[sinsin07]

Now that you know how much I like my PB with bridge, I also have to admit that as far as the media and tech blogosphere is concerned, the PB is totally irrelevant. This is a product that is far and away superior to the original and nearly identical looking Kindle Fire yet the Fire was and still is heralded by the tech press while the PlayBook is totally ignored and forgotten. The release of a small and inexpensive iPad really paints a bleak picture for the future of this amazing product (PlayBook). The iPad is lovely, has a crappy UI that people love, It has all the apps on earth and now it is cheap. The only way any manufacturer has a hope now is with a competitive iTunes like ecosystem (I hate that word in this context) and that is not likely possible. Apple just guaranreed that there is no money to be made in hardware for anybody but them.

Nope. Look at latest IDC and other indicators. Samsung coming on strong both in revenue and market share (which in certain categories they have surpased Apple)

[mikegcox]

Nope. Look at latest IDC and other indicators. Samsung coming on strong both in revenue and market share (which in certain categories they have surpased Apple)

I am referring to Tablets. Phones are profitable, but people expect to pay $200 for a 7 inch tablet. Apple now has one priced in that ballpark. To make even modest profits on the Tablet, RIM needs to sell it for much more than $200 and for the basic consumer who is pushed from every direction to Apple, buying the iPad mini for just a few bucks more will look more attractive than any other tablet on the market.

[BBplaybookJS]

The single most important feature of PlayBook is the ability to bridge, no other device can match this.

[Tre Lawrence]

The single most important feature of PlayBook is the ability to bridge, no other device can match this.

... for the subset of BB-owning people...

[SonySandy]

I don't think the Playbook is DOA, its just not very well known in the market. I work in IT and I knew next to nothing about the Playbook until last week. I only perked up my ears when I heard I could pick up a 64gb Playbook for �129 (a steal for me).

I've had a Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000 for 2 years now, and I only picked up the Playbook because my young son has taken an interest in playing on the GT (which is 3g and I use it a lot, I'd miss it if it got broken).

After some quick internet research I noticed that the Playbook is rated as one of the sturdiest tablets on the market, so far its proven 1 year old proof.

Although I agree I think this model Playbook will be quietly swept under the carpet by RIM in 6 months/year when they develop a new one. That said 64gb at only �129 is a bargain as a media player and sometimes game player for me wee boy to bash about with.

[sinsin07]

I am referring to Tablets. Phones are profitable, but people expect to pay $200 for a 7 inch tablet. Apple now has one priced in that ballpark. To make even modest profits on the Tablet, RIM needs to sell it for much more than $200 and for the basic consumer who is pushed from every direction to Apple, buying the iPad mini for just a few bucks more will look more attractive than any other tablet on the market.

So am I:Engadget 10/25/12: Strategy Analytics claims Android reached 41 percent of tablets in Q3, iPad may have felt the heat

I don't disagree with the rest of your statement.

[sinsin07]

The single most important feature of PlayBook is the ability to bridge, no other device can match this.

True. However the single most important item for a tablet is the sale. Without the sale to the end user, Bridge is irrelevant. And thats exactly what we are seeing.

[airbbtran]

The single most important feature of PlayBook is the ability to bridge, no other device can match this.

i think app would be the single most important feature. never heard people in other platform complaint about not being able to bridge. i hear PB user complaint about app all the time

[sinsin07]

I use the PlayBook to display songsheets on a tv screen at a monthly music jam. I put all the song sheets into a powerpoint presentation using MSOffice on Windows. I hit save, browse to my playbook that is sitting in my music bag and save the powerpoint file directly to my PlayBook. I then go to the Jam, pull out my HDMI cable and plug the PB into the TV and walk away. I sit on the other side of the room, pull out my 9790, start the bridge app and we do our jam and we all have fun.

iPad does not have PowerPoint that I know of and it costs $50 fo an HDMI adapter. I cannot move files onto it natively, I cannot control my iPad with my phone natively either. All this could be done with the iPad, but it was far easier and cheaper using standards and native playbook features.

Whenever I know I am going to be away from my computer, I bring my PlayBook and I get work done. I do not have to look for a hotspot as long as my phone is in my pocket. If I am doing work that requires precision, I can use my phone as a trackpad, my PlayBook has a cursor Bridge gives it to me. No matter what, Incannot get a cursor on iOS and it makes me insane.

Doesn't make a difference. The small screen size is what killed it for business. Sorry but PowerPoint docs are used on iPads everyday in business, hence my comment about carrying paper. If you have 10-20 people in a meeting, why does everyone need to print out the same set of documents?
Concerning hdmi, yes the adapter is expensive. I am not a proponent of it. However a 50$ adapter is nothing for a Fortune 500 company. For a individual user, look who the users are buying apple stuff. Will $50 stop them?

This cursor thing and other foibles of yours is a very individual use case scenario. When you look at the surge of Samsung Tablets and the overwhelming amount of iPads sold it would appear that these very specific use cases you have millions and millions of users seem not to.

But Im glad the Playbook worked for you, but none of what you mentioned seems to be required by the general public.

[kbz1960]

OK the pb would've been doa without bridge because then even bb fans would've never bought it. You're all correct.

Disclaimer, I wonder why people who didn't and don't own a bb ever bought one, strange people in deed.

[sinsin07]

OK the pb would've been doa without bridge because then even bb fans would've never bought it. You're all correct.

Disclaimer, I wonder why people who didn't and don't own a bb ever bought one, strange people in deed.

Are you factoring in your corporate hostage? Those assigned BBs by their company? Some of those are on these boards.

[FF22]

OK the pb would've been doa without bridge because then even bb fans would've never bought it. You're all correct.

Disclaimer, I wonder why people who didn't and don't own a bb ever bought one, strange people in deed.

I would NOT have purchased it without Bridge. I actually bridged at the store to make sure it actually worked.

But 1/2 million to a million to maybe 2 million bb users is small compared with the other approximately 80 million bb users. Somehow rim never sold this or 79 million already had ipads!

[Shlooky]

I can't resist

My Ipad can control my Samsung Smart TV. Can the Playbook do that? Nope.

My Ipad will be able to control my Xbox360 including transferring content to and from the Xbox and be used to augment certain video games using the upcoming SmartGlass App. Is this app coming to the Playbook? Nope.

Will the Playbook be considered by those individuals who view the above as important considerations in their purchasing of a tablet? Nope. And therein lies the problem with the Playbook; it is utterly irrelevant if the Playbook has "features" which other tablets do not if, in the same breath, the Playbook lacks the very applications which every other tablet has. To simplify, it's become clear that features, for the average consumer, are not important in their decision making process. What is important is whether or not the applications that the public has come to expect to be available on a tablet is actually available on the tablet. The Playbook failed, or put in a slightly more positive manner, the Playbook was relegated to a very small niche market of users, not because it lacked features but because it lacked applications. Not to continue to beat a dead horse, but when a consumer asks if the Playbook has a Skype app and the only answer they receive is "No, it doesn't, but hey, the Playbook has high security", the reply from the consumer is "Security, who cares, I want Skype, show me what other tablets you have." That is why the Playbook failed.

And my iphone can control Netflix on my PS3, can a BB do that? no! If I had an iPad it would work the same way.

[Bluemoonjules]

I like having Bridge, I like having a PB...when I bought 16GB at �169 or whatever it was, it was the only 7" tablet on the UK market at the price. I would get a Kindle Fire now. Just been playing with BBM over Bridge. Only thing I would really like are Skype and Kindle.

[RubberChicken76]

But 1/2 million to a million to maybe 2 million bb users is small compared with the other approximately 80 million bb users.

What are you quoting? PlayBook users? There were over a million actual users as of last March.

[BBplaybookJS]

... for the subset of BB-owning people...

I agree, and if the Playbook had been marketed as such from the get go there probably would have been a lot less disappointed people complaining about the playbooks supposed weaknesses

[bdguru]

I must say this is a true and honest thread. I am new to the tablet world. I am very loyal to BB. Once i finally got my email to integrate no problems. I just wish i would have gotten a 32 or 64. No product is perfect. My PlayBook has been a very good intro to the tablet world. They can only make it better! Bridge is a very cool concept. Makes me feel like i am totally connected.

[mikegcox]

I was merely demonstrating how I use Bridge and threw in some other things that I find useful. I am the general public so what I say is perfectly relevant. I have an iPad too, I use it for GarageBand, but for doing what I mentioned, the PlayBook with Bridge is just easier - for me.