BlackBerry PlayBook tablet announced

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gsaldivar

gsaldivar

Diamond Member
Apr 30, 2001
8,691
1
81
Deeko said:
rather than introduce it to the press where they'd bash it incessantly for being rough and unfinished, they did the demo they did.
Click to expand...

It wasn't even a "demo" though... that would imply at least that they showed a working prototype. See one of Apple's product announcements as an example.

"Press release with visual aid" might be more accurate...
 
Deeko

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
12
81
gsaldivar said:
It wasn't even a "demo" though... that would imply at least that they showed a working prototype. See one of Apple's product announcements as an example.

"Press release with visual aid" might be more accurate...
Click to expand...

Semantics aside, there is simply no evidence that there's no working prototypes anywhere.

I guess people won't believe it until someone drunkenly leaves it in a bar, eh? :D
 
DivideBYZero

DivideBYZero

Lifer
May 18, 2001
24,117
2
0
Heh, OK.

RIM have been working on a tablet type device for a very long time. As in before the iPad was announced. Originally it was going to be an Accessory, not in a main device line. Then it was promoted to an eReader, then to a tablet.

This has not been conjured up overnight, not even close. My wife has had this thing on many a roadmap, before it was moved out of the accessory line of business, long before she left RIM.

This thing is real. Deal with it.
 
M

MrX8503

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2005
4,529
0
0
DivideBYZero said:
RIM have been working on a tablet type device for a very long time. As in before the iPad was announced.
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While I don't doubt that, I don't think RIM has been working on it before Apple started working on iOS. Remember that the iPhone started out as a tablet. I think the only players that were prepared for an intuitive touch OS was Apple and Google, which resulted in their success today. Everyone else is just playing catch up and releasing their own products next year.

At any rate, I'm not sure what the issue is about. RIM showed a CGI demo, which doesn't bother me. If they release a tablet in a timely manner I don't mind that it was a paper launch.
 
gsaldivar

gsaldivar

Diamond Member
Apr 30, 2001
8,691
1
81
DivideBYZero said:
Now you're just trolling. Stating you're going to get called out about it in advance doesn't protect you from actually being called out.
Click to expand...

How am I trolling?

Because I choose not to sing along with RIM's loyal cheerleaders? Forgive me for not sharing your overly optimistic view of RIM's pipeline, but if you weren't so dismissive of others I think you might find that many people here also share the same skepticism.

Many here, including myself, would be more than happy to discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of the product... The only problem, is that there isn't one.

It's just a press release and some pretty CG... In light of that, I think it's perfectly fair to call RIM out, and speculate as to their motive for what is essentially a high-profile pipeline announcement. Given that their stock is taking a nosedive lately, I think it's perfectly reasonable to say that perhaps they are trying to prevent investors from losing further confidence in the company.

Is that a bad thing? No.

Is that trolling? No.

It's just being realistic and calling it what it is.
 
S

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
16
81
DivideBYZero said:
This thing is real.
Click to expand...
Well, yeah. I'm sure it's a real product that's really planned etc etc.

That doesn't mean the thing shown was "real" or that there's any "real" functional hardware to see elsewhere.
 
Deeko

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
12
81
Pliablemoose said:
I'm gonna guess it won't be released on time and will be buggy as hell
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I'm shocked by this. You mean you think negatively of a Blackberry product that competes with the iPad with absolutely no evidence? I'd never have guessed you'd have this opinion.
 
Spicedaddy

Spicedaddy

Platinum Member
Apr 18, 2002
2,305
77
91
Announcing a product 3-4 months before release doesn't happen very often in the tech sector, kinda dumb to let your competitors know what you'll be releasing. And I know RIM targets businesses, but missing the holiday period is horrible.

It's not like they're releasing a revolutionary product anyways. They're playing catch up to Apple, and it's like they're announcing they might be able to compete in another quarter.
 
M

MrX8503

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2005
4,529
0
0
Deeko said:
iPad, Windows Phone 7
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True, but Windows Phone 7 was announced uh...like a year ago?

Also there are like a thousand tablets announced that won't ever see the light of day. There's not a whole lot of follow through.
 
Pliablemoose

Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
25,195
0
56
Deeko said:
I'm shocked by this. You mean you think negatively of a Blackberry product that competes with the iPad with absolutely no evidence? I'd never have guessed you'd have this opinion.
Click to expand...

Here's the deal, while I'm an Apple investor, I'm a pragmatist, and like different products for many reasons.

Would I have bought a 10" tablet device running Android or something else that worked given the choice?

That would be a yes.

I'm not a fan of smoke & mirrors PR and marketing, which it seems the PlayBook is.

I have no doubt BB will sell a device that looks identical to what was displayed, but what was displayed wasn't a functioning unit, or they would have had a dozen for reporters to drool over.

Instead we got a device encased in Plexiglas that looks suspicously like some engineers hacked together an LCD and ran a video signal to it and a device that glowed the entire time from 2:29 to 15:01, and the screen never changed, never touching the screen that didn't change the entire time, it didn't dim, nothing moved, it didn't auto rotate either when it's position changed.

I gotta tell you, after owning a tablet, you can't keep your fingers off of it for a minute, you can't keep other people's fingers off of it... It was a dummy unit, and BB should have been taken to task for it.

Their announcement said they'd have it on the market by March, we shall see... The Storm and Torch were pretty underwhelming, this is a whole new product catagory for BB, they'll play hell getting a device like this to market, particularly with BB's current corporate culture.
 
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Deeko

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
12
81
MrX8503 said:
True, but Windows Phone 7 was announced uh...like a year ago?

Also there are like a thousand tablets announced that won't ever see the light of day. There's not a whole lot of follow through.
Click to expand...

To your first point - that's what I'm saying. Spicedaddy says its "dumb" to announce a product a few months early and that it doesn't happen often. I was providing high profile examples.

To your second point, I'd say RIM has a bit more credibility to follow through than some no-name company that claims to be selling A9 based Android tablets in Korea.
 
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