[lynntarbox]

after having one for a short while now and finding its strengths and weaknesses, heres how i would improve this device:

1) should have included a good PDF reader. I think this is at the VERY basic level of any tablet out there. iPad has ibooks which is a huge bookstore AND you can load on your own epubs/pdfs etc. adobe reader is simply useless with no ability to bookmark or reformat books for tablet screen size.

2) honestly, drop android player support. i think this was a very bad business decision for RIM. yes, its supposed to allow for such a late entry tablet to take advantage of already established app stores, but as you can tell, both android and ipad have severely loyal customers (so does RIM but we all know numbers have been on a vast decline), and having an android app player does NOTHING for establishing any sort of brand/loyalty to RIM.

i am willing to bet a good chunk of people who bought the playbook at discount prices are pretty much hoping to get rid of QNX altogether and replace it with a custom android rom. i know i will be if it ever happens. thats not to say that QNX is bad in any way, but RIM's implementation of it has been an utter failure.

either way, all android support does is further alienate bb10 developers. NO ONE is going to develop natively for the playbook if they can just develop for android instead, which means even LESS revenue for RIM since they don't get a cut from android app sales. and lets face it, app/media sales are whats pushing the top tablet makers right now and even solely the entire basis of the amazon kindle fires business model.

3) do NOT create your own version of flash! this is a glaring mistake that shows RIM is completely off base with where future technology will go. I remember seeing tons of ads with the playbook touting "full, desktop browsing experience with flash" etc etc etc.

does anyone here work in a design/development agency of any sort? almost EVERY agency/firm is now focusing on UX and absolutely no one believes a 'full desktop browsing experience' on a tiny 7" screen is a good idea. when the astonishing tribe did the UI work for the playbook, they knew this. thats why you don't see start menus etc on a tablet anywhere. RIM shouldn't be advertising "full, desktop browsing experience" at all because thats not what it is nor is it even a good idea. theres a reason why responsive design (the ability to adapt to different media/sizes/etc) is HUGE right now in the design world.

as for flash, ask the majority of agencies out there and you will see flash work being from tons of projects at once many years ago to barely a few now. RIM further investing in flash particularly in this time is extremely shortsighted and i hope its not indicative of future bad decision making. the majority of people who want flash generally just mean the ability to watch flash video but without the support of giants like hulu, well...

Overall, the playbook obviously has potential. but its been sitting in the 'potential' column for far too long and so far has been massively mishandled by the people in charge of it.

[alnamvet68]

I'll address only one of your hypothesis', NOBODY I know of wants to get rid of QNX, especially for Android. Anybody who thinks Android is the cat's meow would never have even looked at a Playbook, and instead, would have bought one of thos e-readers or their more PC like clones.

[lynntarbox]

I'll address only one of your hypothesis', NOBODY I know of wants to get rid of QNX, especially for Android. Anybody who thinks Android is the cat's meow would never have even looked at a Playbook, and instead, would have bought one of thos e-readers or their more PC like clones.

well one thing you're right about is that nobody *WANTS* to get rid of QNX, but its current implementation has undeniably been a horrible experience. android is actually my least favourite of mobile OS's right now, but theres no denying google has been steadfastly pushing update after update extremely fast and are basically following RERO form of development like wordpress. plus if you're not happy with your manufacturer updates from samsung etc, theres always the huge 3rd party hackers doing custom flash rom development.

and obviously androids app market is clearly superior.

meanwhile, the playbook can't even get its own forum section on XDA, let alone stir up any 3rd party interest.

i get that some playbook owners are completely fine with the playbook is right now. but guess what? it isn't fine for the vast majority of people out there in the market for a tablet and it clearly is not doing what RIM wants it to do. RIM is not trying to play the 'niche' market game that apple is currently doing with their desktop/laptop line. RIM tried to be a viable competitor with the tablet top dogs and failed. if they continue with what the current small minority of happy playbook owners want, then its pretty much a dead product now.

[hpjrt]

after having one for a short while now and finding its strengths and weaknesses, heres how i would improve this device:

1) should have included a good PDF reader. I think this is at the VERY basic level of any tablet out there. iPad has ibooks which is a huge bookstore AND you can load on your own epubs/pdfs etc. adobe reader is simply useless with no ability to bookmark or reformat books for tablet screen size.

2) honestly, drop android player support. i think this was a very bad business decision for RIM. yes, its supposed to allow for such a late entry tablet to take advantage of already established app stores, but as you can tell, both android and ipad have severely loyal customers (so does RIM but we all know numbers have been on a vast decline), and having an android app player does NOTHING for establishing any sort of brand/loyalty to RIM.

i am willing to bet a good chunk of people who bought the playbook at discount prices are pretty much hoping to get rid of QNX altogether and replace it with a custom android rom. i know i will be if it ever happens. thats not to say that QNX is bad in any way, but RIM's implementation of it has been an utter failure.

either way, all android support does is further alienate bb10 developers. NO ONE is going to develop natively for the playbook if they can just develop for android instead, which means even LESS revenue for RIM since they don't get a cut from android app sales. and lets face it, app/media sales are whats pushing the top tablet makers right now and even solely the entire basis of the amazon kindle fires business model.

3) do NOT create your own version of flash! this is a glaring mistake that shows RIM is completely off base with where future technology will go. I remember seeing tons of ads with the playbook touting "full, desktop browsing experience with flash" etc etc etc.

does anyone here work in a design/development agency of any sort? almost EVERY agency/firm is now focusing on UX and absolutely no one believes a 'full desktop browsing experience' on a tiny 7" screen is a good idea. when the astonishing tribe did the UI work for the playbook, they knew this. thats why you don't see start menus etc on a tablet anywhere. RIM shouldn't be advertising "full, desktop browsing experience" at all because thats not what it is nor is it even a good idea. theres a reason why responsive design (the ability to adapt to different media/sizes/etc) is HUGE right now in the design world.

as for flash, ask the majority of agencies out there and you will see flash work being from tons of projects at once many years ago to barely a few now. RIM further investing in flash particularly in this time is extremely shortsighted and i hope its not indicative of future bad decision making. the majority of people who want flash generally just mean the ability to watch flash video but without the support of giants like hulu, well...

Overall, the playbook obviously has potential. but its been sitting in the 'potential' column for far too long and so far has been massively mishandled by the people in charge of it.

Forgive me if I have misinterpreted your diatribe, but I'm not at all sure you want to "improve" the Playbook at all. You seem to think that iPad is king. That's fine. Play with your iPad. I prefer my Playbook and don't quite understand why iPad users feel sufficiently threatened that they feel they need to come here to make disparaging posts. Just my opinion.

[jamesbondOO7]

yep, one of those again.

[Chaddface]

If you really want to improve the PB sell it to one of the members here that can't seem to find one.

[ravageur1972]

i think the only way to improve a playbook is use it and for others ones is to modify (rooting, trying beta os, etc etc) and for some of pb users is to change for ipad or another tablet that use another os. for me the playbook do exactly what i wanted (internet, the bridge function, video and music and even some fun smalls games. i don't care if i can't have the latest app that disform my picture and others useless app that last no more than a week and delete cause it's useless....i think the best tablet is those one that do what you want......i found one and his name is playbook and when the 2.0 os will come out i will install it but until it's available i will keep it original and like it like that....for others os and tablets if you love them i'm simply happy for you and not jaleous if it's better or faster or bigger or more app than mine ....you only found your right tablet

[Chaddface]

Logical first post. Thanks. Welcome to the forum.

[alnamvet68]

Excellent first post! BZ

[Optimus82]

geez I swear playbook owners on this forum are quicker to attack anyone who downplays the pb than apple and android fanboys do on there own forums. its ok guys. the playbook is awesome. don't get mad.

I like my playbook but the truth is, my a500 will outdo it. usb game controllers, usb flash drives to usb keyboards and mouse, wireless printing, sdcard access, and a crapload of other stuff you can throw at it.

[alnamvet68]

the playbook is awesome.

.

You are absolutely right about that!

Edited to save on bandwidth

[svein99]

I think we first have to understand where RIM sees this device in the market place. I think they primarily see it as a device for business to allow RIM to hold on to their existing business customers and just like airlines the business revenue is many times that of a consumer. In this regard what is needed is connectivity, security and productivity and much less about apps in the consumer sense. This needs USB and printer access as well as business type apps like Skype, corporate email etc. In addition a few good games to keep the traveling executive entertained on the road and throw in some consumer apps to drive the consumer market. Personally I would be happy with these capabilities and the ability to move my pictures from my camera via USB when traveling.

[Megacharge]

I am an Android owner and Playbook owner, and I think the Playbook is awesome, sounds like the OP is just flame-baiting. Ignore it.

[genesimmons]

I'll address only one of your hypothesis', NOBODY I know of wants to get rid of QNX, especially for Android. Anybody who thinks Android is the cat's meow would never have even looked at a Playbook, and instead, would have bought one of thos e-readers or their more PC like clones.

this is soooooo false,with the big sale it was price that drove most to buy the pb,half of the users here me included knew nothing about the playbook except its selling for less than half price and money talks.it wasnt until they and me got home that we seen the pb shortcommings and of course its pottential.now sure the diehard rim fans may not try but im very sure if there was a full ice cream sandwich rom that installed easily almost every one on here would try it.some may switch back but i bet the mojority would stay,the app player comming out is not the answer its a bandaid. not all apps work,if full installed android worked not an app player im sure most would switch,a nice sized good hardware android tab with countless working apps for 199 would be a great deal

[Snipperdo17]

after having one for a short while now and finding its strengths and weaknesses, heres how i would improve this device:


2) honestly, drop android player support. i think this was a very bad business decision for RIM. yes, its supposed to allow for such a late entry tablet to take advantage of already established app stores, but as you can tell, both android and ipad have severely loyal customers (so does RIM but we all know numbers have been on a vast decline), and having an android app player does NOTHING for establishing any sort of brand/loyalty to RIM.



either way, all android support does is further alienate bb10 developers. NO ONE is going to develop natively for the playbook if they can just develop for android instead, which means even LESS revenue for RIM since they don't get a cut from android app sales. and lets face it, app/media sales are whats pushing the top tablet makers right now and even solely the entire basis of the amazon kindle fires business model.

3) do NOT create your own version of flash! this is a glaring mistake that shows RIM is completely off base with where future technology will go. I remember seeing tons of ads with the playbook touting "full, desktop browsing experience with flash" etc etc etc.

does anyone here work in a design/development agency of any sort? almost EVERY agency/firm is now focusing on UX and absolutely no one believes a 'full desktop browsing experience' on a tiny 7" screen is a good idea. when the astonishing tribe did the UI work for the playbook, they knew this. thats why you don't see start menus etc on a tablet anywhere. RIM shouldn't be advertising "full, desktop browsing experience" at all because thats not what it is nor is it even a good idea. theres a reason why responsive design (the ability to adapt to different media/sizes/etc) is HUGE right now in the design world.

as for flash, ask the majority of agencies out there and you will see flash work being from tons of projects at once many years ago to barely a few now. RIM further investing in flash particularly in this time is extremely shortsighted and i hope its not indicative of future bad decision making. the majority of people who want flash generally just mean the ability to watch flash video but without the support of giants like hulu, well...

Overall, the playbook obviously has potential. but its been sitting in the 'potential' column for far too long and so far has been massively mishandled by the people in charge of it.

I don't think you exactly know what your talking about. I can't speak for others, but I know I would never choose Android over QNX, no matter what happens, because it is inferior to me. Second, you clearly don't know how the android player works. Developers have to port their apps over to RIM's app world, therefore it is a BlackBerry app, but runs in the Android app player. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that means that RIM gets a cut from those app sales since it is technically a BlackBerry app. Oh, and tablet makers don't get cuts from app sales unless they are makers of that app store (ie Apple, Amazon, RIM). Google takes a share of the sales, not Samsung or Motorola. I think the app player is an awesome idea. Would you rather have an app that is in the app market run in the android player or not have the app at all? The android apps I'm using now work awesome and I've been 100 times happier with the PlayBook ever since they released the beta OS 2.0

2nd- Flash. Tons and tons of people still want flash because it is still used on many sites. Yes, the future is HTML 5, which RIM supports very well also. There is absolutely nothing wrong with implementing flash in the browser. I for one definitely enjoy the full web browsing experience on the PlayBook because I like full sites so much better than mobile sites. I think your mistaken on several things.

[Angus_CB]

...
I like my playbook but the truth is, my a500 will outdo it. usb game controllers, usb flash drives to usb keyboards and mouse, wireless printing, sdcard access, and a crapload of other stuff you can throw at it.

All of that stuff is nice but it adds to the size and weight of the tablet. These two pieces of hardware don't compare at all.
The A500 is more comparable to a netbook than a 7" tablet.
I have a netbook with those connections if I want them.
I wanted a small light tablet. The Playbook fits my needs.

I don't find RIM's implementation of QNX to be a failure. It works very well and should work better if/when it's finished. I do believe the Playbook was rushed and RIM is playing catch up but they aren't naive enough to think they can take over the iPad / Android market. I suspect they are hoping to be a stong third.

There is nothing wrong with having Android app support. Full proprietary app support isn't necessarily a good thing. Only Apple believes that.

The term 'full desktop browsing experience' is in reference to web browsing not the tablet UI.

[Chaddface]

this is soooooo false,with the big sale it was price that drove most to buy the pb,half of the users here me included knew nothing about the playbook except its selling for less than half price and money talks.it wasnt until they and me got home that we seen the pb shortcommings and of course its pottential.

You should research any product before you buy it. If you don't you have no business complaning about anything.

[AggreX]

IMO this thread is over! The OP PB issues have been addressed professionally by CB members and the OP should understand the PB is not the best fit for the OP.

[kbz1960]

OP do you know how to improve the playbook? Enjoy it now and wait for 2.0.

That is how you improve it. Nuf said.

[genesimmons]

You should research any product before you buy it. If you don't you have no business complaning about anything.

ur right.i as well as many others did an impulse buy without any research.i got mine cheap so ill be patient and wait and hope this device becomes complete.

[ravageur1972]

said sooner by another poster for me:
i already addressed this. you are in the clear minority which is NOT good for RIM and thus not good for future support. but you're right about one thing. there are many other tablets to choose from, and judging from sales and marketplace, everyone is choosing something else.
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i'm not agree with you cause when you must destroy other company to show your it's because you don't thrust your..............i'm really open to the choice of other poeple cause i know Blackberry is a real great product but if you don't agree , make your choice yourself
i'm probably near of top lover of Blackberry product and recommand it to all those who ask me wich one to choose and 75% of those who i talk to had choose BB product but i can appreciate the avantage of other brand too.......i own only BB product

so i think a BB customer is always good for RIM.....and even if he destroy nothing around

maybe i don't really understand what you mean ( i'm french ) but this what i think