[ifonline]

I assume you have never used OmniFocus, otherwise you would understand just how weak your argument is. There are no apps on the BlackBerry that work just like OmniFocus. Similarly, there are no apps that work just like Things or MoneyWell. Angry Birds has a knock-off, sure, but it's not Angry Birds.

I get your point, but you are seriously generalizing if you think the functionality of OmniFocus, Things, or MoneyWell is available on the BlackBerry. It isn't. Hell, Outlook doesn't even come close to the functionality of OmniFocus or Things. But that's the only way you can try and maintain your argument: generalizing. OmniFocus or Things aren't just todo lists or organizers. MoneyWell isn't just a finance app. These apps have deep functionality that simply isn't available on the BlackBerry.

And I love how because you believe Angry Birds isn't a "must have" app, that we all should believe it isn't a "must have" app. Since when did you speak for me?

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by ifonline

I assume you have never used OmniFocus, otherwise you would understand just how weak your argument is. [...]

And I love how because you believe Angry Birds isn't a "must have" app, that we all should believe it isn't a "must have" app. Since when did you speak for me?

To say that my argument is weak, you'd first have to understand it. Let's take it from the top.

- Many argue that Apple's access to hundreds of thousands of apps is an advantage and I say say not so. Most of the vast majority of those apps are superfluous.

- Takes the excess out of the equation and that leaves us with apps that are of practical use. Well, when you do that, the BB is not lacking in any way what-so-ever when compared to the iPhone. Your beloved OmniFocus is one app that is quite practical indeed. But just because you love it so does mean that it does anything more efficiently than what I need my BB to do. If you disagree, please be specific and explain. If you know how to use it, the calendar on the BB works just fine (not to mention Google Calendar).

- In as much as you assume I've never used OmniFocus before, I assume you haven't tried every organizing app available on app world. Thus, your perceived superior performance of that app is just that - "perceived" and that actually renders your argument weak - not mine.

- You brought up Angry Birds and that's just a game. If I'm wrong and that is indeed a 'must have' app for you, then fine. But again the availability of it on iPhone and not the BB for you does not counter my argument. I won't even pretend to speak for you.

- There's no question that the iPhone and the iPad are exceptional products and BB loyalists who tout that they suck are just as wrong as Apple loyalist who do the same for their preference. But when making an argument against or for that preference, should be supported with substance. What's the argument going to be, numbers of apps available or the quality of apps? My argument is about the numbers.

[ifonline]

*sigh*

I agree with your point (as I suggested earlier with "I get your point") that the number of apps available on the iPhone doesn't mean that the platform is necessarily better. My disagreement, however, is with your idea that it is possible to do everything on the BlackBerry that can be done on the iPhone. It isn't, unless you speak in generalities. In other words, you are correct that tasks can be managed on the BlackBerry, just as tasks can be managed on the iPhone, when speaking in general terms. However, there is no app on the BlackBerry that offers what OmniFocus offers on the iPhone. Therefore, I suggest that you can't necessarily do everything on the BlackBerry that you can on the iPhone, otherwise I'd have access to an app that has the same features as OmniFocus (or, heaven help us, OmniFocus itself).

[MI_Jester]

OmniFocus won't run on my work PC, home desktop, laptop, netbook, my wife's Xoom, or my BlackBerry.

I take it you only use Apple products.

For finance, I use PageOnce and I use EverNote for my shared notes/task items. I sync my To-Do list with Notes. All of those things are cross platform compliant and will work very well for me. The cost to switch over to only using OmniFocus would have to include thousands of dollars of hardware changes and doesn't seem practical.

[jakenelly]

Originally Posted by jimn367

But let's not lose sight of the fact that the Playbook does indeed have a big hill to climb. The ipad has a huge lead with ipad2 knocking on the door. Google is absolutely flooding the market with Honeycomb devices in the coming months, and HP is rolling out a new competitor as well. The newfound partnership between MS and Nokia cannot be far behind.

If some articles are to be believed the Samsung Galaxy Tabs aren''t seling like hotcakes and Samsung is pulling an old school Palm "units shipped" as representative of sales...

You have to ask yourself why would I buy a Playbook instead of an ipad or Android Device? Why would I risk my consumer dollars on an unknown when there are two knowns? To me the answer is the bridge, but is that enough? I've seen some snazzy media capability, but where is the [oh boy I hate this term] "eco-system" around it?

Only time will tell, but right now I think it's fair to say the odds are against RIM.

what do you mean by the bridge

[hrbuckley]

The Bridge is an application that runs as a server on the BlackBerry and a client on the PlayBook. It allows the PlayBook to securly render content from the core business applications (email, calendar, contact list, intranet, etc) on the BlackBerry.

[Hauser]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

Sorry sir - but you did not answer the question. None of those apps can do anything that the Blackberry cannot do. All you did was mention specific apps that are not available on BB.

There's a computer science theorem called Turing Completeness that demonstrates mathematically how even simple programmable machines like 1990's calculators are fundamentally equivalent to the largest supercomputer, so in that sense you're right, there's nothing iDevices can do that Playbook can't do.

Unfortunately if Turing Completeness were the only factor in technology adoption, you'd be using a Linux desktop since Linux costs less than Windows and can do all the same things Windows does.

Are you starting to get it now?

[stevetaz]

Originally Posted by Hauser

There's a computer science theorem called Turing Completeness that demonstrates mathematically how even simple programmable machines like 1990's calculators are fundamentally equivalent to the largest supercomputer, so in that sense you're right, there's nothing iDevices can do that Playbook can't do.

Unfortunately if Turing Completeness were the only factor in technology adoption, you'd be using a Linux desktop since Linux costs less than Windows and can do all the same things Windows does.

Are you starting to get it now?

OMG...Can't you two just agree to disagree?

Let it go already....

[raynicolini]

I am happy with my Ipad2, Soon to add on the BlackBerry Playbook, BlackBerry Torch, Macbook Pro and soon to add the Sony Ericcson ARC and a WP7 product.

You just have to use the specific product for a particular job and then they are all great products.

I tested out the Motorola Xoom and to my surprise I am happier with the Xoom overall size then of the iPad 1 or 2

So even Apple has room for improvement.

Only place I wont switch is from my Macbook Pro to a Windows PC

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by Hauser

There's a computer science theorem called Turing Completeness that demonstrates mathematically how even simple programmable machines like 1990's calculators are fundamentally equivalent to the largest supercomputer, so in that sense you're right, there's nothing iDevices can do that Playbook can't do.

Unfortunately if Turing Completeness were the only factor in technology adoption, you'd be using a Linux desktop since Linux costs less than Windows and can do all the same things Windows does.

Are you starting to get it now?

Nope - You've made no counter to my point so there's nothing to get.
If you believe that 50,000, 100,000, or 200,000 necessary apps is an advantage, then fine. But make a case for it. Don't stick out your chest touting some unrelated theory and then patronize me by asking if I get it now.

At this point, I'm finished with it so no need for you to return the comment. I will not reply again as I've made my point several times.

Have a great an enjoyable week.

[Hauser]

Originally Posted by TonyTone

Nope - You've made no counter to my point so there's nothing to get.
If you believe that 50,000, 100,000, or 200,000 necessary apps is an advantage, then fine. But make a case for it. Don't stick out your chest touting some unrelated theory and then patronize me by asking if I get it now.

Ok, how about Skype? Video chat? Turn by turn nav? Pandora? Angry Birds? I could go on and on, these are the kinds of apps that huge numbers of people use on their tablets and are not available yet for Playbook.

This doesn't mean the Playbook can't handle them as you seem to think I'm suggesting, they're just simply not there right now. At this point Playbook is for BB/RIM enthusiasts or gadget collectors only, and RIM better bend over backwards luring developers to change that.

[hrbuckley]

Originally Posted by Hauser

... and RIM better bend over backwards luring developers to change that.

I've been seeing this in print, or have been hearing it said as long as I've been developing for the Blackberry platform (since late 2005). I probably even said it myself a few times in the early days. But you know, over that time I have made a very comfortable living developing for Blackberry. Each time a new smart phone (or now tablet) is introduced I see more demand for me to write software for Blackberries. In all that time I've never been asked to provide anything like Pandora, Skype or (heaven forbid) Angry Birds. Don't get me wrong; I'm happy my peer developers are able to make a living writing those apps. Just as I'm happy for the consumers who enjoy playing Angry Birds. As far as Video Chat and Turn-by-Turn navigation goes, if it isn't available on release I would expect apps to be available soon thereafter.

The one thing that I can say for sure is the more vocal and disparaging people are about the faults of the Blackberry platform, and the more imminent the demise of RIM becomes, the better I seem to do and the greater the demand for my services. None of the applications I've written are on AppWorld. Nor am I likely ever to have an application in AppWorld. I get applications from there, as do my customers. But that just isn't the monitization strategy that works for the segment I'm in.

Of all the applications for the the iPad that are on iTunes I only have six on my iPad. Only one is used more frequently than once a week. I don't claim to be an average iPad user, but I just don't find it a very useful business platform. Given the level of adoption by my customers, niether do they. I won't claim they represent the average business user, but I'd be surprised if they aren't very close to average.

I'm already writting applications for the PlayBook, and have more in the planning stages. I was able to test drive one last week I'm very eager to get my hands on the hardware Tuesday to see how much the developers have been able to do in that time. And then we have BlackBerry World comming up. Who knows what RIM might have to show us there.

[hondacrvaz]

The reviews coming in the last 24 hours aren't looking all that promising...

First BlackBerry PlayBook reviews summary - unless you're a RIM fan, stay away - Mobility feeds

http://www.businessinsider.com/black...reviews-2011-4

BlackBerry PlayBook Review - Watch CNET's Video Review

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/te...h/14pogue.html

[hrbuckley]

Well, I don't see those as unpromising, but that is just my opinion. If for you the negatives out weigh the positives then by all means wait (as some reviewers are advising) or buy something else. If, on the other hand you don't need 3G/4G connectivity (because a Blackberry is always glued to your hip, or you just don't need it at all (they still sell WiFi only iPads don't they?)) and you think the hardware, including the screen size, is good then it may be for you.

If you need stand alone email, contacts, etc out of the box, or if you want to mix and match (PlayBook and iPhone perhaps) then waiting for the apps you need, or buying a different product is good advice.

In the end, the only review or metric that maters to me is how many times the CTO calls down with requests for software for the PlayBook vs iPad vs Android. I know we got a handful of first gen iPads for evaluation when they were released. Only two of them were ever activated. There isn't a business case for using them. Lots of people wanted to take them home to try them out.

Is the software that people are seeing immature? Sure I would agree with that. Is that a major issue for me? No, but I can understand that it is for a lot of people. The real question is could I (or more imporantly my clients) be productive with one today? The answer is yes.

But I'm beginning to re-think my stragegy here. Maybe I should shut up so I don't have to stand in line on Tuesday.

[JSanders]

Originally Posted by Hauser

Ok, how about Skype? Video chat? Turn by turn nav? Pandora? Angry Birds? I could go on and on, these are the kinds of apps that huge numbers of people use on their tablets and are not available yet for Playbook.

Oh, let's see. How many iPad apps were available the week before or several weeks before the initial launch?
0?
500?
5,000?
30,000?

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by hrbuckley

[...]
Of all the applications for the the iPad that are on iTunes I only have six on my iPad. Only one is used more frequently than once a week. I don't claim to be an average iPad user, but I just don't find it a very useful business platform. Given the level of adoption by my customers, niether do they. I won't claim they represent the average business user, but I'd be surprised if they aren't very close to average.
[...]

EXACTLY

[hrbuckley]

Originally Posted by JSanders

Oh, let's see. How many iPad apps were available the week before or several weeks before the initial launch?
0?
500?
5,000?
30,000?

Also a good point. I am confused by reviewers who know they have a pre-release version of the device but complain about dailiy updates to the software that make it better as if that was a bad thing. As long as the hardware is well designed, the software can catch up if you have a good upgrade system. Which, reading between the lines, RIM seems to have come up with for the PlayBook. Kudos to RIM for having the confidence and openness to provide reviewers with early accesss and include them in the software upgrade system.

[Colonel Panic]

RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook May Never Recover | Lance Ulanoff | PCMag.com

Most intriguing quote:
"I'm still not certain there is a tablet market." He said.
"What do you mean? Of course there is. Look at the iPad"
"No, I mean, I'm not sure there is a tablet market, instead of just an iPad market"

[knottyrope]

USA today gave Playbook 3.5 out of 4 stars rating yesterday.

[ifonline]

...and this part is laughable:

Originally Posted by Idiot That Wrote the PC Mag Review

The tablet market is young and there is not only room for tremendous growth, but may other players. We did agree, though, that Apple is now two generations ahead of everyone else.

1. The tablet market is not young, although this moron with PC Mag may be, hence his comment. I suppose he's never heard of Motion Computing? They have been making Windows-based tablets for years. And Gateway? Gateway had touchscreen laptops years ago. Others did as well. Granted, they aren't mainstream (and some don't even exist any more), but they have been around far longer than the iPad. I realize that the iPad likely pushed tablets into consumers' hands, but to call the tablet market young is unintelligent. The tablet market didn't spring up with the release of the iPad.

2. Being two generations "ahead" of everyone else doesn't necessarily equate to being significantly better, especially when the move from the first iPad to the second one isn't a significantly huge step forward in technology. But, as seems to be so true these days, if Apple makes it, the media will fall all over themselves to write about it.

Apple has tremendous marketing strength, that's for sure, and they have rallied the media around them so that no matter what they do, it's guaranteed to receive an amazing reception, but really... as much as I love Apple products (although I stopped using everything Apple about a month ago), I can see beyond the Apple fog. I wish the media could as well.