[sad_old_man]

Firstly may I make my apologies to all of you out there who own a PlayBook as I do.

For several months now I have never been more than ten feet away from my beloved PlayBook but at last I have seen the light. BlackBerry phone, BlackBerry PlayBook and very defensive of my little blackberry empire I would not be swayed by anyone.

However I have now 'seen the light. Sleepless nights waiting for would be, could be, delayed upgrades from original to 2.01 and now to 2.1 and being sadly dismayed with the final result I have decided to leave RIM to play with their toys and join the real world once again.

Having researched the net on several sites I find the main difference between a blackberry site and an android site is simple. The majority of users on android sites ask:

"Where can I find this app"
"which is the best accessory site"
Etc etc etc

On the blackberry site it is:
"when will we get?"
"why can't I?"
Etc etc etc

Having bought my eldest son a Samsung 10.1 tab and a Galaxy SII phone I have recently started to notice the ease with which it performs all that is asked of it. I then bought the same 10.1 tab for my youngest son who has a blackberry storm II and they work perfectly together.

The next was a Samsung SIII for my wife who struggles to understand the basic concepts of nuclear fusion but who can quite happily connect into our home wifi network and all of the array of computers, mobile phones and tablets located around the home, with however the exception of my PlayBook!

Therefore it is with great reluctance that I leave this forum, RIM and of course the sleepless nights waiting for 2.1 which if it is as bad as the Beta 2.1 that I downloaded and removed from my phone after two days, I won't miss much.

My phone is due for an upgrade as is my youngest sons and both of us will part company with our blackberry phones for Android phones. I will also replace my toy PlayBook with a working tablet.

Maybe one day in the distant future RIM may make a recovery and return the the company ethos that made them what they were several years ago but in the meantime I have a company to run and a life to lead without having to spend years waiting for upgrades to my pb that would, could, should, or might make it finally do what it actually should have done from the release date.

I thank you all for your help so far and wish you many happy sleepless nights and future upgrades.

[Fmar]

...I have a company to run and a life to lead without having to spend years waiting for upgrades to my pb that would, could, should, or might make it finally do what it actually should have done from the release date.

I feel the same way... I don't think you're alone in that boat. Good luck.

[saudadeii]

no sense sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.

[luancuvi]

You actually sound like a person who wants to "do" but due to BB currently "don't"

[CrackBerryCats]

I feel the same way... I don't think you're alone in that boat. Good luck.

Yes, that boat is getting crowded

[Hobbes2099]

I certainly understand your frustration and I understand why you take the path you've described.

I honestly believe there will be a change once BB10 finally arrives. I don't delude myself; this is not a divine second coming; it's a company that has struggled for over a year to release an OS that can fully compete with the rest of the market. Once BB10 is released, many users will come back to this new OS. It will then be up to personal preference between systems and not competing with an incomplete deck of cards.

Will the apps start pouring in? No. RIM will have to continue their grass-roots efforts and convince the ecosystem that developing is fast and painless and that there will be a large enough market to make a profit.

Will the system behave better than Android? I believe it will. Again, a personal preference.

QNX has baked for enough time to see what is good about Android, what is good about iOS and I think RIM will pay close attention to what Microsoft will be doing with their mobile platforms (Win8 RT, Win8 vanilla and WinPhone). Battery performance will be a blessing in disguise. Security will be shouted from all the mountain tops. App development (should be) sponsored to level the playing field quickly.

Android is not without fault. I recently got a Samsung Galaxy Note; it's a great piece of hardware with a polished OS (4.0.3 after a few ROM flashings). The device is great but suffers from terrible battery life. I'll get about 7 hours of juice at best.

I recently got a preview of the Galaxy SIII and I was amazed by the sheer CPU horsepower of the device. I hope the battery life can keep up with all the features Samsung shoe-horned into the phone.

RIM lovers should be prepared to see through the cracks of the first generation BB10 devices. Both tablets and phones will have great new features but it will not be perfect. Apple's first iPhone was not perfect. And they're zealots when it comes to design and functionality. Android was laughable, and Google has enough cash to buy RIM at least 10 times over. The first BB10 batch will be a great improvement, but we'll see a "fantastic" device by BB10.3 or so.

I have never used a touch-only Blackberry, so I know my preference for BB devices comes largely because of the keyboard shortcuts. There are many times a full touch-screen interface frustrates me and sends me running to my drawer where my trusted 9900 lies waiting.

Will BB10 full-touch interfase design its way to be AS practical as QWERTY devices with all the short cuts I love (and miss dearly)? I really hope so.

[kb5zht]

I'm sure the rim zombies will be pouncing on this quick but the sad fact is, I read the OP's comparison of blackberry sites vs android and it is accurate.

Alnost none of the ******** and moaning that u read on the blackberry sites would exist if rim had followed through with even a portion of its promises. The playbook was poised to kick a** and take names... Instead, owners are told to leave their name and sit on their a**.

Anyway, I'm one of the last hold outs that, regardless of the snowballing bad news, is hoping the recent management shake ups will finally turn things around.

No fully functioning bbm yet? I mean, really???

[Chaddface]

Firstly may I make my apologies to all of you out there who own a PlayBook as I do.

No need to apologize. Actually there was need to say goodbye either.

[hpjrt]

Well, Walrus - if you really had a company to run I suspect you would be very wary of Android.

I suspect, like the quote, the post was full of nonsense. (You did know that the poem was nonsense didn't you?)

[trsbbs]

RIM is talking the talk but so far they are not walking the walk.

Promises promises promises.

If they do not start getting things out of the gate Samsung is going to
put RIM where the sun don't shine.

I feel your pain...but does RIM? No....

Tim

[CairnsRock]

Thanks OP, good luck.

There's some around here can't handle the truth.

[Vorkosigan]

Interesting. I too have taken a quick peek at the Android sites and the Apple sites and I find many complaints.

My husband has an android phone and i just roll my eyes to hear him complain about how buggy it is. My sister and brother in law and their 2 boys also switched to Android. They will all be switching back to Blackberry as soon as their contracts are up.

I realize that's not a huge sample size, and maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, but my bb and my playbook work amazing apart and even more amazing together. I'm looking forward to BB10 but not in a rush.

So good luck. Maybe you will be lucky too and your android won't be as buggy as all the ones I've seen. As long as you're happy with what you've got.

[JasW]

I honestly believe there will be a change once BB10 finally arrives. I don't delude myself; this is not a divine second coming; it's a company that has struggled for over a year to release an OS that can fully compete with the rest of the market. Once BB10 is released, many users will come back to this new OS.

I wouldn't bet the farm on it. RIM's struggles are against perception, which is everything in this market, and its seemingly permanently crippled app ecosystem. No new OS is going to turn those things around. I have 9 months until my next phone upgrade. I suspect that, as is the case with the OP, it is those upgrade dates that will see users abandoning RIM, rather than the BB10 release date seeing users coming back.

[rotorwrench]

Firstly may I make my apologies to all of you out there who own a PlayBook as I do.

For several months now I have never been more than ten feet away from my beloved PlayBook but at last I have seen the light. BlackBerry phone, BlackBerry PlayBook and very defensive of my little blackberry empire I would not be swayed by anyone.

However I have now 'seen the light. Sleepless nights waiting for would be, could be, delayed upgrades from original to 2.01 and now to 2.1 and being sadly dismayed with the final result I have decided to leave RIM to play with their toys and join the real world once again.

Having researched the net on several sites I find the main difference between a blackberry site and an android site is simple. The majority of users on android sites ask:

"Where can I find this app"
"which is the best accessory site"
Etc etc etc

On the blackberry site it is:
"when will we get?"
"why can't I?"
Etc etc etc

Having bought my eldest son a Samsung 10.1 tab and a Galaxy SII phone I have recently started to notice the ease with which it performs all that is asked of it. I then bought the same 10.1 tab for my youngest son who has a blackberry storm II and they work perfectly together.

The next was a Samsung SIII for my wife who struggles to understand the basic concepts of nuclear fusion but who can quite happily connect into our home wifi network and all of the array of computers, mobile phones and tablets located around the home, with however the exception of my PlayBook!

Therefore it is with great reluctance that I leave this forum, RIM and of course the sleepless nights waiting for 2.1 which if it is as bad as the Beta 2.1 that I downloaded and removed from my phone after two days, I won't miss much.

My phone is due for an upgrade as is my youngest sons and both of us will part company with our blackberry phones for Android phones. I will also replace my toy PlayBook with a working tablet.

Maybe one day in the distant future RIM may make a recovery and return the the company ethos that made them what they were several years ago but in the meantime I have a company to run and a life to lead without having to spend years waiting for upgrades to my pb that would, could, should, or might make it finally do what it actually should have done from the release date.

I thank you all for your help so far and wish you many happy sleepless nights and future upgrades.

LOL' your eldest son's Tab was made on a different planet than mine was then. If you've been on the android forums as you say, then you know that pasture is not as green as it looks, as I had spent much time there when I had my 10.1. My experiences with android have not been pleasant, but apparently yours has, so have at it.

[jacknewp]

Who cares.......zzzzzzzz........

[yvrbs]

Interesting post as I came to BB by the same portal you are exiting. The epiphany came when I lost my Asus tablet that I paid $400 for. I was pricing new ones when I saw the PB for $199 ie $200 less for the same config. The more research I did, the more appealing it became because I seldom hang on to technology for more than 2 years and I thought well for $200 I can give this a shot and if it's not what I want, so what?
Since buying it, I've rebooted it once as unlike the Android apps, most seem to work. Is there a scarcity of apps? I guess so but I still have an android phone so I don't really miss any of those gee whiz apps that the PB seems to be lacking. For some reason I just like it a lot more and so have decided to buy the k/b, hdmi etc because it suits me. I guess what I really like is the size-it fits in my pocket.
Maybe the bloom will come off the rose but for now the PB/Android combo works for me. Who knows though, if BB 10 is what people say it might be then I'll become a full BB customer.
Anyway, for the OP, sometimes a change is what we need. On the other hand sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. Good luck

[Hobbes2099]

I wouldn't bet the farm on it. RIM's struggles are against perception, which is everything in this market, and its seemingly permanently crippled app ecosystem. No new OS is going to turn those things around. I have 9 months until my next phone upgrade. I suspect that, as is the case with the OP, it is those upgrade dates that will see users abandoning RIM, rather than the BB10 release date seeing users coming back.

I agree that it's a self-fulfilling prophecy; a bad hype or perception will not allow RIM much wiggle room. Not to beat this dead horse too much; but I believe there will be a perception change; it's just a matter of how much RIM will focus on getting the "super apps" lined up for the BB10 curtain call. It's 4 months, weirder things have happened.

[BlackStormRising]

My walrus just warned me I'm connected to an insecure hotspot. So now I'm tethered and bridged and only the dude leaning over my shoulder can see what I'm doing. Side benefit, tethering is loading the site faster than the dubious hotspot.
Hope to find you sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun sad_old_man.

[DocDRM]

as per the SNL skit:

"bye, b-bye, bye bye, bBYE" . . . ad infinitum . . . . .

seriously - the need of folks to come HERE to announce to the world that they have finally figured it out. As if it shows they are somehow more enlightened and informed than those of us who "DO".

My 9800 (yeah - not ancient but OLD/old OS BBphone) and my 64gb PlayBook are great seperate and as a pair as another poster said - and I use use them every day and all day in my profession, not for games/browsing.

I, for one, wish all the best to any tech user any where in the choices they make: good for me doesn't mean good for you necessarily, and SURELY bad for you doesn't mean bad for EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET. That's same smug, superior, I KNOW what YOU need attitude that grates on people.

To the next current / former / soon to be ex BB user - if you found a better plan for you, good on ya! Please just move on without the pitiful display.

p.s. - I've never once felt the need to spend time showing other OS sites how smart I am by telling them I used to use their product but have seen the light!

[Darlaten]

I'm sure the rim zombies will be pouncing on this quick but the sad fact is, I read the OP's comparison of blackberry sites vs android and it is accurate.

Alnost none of the ******** and moaning that u read on the blackberry sites would exist if rim had followed through with even a portion of its promises. The playbook was poised to kick a** and take names... Instead, owners are told to leave their name and sit on their a**.

I think the OP is quite accurate in terms of articulating the feelings of many - perhaps not those who post on Crackberry - but of many people in the average consumer market. The post did not say that the Playbook sucked as we've seen in the past; rather, the post indicated that he simply can not keep on waiting for things to be better; for the much promised and talked about features to finally show up; and for RIM to truly deliver on what they built as the only professional tablet on the market - a professional tablet that was launched with many software components, at best, lacking, and at worse, half-as*ed.

Again, no one is saying that the Playbook is a bad device; rather, RIM is the culprit here - they royally screw*d up the launch; the delivery; the execution; and the support of the device. It is only now, almost a year later, that some of the deficiencies are being addressed. That is and was simply too long of a wait. The result is what you see in the OP's post - frustration, irritation, or, worse, simply giving up and leaving RIM. And I would bet that those individuals who are in the "giving up" crowd wont be likely to return and give RIM another chance.

[maddie1128]

as per the SNL skit:

"bye, b-bye, bye bye, bBYE" . . . ad infinitum . . . . .

seriously - the need of folks to come HERE to announce to the world that they have finally figured it out. As if it shows they are somehow more enlightened and informed than those of us who "DO".

My 9800 (yeah - not ancient but OLD/old OS BBphone) and my 64gb PlayBook are great seperate and as a pair as another poster said - and I use use them every day and all day in my profession, not for games/browsing.

I, for one, wish all the best to any tech user any where in the choices they make: good for me doesn't mean good for you necessarily, and SURELY bad for you doesn't mean bad for EVERYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET. That's same smug, superior, I KNOW what YOU need attitude that grates on people.



To the next current / former / soon to be ex BB user - if you found a better plan for you, good on ya! Please just move on without the pitiful display.

p.s. - I've never once felt the need to spend time showing other OS sites how smart I am by telling them I used to use their product but have seen the light!

DocDRM- I wish I could give you a million "THANKS" for your post. That is exactly how I feel about the OP's post. I don't know what satisfaction people get with this kind of farewell. Kiss-kiss- bye .....now move on!!!

[jafobabe]

I don't listen to walruses..
#1. They are too hard to understand.
#2. They run in herds.

[h20work]

Who cares.......zzzzzzzz........

I care

I bought 3 pb's so does my opinion count?

[tjseaman]

Firstly may I make my apologies to all of you out there who own a PlayBook as I do.

For several months now I have never been more than ten feet away from my beloved PlayBook but at last I have seen the light. BlackBerry phone, BlackBerry PlayBook and very defensive of my little blackberry empire I would not be swayed by anyone.

However I have now 'seen the light. Sleepless nights waiting for would be, could be, delayed upgrades from original to 2.01 and now to 2.1 and being sadly dismayed with the final result I have decided to leave RIM to play with their toys and join the real world once again.

Having researched the net on several sites I find the main difference between a blackberry site and an android site is simple. The majority of users on android sites ask:

"Where can I find this app"
"which is the best accessory site"
Etc etc etc

On the blackberry site it is:
"when will we get?"
"why can't I?"
Etc etc etc

Having bought my eldest son a Samsung 10.1 tab and a Galaxy SII phone I have recently started to notice the ease with which it performs all that is asked of it. I then bought the same 10.1 tab for my youngest son who has a blackberry storm II and they work perfectly together.

The next was a Samsung SIII for my wife who struggles to understand the basic concepts of nuclear fusion but who can quite happily connect into our home wifi network and all of the array of computers, mobile phones and tablets located around the home, with however the exception of my PlayBook!

Therefore it is with great reluctance that I leave this forum, RIM and of course the sleepless nights waiting for 2.1 which if it is as bad as the Beta 2.1 that I downloaded and removed from my phone after two days, I won't miss much.

My phone is due for an upgrade as is my youngest sons and both of us will part company with our blackberry phones for Android phones. I will also replace my toy PlayBook with a working tablet.

Maybe one day in the distant future RIM may make a recovery and return the the company ethos that made them what they were several years ago but in the meantime I have a company to run and a life to lead without having to spend years waiting for upgrades to my pb that would, could, should, or might make it finally do what it actually should have done from the release date.

I thank you all for your help so far and wish you many happy sleepless nights and future upgrades.

Some of the points highlighted show why I don't care that you posted your goodbye. The playbook does everything I need so don't apologize on my behalf. Good luck joining the real world...really??? Leave by stating those who DO enjoy blackberry don't live in the real world is also a bit of a slam. Stating that the Playbook is a toy...well...actually yes, I personally think all tablets are toys. I don't really need one as my BB phone already does almost everything I need and my laptop does the rest...yes...some people still do a lot on laptops and PC's.

Perhaps it would have just been better to have said that you are leaving because it doesn't do what YOU need it to without the the back handed slap that those of use ARE happy with it aren't living in the real world. This seems to be the ongoing theme from SOME iPhone and Android users to Blackberry enthusiasts. I have nothing to lose should RIM and the Blackberry fail....but their products work for me, so there really is no reason for me to switch. Just leave on a good note by saying you've found a product that works better for you without cheap digs at those of us who find this product works.

[h20work]

Tj can you tell me the easiest way to attach multiple documents or photos to an email? Or why can't I find the "share" button in the menu system in the photo app? I'm certain I'm missing something

PB works for you obviously, but not all of us. Like it or not RIM employees read the forums. Maybe if they start listening to some of the complaints people wouldn't be switching