Why Playbook?
Summary:
- style (My preferences: matted finish, basic/elegant style, 7" screensize so that the device is portable)
- functionality (Full multitasking, but will it provide all functionality I expect?)
- UI (I discovered that the Playbook doesn't have a home button! Hey, that's cool!)
Style. iPads are beautifully designed. Blackberry's are designed with different tastes in mind. Blackberry's are designed by engineers (for an audience that has tastes that are more mechanically inclined), iPads are designed with the creative professionals in mind. I prefer an elegant device to "use" not to "admire". That is why paying the premium for the iPad/iPhone, etc. is counter to my nature.
Functionality. Ideally all these devices are the same. Yet they are not. So far, I've owned the Blackberry for 2 days and for 2 days I have encountered a number of issues with the device that are easily found in the user forums for the device. Here I'm disappointed. Of course I didn't do a full comparison and I knew that I was taking a chance but ... style trumped functionality. So below I'll highlight some of the experiences I have had with the Playbook so far.
UI. At first sight I didn't know how to get out of the photo app on the Playbook. After playing with it for a few moments I got the hang of it and found the menu/context switch black border of the Playbook to be quite useful and intuitive. Now, I'm of the mind that this design feature of the Playbook is a winner. No more home buttons. It makes so much sense. And it was Blackberry to initiate this design feature. Bravo!
Issues, complaints, positive design features:
Pre-purchase:
1. No home button only gestures, +
2. No email/calendar/contact list/task, -
3. Multitasking, +
4. Lack of apps, -
6. Excellent browser experience, +
7. Style of OS is bland and less attractive (than iOS, Android), -
Post-purchase:
1. Setup app. The simple "swipe here to continue" action wasn't intuitive. It didn't have the cues that you need to deduce what to do. Apple iPhone/iTouch/iPads are better that way, -
2. Initial power-on and setup lead to straight-away, downloading and installation of update software for the OS (v. 1.07.3373), which forced me to plug the power (didn't like this), -
3. Initial plug-into PC and the automatic installation of Desktop Manager (provided by the device) is an excellent idea, +
4. Initial installation of Desktop Manager stalled the first time (wouldn't complete), had to re-install, -
5. Cut-and-paste of video/audio/docs/pictures, etc. is easy and intuitive, far better than the forced syncing, i.e. Apple iTunes lock-in, +
6. I experienced problems after the re-installation of Desktop Manager. After the initial adding of files to the device the Desktop Manager stopped working, -
7. Wifi stopped connecting also (similar time as 6.) is it due to low power state?, -
8. Blackberry bridge software was easy to use and straight-forward, +
9. Bluetooth connection with other devices (beside a BB smartphone) incomplete at the moment, i.e. headsets don't work, etc., -
10. Screen is nice, haven't tested HDMI yet, +
11. No google apps, -
12. Switching to another app while listening to music continues to playback music, switching to another app while listening to a video does not continue playback, -
13. For 12. at least the video pauses, +
14. Video paused and video player exit does not remember your last position in the video the next time you load it, -
15. Playbook development offerings looks good; native, Android apps, Webkit (HTML5), MIDP (traditional BB smartphone apps), +
Use Cases:
1. Powerpoint presentations (requires micro-HDMI cable to HDMI, and an adapter from HDMI to VGA, I would like to see the quality of the picture)
2. As a media server, playback media to a large screen television
3. Book reader (will I enjoy reading from the device? so far so good)
4. Audio player (good enough? playlists, etc.)
5. Alarm clock (looking for the right clock, does it need to be plugged in to function correctly?, internet radio to wake up to? will it announce the weather?)
6. GPS device (so far I don't really like Bing Maps, too slow to load)
7. RSS reader (how convenient is it to receive feeds?)
8. eMail/Calendar, etc. (they need to make this native on the device)
9. Chinese input, learning tools, dictionaries, etc.
