Blackberry Playbook - first impressions 02 - Missing Pieces
It didn't take long for the Apple fans to start in on my Playbook tablet notes. So perhaps some background info, and then let's address their comments.
Why Are We Doing This?
We provide consulting to clients who need to know about technology - hardware, software, best practices, online trends, etc. - and who have neither the time nor the interest in spending days or hours testing, researching, and generally digging through a million details to find the useful nuggets.
In order to be able to do that effectively, we need to get our hands dirty.
Are We Apples or PCs?
We're both, and more. Well call it being operating system agnostics. We just don't care if it has a PC or an Apple logo on the case. (In fact, one or our in jokes is to put PC stickers on Apple devices and the Apple logo on PCs. Just to yank the chains of the more rabid fanbois.)
What we do care about is whether or not it works as intended. And there are plenty of examples of Fail! in both camps.
(How agnostic are we? How about Linux virtual machines running inside a Windows server using VMWare? At last count, we had eight separate operating systems going here. Because we have clients who need to know.)
The Missing Pieces - Sort Of
Here's an email from a colleague following my first post to a forum about the Playbook review:
FYI: If you get a PlayBook and expect to use it for mail, calendars, contacts and so forth, you also need to have a BlackBerry handset.That's not entirely accurate.
I first read the email in question on the Playbook (though I responded from my desktop 'cause there's nothing better for typing than a real keyboard) and I don't have a Blackberry here today.
So webmail - while feature light - does work. And Google calendars work.
But the writer is correct that the 'native' Blackberry mail, calendar and contact apps are not currently available to run directly on the Playbook.
If you expect to use those native apps, then you will need a Blackberry handset.
One of the issues facing corporate IT managers is the potential for mobile devices to carve great big security holes in corporate networks. Blackberrys are very locked down, or they wouldn't be so popular with the suits. Using the Playbook as a way to 'see' into the handset without actually having the handset software running on the tablet should minimize those security concerns.
Another reason for the 'coming soon' label on the native apps is presumably due to the tablet using a new operating system - QNX - created by an Ottawa company that RIM bought. The plan, as I understand it, is to move all of the Blackberry devices to QNX as well as providing an Android emulator for the tablet. The latter move would open the device to about a zillion Android apps and possibly drive corporate IT managers 'round the bend.
A more pressing issue in my opinion is the lack of an RDP (remote desktop) application. I have one on my iPod Touch. It works, but the screen is so small, that it's not very practical. (I rarely have to synch anything but consumable entertainment - certainly not work files - between my mobile and desktop devices. RDP lets me log right into my desktop over cellular or wifi and use the remote device as a dumb terminal.)
I suspect most Playbook purchases will be by people already in the Blackberry camp. Those tend to be corporate users. Who are too busy to do the kind of exhaustive road testing that we do. As one person at one of our recent technology presentations put it: "I don't need to know all this stuff. I just want you to tell me what I should do."
-g
