After a week of playing around with BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 I have to admit that I really like it.
The OS is smooth, intuitive and easy the use and the implementation of multitasking is the best I’ve seen on a tablet. RIM has added basic applications like calendar, contacts, and email, and, although they should have been on the PlayBook when it was released, they are there now.
When comparing BlackBerry PlayBook OS to highly modified version of Android on my Kindle Fire, PlayBook OS 2.0 wins hands down.
When it comes, however, to the 7-inch table that you will find in my breast jacket pocket at almost all times, it will be the Kindle Fire… At least for now.
I really like BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, but…
RIM has an application problem… They are working on it, but, it is there, and, it is significant.
The fact that developers make more money in BlackBerry App World than they do in Android Market is cool, but, the most popular apps on Android and iOS, by and large, don’t exist for the PlayBook.
RIM is so far behind with application support that I think that they are going to have to pay popular app developers to bring their popular apps to the platform sooner rather than later.
We just wrote about Netflix having no plans to support BlackBerry or the PlayBook. If RIM, however, throws enough money and developer support Netflix’s way, I am sure they would make plans.
RIM can’t expect consumers to sacrifice…
The current state of affairs for RIM is such that consumers are no longer willing to sacrifice what they can’t have on BlackBerry devices for what they can easily get on Android and iOS.
Android and iOS are so dominate that they will be around for the long haul. Microsoft has virtually unlimited resources, is joining Windows Phone to Windows 8 at the hip, and will remain a player no matter what. RIM, on the other hand, is the odd man out.
History tends to repeat itself, and, just like proprietary operating systems on PCs fell victim to Windows and Mac OS back in the late 80s and early 90s, you are seeing a similar thinning of the herd when it comes to mobile operating systems today.
RIM doesn’t want the PlayBook to be “Just another undifferentiated Android tablet”
The BlackBerry PlayBook now supports Android Apps because RIM is trying to do everything they can to remove “lack of apps” as a major objection against the BlackBerry PlayBook. This support of Android, however, is limited and PlayBook owners are already asking for more.
I know that RIM doesn’t want to be just another “undifferentiated Android Tablet”, but, if they don’t get a handle on App support soon you might actually see BlackBerry devices running Android, or, possibly Windows Phone.
I really like BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, but, I like being able to run the hottest apps even more… Developers tend to develop for the biggest platforms with the biggest audiences. There are more than 75 million BlackBerry users out there, but, the number of them using a device with QNX based OS that can do all the things that RIM’s competition can do is a rounding error in comparison.
RIM is doing a lot, but, they’ve got to do more when it comes to removing the “lack of apps” objection when it comes to their platform. How good BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 is, or, how good BlackBerry 10 will be matters very little if consumers feel like they have to settle for not being able to run apps in order to enjoy the OS.
RIM must do everything they can to change the conversation from “I like BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, but…“, to “I like BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, and…“
Kindle Fire??? You obviously need an entertainment device. I see you jumping on board with the large profile smart phones.
I have an iPad, PlayBook, Kindle Fire, and, Xoom and I find myself using the Fire more than anything because it is small enough to fit in my breast pocket of my coat.
Sad to say this is the most accurate assessment of the state of Blackberry. Those who refuse to accept it are not being honest with themselves. I applaud you sir for being a realist. It’s old to keep hearing that Android and iPhone are “entertainment devices”. So what. If that is what the market wants their phone to be, then you best start serving up some “entertainment” or be content with being for a certain niche. Only issue is their niche is being overtaken by employees who want to get their work e-mail and calendar on their “entertainment device”
I think that it is human nature to rationalize why the stuff your phone doesn’t do isn’t really necessary.
True. We all have options. Nothing wrong with preferring a blackberry. But this thing about calling the other devices entertainment devices or toys is not needed even in rationalizing. It sounds as though they either never touched those devices or tried to be objective when they did.
I bet an BB10 that RIM is working on a Windows 8 App player…