[kmcobra64]

I just thought of something and wanted to hear your guys' thoughts. Hear me out.

I love the idea of everything working together seamlessly and everything syncing via the cloud so all of your music is the same everywhere etc ... Essentially I love the idea behind apple products. Only problem is, I hate apple products. I am a huge Blackberry fan and love my playbook and 9930 and wish there was more to the bb ecosystem.

This got me thinking, what if blackberry scales up its playbook to a desktop size, adds a blu-ray drive, and all sorts of other goodies, a terabyte hd, tons of ram and all that? I know it'll really never happen because of the whole app problem (its hard enough to find applications for mac computers, much less a brand new os) but I feel like it would solve a lot of problems and create the same kind of environment apple has where you buy into a whole ecosystem. Anyone agree?

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[Chrisy]

Maybe someday. But I think they need to focus all their time and energy on BBX phones and OS7 phones. That's all they can handle right now.

[timberdc]

I have to say, I like the idea. Honestly, though, I think that RIM is already stretched beyond their means. A major undertaking like that, at this time, would probably prove to be disastrous. :-/

[anon(2325196)]

great idea, i thought of this as well, after watching the "enterprising minds" videos with the funny looking BES administrator on the big touch screen...

[gtamhankar]

I think they have their hands full right now and it will mean another OS to support.

My only hope is that he BBX devices come out on time and meet expectations!

[ADGrant]

This got me thinking, what if blackberry scales up its playbook to a desktop size, adds a blu-ray drive, and all sorts of other goodies, a terabyte hd, tons of ram and all that? I know it'll really never happen because of the whole app problem (its hard enough to find applications for mac computers, much less a brand new os) but I feel like it would solve a lot of problems and create the same kind of environment apple has where you buy into a whole ecosystem. Anyone agree?

RIM already wasted a ton of money producing a tablet that no one wants to buy. Why do you want them to waste even more on a desktop no one wants either. Do you want RIM to go bankrupt?

[_StephenBB81]

NO, and YES at the same time

RIM doesn't need to make consumer desktops and shouldn't the margins are low, and it is competitive.

What RIM SHOULD do is Make the PlayBook in 17" and 21" sizes. with a docking station for a Keyboard, and a bridge link with BlackBerry headsets, they need to have these integrate with the BES/MVS so that a user sits down at a PlayBook Terminal and Bridges their BlackBerry which also acts as their phone extension, and user authentication. With NFC and GPS on BlackBerry's they can be used as Access keys to areas of the building, they can be used for time cards, and the users Phone extension follows them from place to place in the office, no more wired PBX systems,

RIM would require a partnership with Microsoft, to allow for a FULL office suite on the PlayBook, though the challenge here is they would be fighting and needing microsoft at the same time as they would be killing Windows Installation base.

The Future is not going to be massive desktops or laptops, more and more homes and offices will have central servers for data storage, the tablet will just bring back the dumb terminal of the 90's

[T�nis]

I think RIM should make a BlackBerry branded laptop that runs Windows. It should be elegant but at least business-rugged, leaning toward rugged. It should be like a ThinkPad.

[VeGiTo]

RIM doesn't need to make a desktop computer.

What they need is to extend the functionality of the BlackBerry Desktop application to include BBM on desktop, and also open up access to all cloud services such as BBM Music and the upcoming movie store.

And then make that application available to both PC and Mac.

Rather than trying to enter the competitive and low margin desktop computer business, they should create a large footprint in existing desktop computers and make their software available on all desktop platforms, however, keep the mobile side of the services PROPRIETARY.

This would in turn lock users in to the BlackBerry mobile platform once they realized that, while they can access BBM on any PC, they must use BlackBerry if they want to have it on the go.

[houshinto#IM]

No, and I hope RIM does not touch that with a 10 foot pole.

Diversity is never a bad thing. But you always run the risk of operational objective fragmentation. There are too many examples of companies trying to do too much and end up tripping themselves over.

The old adage is true:
Jack or all trades - Master of none.

The society that we have today values expertise over generalists, like it or not.

[_StephenBB81]

No, and I hope RIM does not touch that with a 10 foot pole.

Diversity is never a bad thing. But you always run the risk of operational objective fragmentation. There are too many examples of companies trying to do too much and end up tripping themselves over.

The old adage is true:
Jack or all trades - Master of none.

The society that we have today values expertise over generalists, like it or not.

I agree on the Don't make a desktop in the traditional sense because of exactly as you said too much fragmentation

BUT a scaled PlayBook and well made docking station is not fragmenting, if anything it Helps RIM with its buying power of NAND and Displays which is something RIM does need to address since Samsung and Apple really are fighting it out the price advantage of being BIG and placing the BIG orders is going to be more and more important as these devices become more and more just a replacement commodity

[blackberry-unlocking710]

I'm strongly agree with deRusett about that RIM should make the Playbook 17"...
Desktop is a good idea but there is a good timing for anything.. they (RIM) should done it a few years ago...
Now i think that they need invest in doing good mobile devices and advertising them.. fixing their image and working on new things behind the scenes... good things.

[tacocaliente]

I think RIM should make a BlackBerry branded laptop that runs Windows. It should be elegant but at least business-rugged, leaning toward rugged. It should be like a ThinkPad.

This is a good idea. I've always thought one of the best features about a Blackberry is the hardware

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[kmcobra64]

I guess one of my biggest reasons for wanting this is that I hate that the playbook is not fully self-sufficient. I really don't want to have to hook it up to a computer to load music/movies and all that. I want my playbook to be the thing that I hook my bb up to in order to sync everything. Essentially I want my playbook to perform all of the tasks my computer performs. It is close, but certainly not there yet. This is why I want rim to go in this direction. I want them to stop thinking of the playbook as a computer companion, and develop the OS as a computer replacement. That way, a desktop version would be easy to pull off down the road.

The desktop would be great too because you don't have to worry about battery life. You could throw a huge processor and graphics card and all that in there and have a computing powerhouse and not worry about the battery dying in an hour.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[lnichols]

No they should not. See how many things the Playbook lacked out of the gate and how long it is taking to deliver on that product. I think as far as they should go is something like an Blackberry TV, which if u think about it could be a PC of sorts connected to TV as the monitor and BT keyboard or mouse. Most monitors support HDMI now so u could even use it as a PC of sorts that way.

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[Danf]

If Rim made a desktop computer,

it would be delayed time and time again before getting to market, lack native email capability and while Basille would claim it was leapfrogging the competition when it arrived it would probably have the specs of a low end E machine unit. and the OS would not be compaitible with any existing applications/ software.

so, NO Rim shouldn't build a desktop computer

[_StephenBB81]

I guess one of my biggest reasons for wanting this is that I hate that the playbook is not fully self-sufficient. I really don't want to have to hook it up to a computer to load music/movies and all that. I want my playbook to be the thing that I hook my bb up to in order to sync everything. Essentially I want my playbook to perform all of the tasks my computer performs. It is close, but certainly not there yet. This is why I want rim to go in this direction. I want them to stop thinking of the playbook as a computer companion, and develop the OS as a computer replacement. That way, a desktop version would be easy to pull off down the road.

The desktop would be great too because you don't have to worry about battery life. You could throw a huge processor and graphics card and all that in there and have a computing powerhouse and not worry about the battery dying in an hour.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

You should set up a Home server, then you can do everything wireless in the house, your PlayBook, and BlackBerry can sync to the server, heck you can connect your TV there, so music can be played using your TV, and surround sound, you can have redundancy with RAID and not have to worry about data loss.

RIM making a Desktop would not be your end all be all.

[guerllamo7]

No. RIMM makes communication devices and that is the way I like it.

I just want to invite you to consider the social consequences of completely integrated ecosystems.
Lets take Amazon for a minute.

Amazon, it could be argued, has an unfair competitive advantage because they are not required to collect sales taxes. That and the fact that they don't have expensive (though beautiful and pleasant) retail stores and you are looking at a significant cost advantage. Sounds good right?
I guess I would say yes, but Amazon's strategy (as I see it) is to undercut the competition to death. Borders is now gone and Barns and Noble is next. Amazon is about to sell the Kindle fire at a loss and at a price point that would push B&N to start bleeding on the successful Nook color.

What happens when you get all your stuff from one vendor or supplier because of a financial incentive such as a monthly audio book (audible.com an Amazon company) or a tablet or a complete ecosystem such as Apple?

The price discovery required of a free market driven by supply and demand is distorted and I'm not in favor of that. This is why I use Overdrive instead of Audible unless it is not available anywhere else. I found an audiobook "Crisis Economics" for half the price of Amazon or iTunes or B&N for that matter. 12 bucks is 12 bucks but to be honest I would be willing to pay 6% more to buy from someone other than Amazon.
I'm willing to price shop and look for deals so I can take my kids to story time at B&N. I don't see that happening at an Amazon warehouse.

Now, lets look at Apple. This organization has crippled some apps of competitors because they were not able to beat them on just competition. So now, you can't buy a book from the Kindle app on apple products, you can't buy and download Google Books or even Audible.com audiobooks from their apps either.
Apple has established a dominant position and, it could be argued, that it is using it in anti-competitive behavior that hurts the consumer, price discovery, and the user experience. This is only possible because they have gotten so strong that they can get away with this.
One thing I love about RIM is that they don't do any of this stuff. As far as I know I am not aware of this type of behavior from RIM. I like that.

Just a different perspective on free markets and why I would not like for RIM to develop a closed eco-system.
I think it is penny wise and pound foolish to sign up with one vendor only. What happens if they pull some apple like stuff but you've already spent a ton of money to wrap yourself up in their eco-system?

A friend of mine got an iPad and he was so excited he tracked it from China to his doorstep. He opened the box and found he had to plug it in to iTunes (no problem yet, he had iTunes on his mac). When he plugged it in, he learned that he needed to upgrade to a higher version of iTunes. O.K. but he could not do this unless he upgraded to a higher OS (now the money started pouring out). He went to the store and bought it. When he installed it the system told him he needed more RAM to run the new OS (more money), then he finally got it going and there he went. All he wanted was an iPad. Several hundred bucks later he got it. When I got my Playbook I just powered it up and it went. Easy, no extra purchases, just a beautiful tablet with no strings attached.

No thanks. RIM please stick to making phones and tablets.

[lnichols]

Now, lets look at Apple. This organization has crippled some apps of competitors because they were not able to beat them on just competition. So now, you can't buy a book from the Kindle app on apple products, you can't buy and download Google Books or even Audible.com audiobooks from their apps either.
Apple has established a dominant position and, it could be argued, that it is using it in anti-competitive behavior that hurts the consumer, price discovery, and the user experience. This is only possible because they have gotten so strong that they can get away with this.
One thing I love about RIM is that they don't do any of this stuff. As far as I know I am not aware of this type of behavior from RIM. I like that.

Apparently you have not seen the threads from developers on the Playbook where e-mail apps, alternative browsers, and IM have been outright blocked, stalled, whatever because they will eventually compete with applications that RIM will eventually incorporate into the Playbook. I'm not an iOS fan at all, but heck I'll give Apple credit for hiring one of the guys that developed the notifications for Jailbroken iPhones recently to work on notifications in iOS. I wish RIM would stop stalling/blocking apps for the Playbook that are trying to fill in legitimate holes in the existing platform.

[grahamf]

Apparently you have not seen the threads from developers on the Playbook where e-mail apps, alternative browsers, and IM have been outright blocked, stalled, whatever because they will eventually compete with applications that RIM will eventually incorporate into the Playbook.

Where is this? I haven't seen a thread like this recently.

[inicophone]

I think if RIM created a dock which could use a monitor, keyboard, and mouse with a playbook then this might be something that could make the playbook really good!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[lnichols]

Where is this? I haven't seen a thread like this recently.

There's a thread about two apps RIM doesn't want you to have that is very recent. The Shape IM+ thing was long running soap opera that I think RIM caved on because of the OS 2.0 fiasco, and we know of two e-mail clients that never saw the light of day. How many other apps have been stonewalled or shunned by RIM. IMHO any app that isn't malicious should be denied, and if that app competes with a built in one then let the market decide which one to use.

[Calotag]

Noooooo
RIM needs to concentrate on smartphones 1st, 2nd and then maybe PlayBook later. For now, they need to support their smartmphones and make improvements on their already great devices. No need to reinvent the wheel.

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[southlander]

Maybe someday. But I think they need to focus all their time and energy on BBX phones and OS7 phones. That's all they can handle right now.

Agreed. Right now I would even be happy if they just got the QNX phones ready/released and just told current PlayBook owners OS 2 delivery is put on hold until the phones are ready.

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[Darlaten]

Agreed. Right now I would even be happy if they just got the QNX phones ready/released and just told current PlayBook owners OS 2 delivery is put on hold until the phones are ready.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

With all due respect, obviously as a Playbook owner I have to completely disagree with you. I think they should put the QNX phones on hold and focus on the Playbook's OS 2.0 delivery. Playbook first. Phones second.

As for a RIM desktop computer - absolutely not! Good lord, that has disaster written all over it.

As for an official dock for the Playbook that someone had mentioned - that could be useful.

As for the official Playbook keyboard - bring it out already, I want to buy one now!