[KermEd]

A lot of people seem confused about a new thread:

http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...d-life-694553/

In this thread you see a portion of a marketing update from TELUS stating the PlayBook is nearing its end of life...

... With TELUS! Not with RIM, with TELUS. They make no money on it. And they no longer want to sell it. That's it! That's why it's on sale at TELUS so cheap.

So don't panic, the PlayBook is just as awesome as it has ever been. And those of you who know anything about RIM knows they never put products on an end of life cycle - at least not for many years.

<rant: off topic>

Telus is an ugly company - I worked there a long time ago. And they spent tens of thousands of dollars on all the phone reps during hiring - even bringing in psychologists - to try and teach us now to sell, sell, sell! The number one tactic we used at TELUS was the fact we sold customer information and then sold those same customers features like Anonymous Call Blocking and Caller I'D - we were even told to try intimidation tactics to scare customers (example: older people and single moms - those at home mid day) into buying those features to 'protect them'. I remember an exec lost an unlocked laptop full of customer information and credit card numbers, over 100,000 users. And I remember how hard the company worked on keeping it a secret. The privacy clause says nothing about telling you if your information is stolen, so they didn't.

</rant: on topic>>

Anyway! Long rant to say - don't trust a tiny screencap of part of a message. That EOL message is normal there when they no longer want to sell products or support them. Ithas Nothing to do with RIM.

Ed

[howarmat]

im pretty sure that the PB 1 is EOL, meaning no more manufacturing of them. This doesnt mean end of support. EOL is a term that is used in the mobile industry all the time when a device is no longer expected to get shipments from manufactures. In reality this is good news that mean the PB 2 is probably very close to release.

[braindigger]

and a 3G version is a device that the mobile companies (like Telus) will be more inclined to support, push and sell. Good for all of us.

[KermEd]

Just to clarify the TELUS post uses EOL to represent manufacturing end of life including support (which is the more common reference for EOL). EOL includes support typically as it refers to the end of life for the product, not manufacturing.

But with that said I have family in supply chain - the PB you own is staying in manufacturing for a long time still. No matter the term for EOL - its not happening at RIM. They are building multiple tablet devices but no plan to retire the current.

Ed

[fernandez21]

It's ok if the play book is end of life, it means a new one is coming. If it makes you feel better, pretty sure the ipad2 is also end of life.

[anon(4018671)]

To me it makes sense that Ed is correct. If RIM ships new tablets then they will of course use OS 2.0 and I think its unlikely RIM is in the process of EOL a fresh OS.

Thanks Ed for bringing this up, I can see how someone might be mislead.

[bllbored]

so our playbooks will become "classics"!

[kennyliu]

Haha. Telus is an agly company because it sells? Every company does what you describe. I also worked for a few companies, and what Telus allegedly does to compete is nothing compared to what the companies I worked for do. Don't label a company ugly just because they happened to say the Playbook is EOL.

Btw, what's so catastrophic about the PB being EOL?

[fourboysplus]

It's ok if the play book is end of life, it means a new one is coming. If it makes you feel better, pretty sure the ipad2 is also end of life.

Exactly!!!!

[papped]

To me it makes sense that Ed is correct. If RIM ships new tablets then they will of course use OS 2.0 and I think its unlikely RIM is in the process of EOL a fresh OS.

Thanks Ed for bringing this up, I can see how someone might be mislead.

The OS and the current model are not the same thing. QNX os upgrades will continue regardless of if the current PB models are EOL or not...

[anon(4018671)]

The OS and the current model are not the same thing. QNX os upgrades will continue regardless of if the current PB models are EOL or not...

It has been a concern for some that RIM would discontinue the PlayBook. Hearing the PB is EOL sounds like its finished which it isn't AFAIK.
Personally I wouldn't put too much faith in a product that goes EOL, its EOL and any updates would be a bonus. So unless RIM comes out and says the PB is dead the Telus sale is just preparing for the new 3G PB. By the speed at which Telus sold out of them, they couldn't have had too many in stock

[papped]

EOL doesn't mean anything unless they state that new os versions aren't compatible with existing hardware (which obiously isn't true).

So even if it is going eol, who cares. It has nothing to do with support so far

[JeffyPooh]

News Flash: Rumours like this eventually do come true.

[FF22]

News Flash: Rumours like this eventually do come true.

Yup, even Mark Twain finally died!

[BBplaybookJS]

The concern for many, as fed by misleading posts on various websites is that RIM would abandon the tablet market and consider the playbook a failed project. Most of us understand that a new version of the Playbook will be coming out later this year. Just as the iPad2 replaced the iPad. Noting to fear, once upon a time cell phones were the size of bricks. Things change, as long as its for the better its for the best.

[FXCLM5]

everything you have, owned, will buy will eventually have a EOL

end of story

how else are the companies gonna launder more $ from us?

stop crying bout EOL, people die everyday that is the real EOL

[FSeverino]

The fact that they may not be making or selling anymore versions of this playbook is only bad news for the people that dont already have one. For me this means nothing.

even if RIM stops supporting this version 100% i still have a device that can do a lot more stuff compared to other tablets.

The fact that OS 2 is coming out soon, and that RIM knows they need to keep the early adopters happy, would make me hope that they would not do anything to outdate the first version of the PB until at least the PB3. Remeber, the most important thing for RIM right now is to get developers on board so that the 'i want apps' people buy PBs... so for RIM the best bet would be to keep supporting the old and new versions into 2013, which i am positive they will do.

[louzer]

If you listen to / watch the Android Central podcasts, Phil Nickenson brought up this same point with regard to people getting bent out of shape when the phone they bought 10 months ago (or sometimes less) get EOL'd. As Phil says, it's not as of your phone is going to just stop working. If you like it and it's still doing for you what it did when you bought it, then what's the problem. It's OS just won't be enhanced anymore. Same is true for the Playbook.

As far as the OP's point is concerned, retailer EOL is not the same thing as manufacturer EOL. Tellus is just deciding to take a bigger loss than RIM is at the moment in order to clear their shelves. I doubt that RIM is going to have anymore Playbook's manufactured. But that doesn't mean they are not sitting on a pretty sizable warehouse that they can make money on. After all, they already got the loss of the discounted price of them off their books last quarter. And who knows? They might have located that truck full of Playbooks that was stolen last fall.

Anyway, the Playbook, as a product, is definitely not EOL given the talk about Playbook 3G. RIM will not EOL this Playbook while sitting on inventory and with no specific date for Playbook 2 yet. Tellus can certainly EOL the Playbook for their own stores.

EOL or not, as long as I can keep using mine, I don't really care. And I just might buy another one

Go Pats!...oh wait...never mind They were simply outplayed.

[peter9477]

If you like it and it's still doing for you what it did when you bought it, then what's the problem. It's OS just won't be enhanced anymore. Same is true for the Playbook.

In case anyone who doesn't follow this stuff thinks you're saying that the current PlayBook will not get updates: there's no reason to think that's the case. RIM will be standing behind this baby for a long time yet. So yes, its OS definitely will be enhanced some more (and well beyond 2.0).

[KermEd]

I need to clarify - I am cool with it being EOL. I'm cool with everyone's mixed definitions. The problem here is it isn't EoL. The PB simply isn't EOL, it just is in terms of sales and support at Telus.

I just hoped to make sure people understood how it really is . Also, someone mentioned all companies are like Telus. I work at two that are not today - two profitable companies that (I'm sorry to say) actually has higher standards. Also I can say this wih confidence as nothing happens at these companies without my stamp of approval (its my job)

[swyost]

If you listen to / watch the Android Central podcasts, Phil Nickenson brought up this same point with regard to people getting bent out of shape when the phone they bought 10 months ago (or sometimes less) get EOL'd. As Phil says, it's not as of your phone is going to just stop working. If you like it and it's still doing for you what it did when you bought it, then what's the problem. It's OS just won't be enhanced anymore. Same is true for the Playbook.

Actually, EOL has been a huge issue for Android phones because of OS fragmentation. Phones only a few months old can be dead ends that are not eligible for essential bug fixes. With respect to the Playbook EOL means very little. BTW, it doesn't matter how many RIM sells or has in stock. If they can only sell them at the current price point, they lose money every time. Yes, it is better than not selling them at all, but not a lot better given the per unit loss. Reality is that, regardless of the fact that the Playbook is a very good device, it has been a huge failure for RIM.

[swyost]

and a 3G version is a device that the mobile companies (like Telus) will be more inclined to support, push and sell. Good for all of us.

Good luck finding the carriers willing to subsidize a second generation Playbook. Without that, a full price Playbook will move out of retailers about as fast as it did last year. Actually, good luck finding that 3G Playbook since it is only an unsubstantiated rumor....

[thymaster]

I could think one reason why Telus wants PB 1 to be end of life and that is to bring PB 2 which means more profit. Telus will able to sell a data plan with the HSPA chipset. Telus is a service company after all. Selling their mobile service is priority number 1.

[siefer999]

I need to clarify - I am cool with it being EOL. I'm cool with everyone's mixed definitions. The problem here is it isn't EoL. The PB simply isn't EOL, it just is in terms of sales and support at Telus.

I just hoped to make sure people understood how it really is . Also, someone mentioned all companies are like Telus. I work at two that are not today - two profitable companies that (I'm sorry to say) actually has higher standards. Also I can say this wih confidence as nothing happens at these companies without my stamp of approval (its my job)

Exactly. ONLY Telus has stopped selling Playbooks.

[rkennedy01]

A couple of points about the EOL argument:

1. Even if the current PB is no longer manufactured, the next gen model is sufficiently similar (same form factor, same CPU family) to ensure that updates to the OS will be applicable to both. So the idea that the PB 1.0 is somehow a dead end is total BS. If anything, RIM is more likely than most Android manufacturers to keep its existing products supported since it needs to preserve those customer relationships while they rebuild market share.

2. With so many media outlets rehashing the same RIM-bashing articles (media echo chamber) the idea of that the PB being discontinued entirely is now the conventional wisdom. Frankly, we on the forums should know better as we follow RIM closely and they've made it clear they intend to continue developing the PB line.

Bottom Line: When April rolls around and RIM starts talking up the *new* PlayBook models with faster CPUs and LTE support, those who kept recycling the PB-is-dead mantra will look all the more foolish. I, for one, look forward to gloating. :-)

RCK