quite clear given the number of releatively small number of people who have purchased the Playbook versus an Ipad that the argument of "does iOS have flash" means absolutely nothing. Put simply, flash is irrelevant. If it was so important, then more people would have flocked to the Playbook which has not happened.

    LOL at the just wait comment.
    belsunce likes this.
    10-27-11 11:20 AM
  6. Altarocks's Avatar
    Its quite clear given the number of releatively small number of people who have purchased the Playbook versus an Ipad that the argument of "does iOS have flash" means absolutely nothing. Put simply, flash is irrelevant. If it was so important, then more people would have flocked to the Playbook which has not happened.

    LOL at the just wait comment.
    So I am wrong for feeling flash is important to me? Thanks for setting me straight.
    10-27-11 11:35 AM
  7. marksasongko's Avatar
    I tried emailing goodiware. They never replied...
    10-27-11 11:43 AM
  8. fan_00f's Avatar
    i cant agree more with the OP.
    I am an average user.
    Those are the only two things I need. i used to complain about Kobo, but then i paid 99cents for epub reader and i am a lot happier ..
    just those simple things and a few apps would make us like PB a lot more ...
    10-27-11 12:23 PM
  9. Alberta Blue's Avatar
    Its quite clear given the number of releatively small number of people who have purchased the Playbook versus an Ipad that the argument of "does iOS have flash" means absolutely nothing. Put simply, flash is irrelevant. If it was so important, then more people would have flocked to the Playbook which has not happened.

    LOL at the just wait comment.
    You are making the assumption that those who choose an iPad do so because they do not want flash.

    I think if you asked the average consumer what flash is most would not have a clue.

    I think things like marketing, name recognition, apps, overall consumer popularity, ease of use etc. sell a lot more iPads than people choosing to avoid flash.
    10-27-11 02:31 PM
  10. belsunce's Avatar
    i cant agree more with the OP.
    I am an average user.

    Thank you. I'm not the only one.. ;D And I totally agree about the ePub app, same here.



    To get back to previous posters' comments, I really don't see why we need 2.0 for decent apps. I'm talking about a frikkin' PDF reader and a note-taking app here! If you can't get that done right in OS 1.xxxxx, then there's gotta be a serious problem with the BlackBerry PlayBook somewhere. And suggesting we need to wait another 6 to 9 months on top of the 6 we've already waited? Excuse me but LOL.

    Lack of developer interest in the platform isn't just RIM's fault but we can't deny that it is partly RIM's fault.. Where were the proper tools this past year? When did RIM think would be a good time to release an NDK? Three years from now?

    The bottom line is, RIM effed up bigtime with the PlayBook, bigtime. I don't know whose head should roll (probably those of the two clowns at the top) but it's pretty clear that if they don't get some sort of Steve Jobs in there (I'm no Apple fanboy btw, but you can't deny what the man did for Apple after he was rehired), there might not be a RIM to ***** about in two years..
    Last edited by belsunce; 10-27-11 at 02:34 PM. Reason: typo
    FF22 likes this.
    10-27-11 02:32 PM
  11. FF22's Avatar
    I tried emailing goodiware. They never replied...
    They probably decided that anyone asking for an app for the pb was eccentric, if not worse!
    10-27-11 07:08 PM
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