[currentodysseys]

DON'T "TRASH" MY PLAYBOOK!
-Time for auto critique and back into perspective!

Following OS2 with all its goodies and possible omissions the hype is back on and with it came the excitement,critique, wish lists, judging, praise,polemic and "trashing"... That made me think again over the symptoms, perform an auto critique as to my perceptions and public discussions about the playbook and RIM and finally to decide writing this post with the hope of it helping share my personal belief that we need to step back and get into perspective and view things from a distance and look at those voices that are "trashing" the playbook but in perspective.

Like the vast majority of us, I am in no way affiliated to any company whatsoever. Actually I am a simple consumer and I ve had my 32gb pb since it first came out almost and am just another gadget fanatic whose wife puts up with my crazy and deep down loves everything gadget but will not admit it...(that kind of helps family finances too).

Well that said, it was a yes or yes when i bought my playbook. It was a conscious decision that i made after weighting my possibilities out there and it was one of those times where i just came out with the declaration and a huge smile on my face:"I got me a playbook"!!

Well, my wife had reasons to trash my new "baby" but surprisingly she did not! She just said "Enjoy" with a warm smile and (i am sure i saw it in her eyes somewhere) a concern that a bb big broher in addition to my Torch would mean we would interact a bit less in the day.

Of course i was embarking on a trip that i was not fully aware of at the moment. This would give me both satisfaction and frustration at times in relation to my pb for the following months.

As i said, it was a conscious buy that aimed into having a device that in combination with my bb torch would make my work day easier, portable and would allow me to have an alternative to my laptop or netbook for that matter on the many trips and meetings required in my profession. My playbook since then has fulfilled that role to the maximum and passed the test of time with flying colours!

In addition to that it allowed me to surf the web with almost no restriction, not need a data plan for emergency internet needs when i am out (using my bis bridge when no wifi available), watch media, listen to music, kill time and in general provide entertainment of satisfactory quality for my standards. The playbook has been a spot on decision for my needs as i had determined them upon purchase.

I then found myself in the midst of the polemic... I caught my self being highly frustrated with RIM because they promised but did not deliver in many things i had expectations about (including native PIM), i saw the market price of my playbook drop dramatically in comparison to what i had paid and i also saw a huge bashing and trashing of a tablet that was the new kid on the block that many hated but noone failed to consciously or not notice that it was different and in some way special. What impressed me to see was that some of the bashing came from PB owners as well!!! It out of the sudden seemed a situation of highschool booling where the target was my friend, the Playbook. To that, I added my voice of hard critique towards RIM from a faithful client's position having expectations of high standards from a vendor I trusted and that was not holding up their side of the deal all that well (i think we will all agree to that point to an extend).

Then came OS2...and i started downloading within 4 minutes from it being available. That was rewarding and frustrating at the same time and i found myself raging with anger because my most expected features promised and waited for (PIM with "flawless integration" and local language -greek in my case- would not meet the expectations created).

Greek seemed to work on UI and menus but not in input from keyboard and this was something that affected me greatly work wise and in the general use of my tablet. It took me a negative couple of posts in CB (still out there) that same day and a few hours to realize that I only needed a security whipe to make it work!! I then was a happy bunny on that and actually it is the best language ui out there for greek up to the point. With that realization started my thinking of taking it down a nudge and "regrouping".....which led me to this post.

Many are Trashing the PB, others RIM and some both, but when it is us owners trashing the PB then it is worrying to my opinion about our own self. As conscious users and consumers we are supposed to select and weight our possibilities before purchase. We are buying or should be buying stuff because they cover our needs and then they should meet our expectations. While RIM greatly contributed to our expectations being inflated and under-met by not delivering in some aspects and greatly because of huge delays, the playbook has been serving the basic needs it was supposed to in a faithful way and in terms of hardware with extreme competence. Sure we missed and still miss things but it has not been a rip off (excluding price drop, which actually is a good thing for those that unlike me, did not rush to buy one on day 2).

But we omit to pay attention to a critical point regarding tablets in general: it is a product still vastly under development as a market segment in general! They are not a set category of electronics market, they are in their puberty and still develop down different roads each according to their vendors and we now have ios, android and QNX os with windows 8 smelling like another totally new player while old acquaintance coming in the game hard on mobiles. Each tablet has a different perspective and they still are looking into what they want to be when they grow up... While android is still thinking about going to coledge or not and the ipad being the famous jog of the school, the playbook is somehow different. It has always known what it wants to be when it grew up, it is a bit of a nerd (and super cool at the same time) but most importantly it comes fromwhat was a "broken home" with huge family problems.

Yeah that is right huge problems at home but it still studies like crazy and it is responsible and serious, a fighter and hard worker. That alone gives it a merit.

So if we chose the playbook it should be for a reason that has to do with what needs it can cover for us. If we bought it as a mode accessory i am sorry but -1 point as consumers and yes it is logical to get frustrated because we made a mistake in our purchase but hey, we may have wanted to think it better before: decisions have consequences and any serious grown up has to be able to take theirs both sides. Did RIM let us down? YES! RIM is not my friend but the playbook is by personal choice, I bought it! I will give and keep giving RIM a hard time as demanding consumer and push them to get things done correctly and on time but this as an owner of their product(ps:get that bb phone and PIM integration running localy soon RIM!!!!!!!). That does not mean in no way that the playbook sucks, on the contrary the playbook is great and has been of great service to me and it only gets better with time.

As an owner of one, I have to be objective to that matter and support it, so that more development comes its way, because this will give me added value and because the tablet itself is worth it! Sometimes (hopefully more than less) "children" become better than their parents and this is the case of the playbook! It is a great tablet that was mistreated by its mother company, no need to treat it badly out there as well. I am mad at RIM for that but I am more annoyed by boolies of other platforms and even more by ourselves, the playbook owners! When someone with great potential is hurt do not step on them taking them down and especially if you chose them and they have been faithful and of service to you, the playbook is that kind of tech"friend", mistreated by its own family.

Lets reconsider our perspective as consumers, RIM get your act together faster and deliver as you should and to all of those boolies out there,

STOP TRASHING MY PLAYBOOK GOD &%@% IT!!

[kennyliu]

Wow, you've got a thesis here. Just need a title page and it's ready for defense

[kill_9]

Great write-up addressing the key points myself and probably other BlackBerry users have been feeling since the April 2011 release.

[currentodysseys]

Wow, you've got a thesis here. Just need a title page and it's ready for defense

Lol just enjoying my cofee on a holiday and getting to let that steam out hahahah.
Thanks!!

[xtremez]

Wow...analogies were pretty creative i'd say. Could have almost been a BBdoodle storybook if it was longer or at least short story.