Research in Demotion: Critical PlayBook Reviews Weigh on RIM

April 14, 2011 at 2:35 pm PT

The early reviews of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook published today ahead of the tablet’s launch next week and, sadly for RIM, they were largely unflattering.

Consensus among reviewers seems to be that the PlayBook, though promising, feels unfinished. As Walt Mossberg explained in his review last night, “I got the strong impression RIM is scrambling to get the product to market, and that it will be adding other features already offered on competing devices for months, through software patches.”

And while praising it as a solid device with a promising operating system, Joshua Topolsky concluded: “I can’t think of a single reason to recommend this tablet over the iPad 2, or for that matter…the Xoom. And that’s what it really boils down to here; what is the compelling feature that will make buyers choose the PlayBook over something else? I don’t have that answer, but that’s not what’s troubling me–what troubles me is that I don’t think RIM has the answer either…and they should by now.”

That sentiment–that PlayBook is halfbaked in its current form–was echoed by a number of other reviewers, and it played hell with RIM’s stock. The company’s share price slipped nearly four percent Thursday afternoon and will likely slip further tomorrow if the analyst reports I’m seeing today are any indication. This one, from Sterne Agee, is a good example.

Frankly, we are not too surprised with the response as we have been hearing about the same concerns from both the technology and investment communities including the lack of native email where it is using tethering to a BlackBerry smart phone to deliver basic functionality like email, contacts, and calendar. The company is citing security as the reason but we suspect it may be due to technical issues (it is saying it is delivering these features in the summer). However, this lack of functionality and a 3G cellular connection will likely limit the ability to use the PlayBook as a standalone device and thus its appeal may be limited. The other weakness cited is its relatively weaker battery life of 5-6 hours under normal use vs. the company’s claim of 8-10 hours.

Tagged with: Blackberry, BlackBerry PlayBook, digital, hardware, innovation, John Paczkowski, PlayBook, Research In Motion, RIM, tablets

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Anonymous

To approach the equivalence of an iPad 1, I would need to buy not one, but TWO inferior devices from RIMM? Gimme a break! Oh, wait! My iPad 2 just got delivered!
Anonymous

Rim’s Retreat In Motion is in full force by putting up a half-baked defense in the face of overwhelming defeats in the hands of Apple, Android, and soon, Nokrosoft. So unwholesome, incomplete is Rim’s defense it makes everyone wonder out loud if Rim really meant this ‘new’, ‘life saving tablet’ to be a PLAYBOOK ! This Playbook genuinely resembles a kiddy PlayCar which cannot be legally driven on the streets and highways. I doubt very much that Rim would drag this deadbeat DOA Plaything back into its ‘garage’, fix her up filling in all those gaping holes, and release this Plaything again to plug up the badly battered Rim image which increasingly is looking more shadow than real substance.

I believe Rim is pulling the plug from North America, and BBC accessible nations. Rim knows that enough people are pulling the plug on Rim that Rim is going to uproot all its belongings from the ghost town Waterloo Ontario and set up shop in Indonesia selling PlayPhones to the mud huts and ancient rural villages.
Anonymous

Clever use of quotes in this article, I’m not RIM fanboy but cherry picking quotes to fit the slant of the article is journalistically unfair. Josh Topolsky cited the battery in his review as being “outstanding,” lasting 11 hours in his testing (at half brightness), yet the article above goes with the 5-6 hour by Sterne.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Nazmul-Chowdhury/100000646247764 Nazmul Chowdhury

When you review a product you can go with pros and cons about it. But some analysts just ready to say anything negative about RIMM products and focused to bring RIMM down no matter what they do. It’s not hard to understand whether you are reviewing the product or you have your own agenda. If you want to know the truth try Playbook by Yourself and you be the judge not the special interest group.
Anonymous

Dunb quote, “I can’t think of a single reason to recommend this tablet over the iPad 2, or for that matter…the Xoom”
What happen to Free enterprise. Its like do I buy a sony TV or a
panosonic!!! Rimm will be around long time. Their stock will make you rich!!
Anonymous

All the little details don’t matter. People tend to buy on big picture. The big picture is that this is half an iPad for the same price as an iPad. Half the screen, half the battery, half the functionality.
Anonymous

Waterloo is anything but a ghost town. Wonderful place. Great people.
Anonymous

Mossberg got 5-6 hours on PlayBook using the same test he used on iPad 2 to get 10 and iPad 1 to get 12.
Anonymous

Can you imagine the Class 5 crapstorm that would have arisen if Apple came out with the iPad with no built-in email client or calendar, and the only way to get them running on the machine was to tether it to an iPhone?

RIM should not be held to a lesser standard, but I read a lot of excuses from RIM apologists saying that features are “coming” or “planned,” all the while claiming reviewers are biased.

Practically every review mentioned how RIM issued multiple software updates during the review period to fix bugs. It’s blindingly obvious this thing was rushed to market. For bad reviews, RIM has nobody to blame but itself.
Anonymous

And Engadget got 7 hours. Topolosky was a major outlier.
Anonymous

Free enterprise means you are free to offer a half an iPad for the same price as an iPad. It doesn’t mean you will be free from reviews that say they can’t recommend your product when the market leader is giving you twice as much (at least) for your dollar.
Anonymous

That quote is excerpted from the Wrap Up portion of Topolsky’s review and I “cherry-picked” it because it’s a summary of his overall view of the device.
Anonymous

agreed, Waterloo is not exactly New York City which itself is not exactly a ghost town either.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Nazmul-Chowdhury/100000646247764 Nazmul Chowdhury

No App no Problem use full functional We browser same as your laptop, No Native email no problem use Gmail,Yahoo, Aol need something else use Webmail. Unlike other Tablets Playbook is same as Laptop with super portability. Who are you going to listen people with personal agenda, go figure.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_B5XDYAB5SNOORSPUHCHSZGMK4Y D

I believe the speaking will come from the mass, and the at that point the listening can not be ignored.
Anonymous

Wait, you think that other tablets can’t use web-based email? Of course they can.

The point is that RIM execs have long been proclaiming that the Playbook is “way ahead.” They still are saying it.

The decision to release this thing without a dedicated email and calendar client reflects major-league incompetence.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Nazmul-Chowdhury/100000646247764 Nazmul Chowdhury

@randomness9090, I Totally agree with you, Playbook should come with native email.Why I am writing? because the people who reviewing the Playbook writing in such a way, you can not do anything with Playbook, no email no internet ,only 5 hours battery time etc. I personally used Playbook It is not perfect but it’s good functionality out weighs the bad.
http://www.cyber-punk.cz.cc/ ShadowRunner

more proof that black berry is out of touch.
Anonymous

Another article biased negatively against the Playbook.

Once again, the relatively minor negatives of a RIM device are blown out of all proportion.

Hardly a reviewer mentioned the battery life on the first iPhones for example. No one mentioned the lack of multi-tasking. No SD card etc etc etc. Yet RIM has a few minor and temporary deficiencies and its a big thumbs down.

The device is fine. It has just as many dedicated apps as did the iPad on launch, and any deficit in non-dedicated apps will be resolved within a few months.

For enterprise the device is fantastic. Terrific engineering. Great presentation capabilities. On board word/excel/powerpoint type tools. And superb multi-tasking. Not to mention the fantastic integration with BlackBerry.

Small enough to be truly mobile. Powerful enough to impress at any level.

And hardly a security issue to speak of. Especially since there’s no email client. That’s a massive plus because we don’t have to spend resources on ensuring emails are secure, encrypted etc.

It’s a home run for enterprise.
Anonymous

Rim trolls like to twist facts. Lazaridis had pulled the plug on Playbook buyers who do not have Blackberrys but need emails, calendars and contacts. These include field sales reps who use iPhones and Android phones. Not that it is any show stopper because any email can be pushed through the company Lotus mail server or accessed through iMail on the email portal. Gmail users are ditching Blackberry in droves getting more uses and cloud advanced functionalities such as Chrome Print, and the upcoming Apple North Carolina Cloud Service center is unleashing unfathomably latest and greatest Cloud Services that make everything Rim made absolutely Jurassic.

Key thing we are learning from Rim’s Playbook strategy is Rim’s last ditch effort in trying to force people to keep using their Blackberrys for basic office things like mail, contacts and calendars. How childish and particularly Rimish – useless.
Anonymous

Actually John, where Josh states the battery life as outstanding, is in the Battery section of his review. Nowhere in his Wrap Up does he even mention the word battery. Which review were you reading?
Anonymous

Yeah totally because Josh is a RIM fanboy!
http://www.facebook.com/bobsentell Bob Sentell

Here’s the main issue, HP’s webOS emulator seems more polished than the PlayBook. And an emulator isn’t meant to be polished. Add that to the fact some people feel Honeycomb is still half-baked and this could come down to an Apple vs HP affair.
Anonymous

It has just as many dedicated apps as did the iPad on launch

wrong wrong wrong. The iPad had 1000 specially built dedicated apps at launch. RIM has 3 or is it 4?
http://peachin.blogspot.com peachin

Just another Storm 1 sting – message to RIM never get behind in the market – never come out with a flawed product – Storm 1 – hooking up with Verizon would be a mistake, as they screw everyone – both providers and customers… RIM RIP!
Anonymous

I have long ago drawn the conclusion that the Playbook is going to be judged and found wanting by the analysts. I am not sure why, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the performance of the product.From the concerted cherry picking (and nit-picking) it’s clear that they staked out a position and are now just looking for proof that they were right all along. The real judge is the public and the sales of this product after launch will tell the real story. Of course then watch for the inevitable comparisons to how many tablets Apple has sold in the first 3 months as ‘proof’ that th public finds this product inferior – with no mention of ipad being alone in the market for a solid year first.
Anonymous

I can’t think of a Class 5 crapstorm ensuing from anything Apple does at the moment. Analysts love them – both technical and investment – and have high expectations. It is not always deserved, but when a professional who is supposed to know these things stakes out a position, they have put their reputation on the line. There is a need to prove they know what they are talking about – hence the lies and half truths reported. For RIM, they slant to the negative. For Apple, they slant to the positive. These things change, but not before the analysts have an opportunity to stake out a new position for themselves.
Anonymous

I respectfully disagree. Every flaw or shortcoming in an Apple product gets far more attention than corresponding problems in competitors products. For example, the infamous antenna problems with the iPhone 4 definitely qualified as a Class 5 crapstorm. Yet, many other phones exhibit very similar problems, and there’s barely a ripple.

Flash capability is another case. Even though Adobe did not have a version of Flash working on any mobile platform, Apple was raked over the coals for not wanting it. And when Adobe finally got in running elsewhere almost a year later, it hardly appears anything like the claimed promises, but at least you can get Flash ads on the web, so there’s that.

As for slanting to the positive or negative, I also see things differently. Compare Mossberg’s reviews of the iPad 2 vs. the Motorola Xoom. He spends one-third of the review of the iPad discussing “drawbacks,” one if which is that it does not exceed the claimed 10 hours of battery life by as much as the iPad 1 did (even though it bested the Xoom by 2.5 hours). I’ve noticed a similar phenomenon with Pogue recently as well.

Generally, RIM execs are just whining. They act like the tech media should be fawning at their feet for some great accomplishment. They claimed to be “way ahead” as far back as December. What they delivered was a product that is not even up to par in many respects with the year-old iPad. The areas where it offers something better mostly don’t work yet. Promises, promises.
Anonymous

Consumers buy millions of laptops every month without an email client and they can live without one.

“way ahead”. Well, here’s another example of juvenile nitpicking. Apple says its products are “magical” or “revolutionary”. So…
Anonymous

Hey Johnny boy,

Did you hear Toys R Us will be selling the iPad?

So I guess your story “Next Stop: Toys “R” Us” mocking RIM and the Playbook turned into a boomerang flying back to hit smack in your arrogant face, didn’t it? Feel stupid now? LOL
Anonymous

It’s not half the screen, it’s 2/3 the size and far more convenient and portable. It’s not half the battery, I can dig up comments on inadequate ipad battery life too, they just don’t get reported as fact the way one review suggesting the PB battery life is short gets selected over multiple reviews suggesting it isn’t. It’s not half the functionality – it is faster and flash enabled making it more functional than the ipad. It’s not the same price – over one year, you will save more than the cost of the PB in by not needing the additional data plan that you need for the ipad.

Research in Demotion: Critical PlayBook Reviews Weigh on RIM

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