You know, it's no one specific issue - not a BIG issue, anyways. It's the general experience over all of owning a blackberry playbook.
The way I see it is, years ago Apple started developing a tablet. So did many other companies, but the frontrunner is the Apple iPad and iPad 2. They did the R&D, put together a device, and now, they're EVERYWHERE. Everyone has one, and they pretty much have the market cornered.
RIM wakes up one morning, looks around and is all like... "holy **bleep**, we should have one too! We're missing out!"
So, they build a decent tablet, in fact a very GOOD tablet, and slap together the software to go ON the thing. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be there so when we announce it, we can show that it does all this cool stuff, has all the flashing lights, and YAY! It's a tablet.
The problem is, the software is only at 30% of what it SHOULD be. So many things about the software just outright SUCK. RIM built and released a device that looked good on paper, but was nowhere NEAR ready for market. And the biggest part that bites me about this is, the costs accociated with this thing are the same as the other guys charge for a proper, working, functional device! RIM, could you not justify discounting the price based on the fact that the thing isn't finished yet?
Instead, I have this device that I bought to use as a work tool, specifically to be a part of my workflow, and help me run my business better. And despite having spent $800 bucks on the thing, I still find myself using my first generation iPod touch, all beat to hell, dented scratched and banged up, because even with all that *IT* lacks (which is why I decided to buy a tablet in the first place, to make up for the shortcomings of the touch) I still find my old iPod more useful than this friggin thing!
The biggest thing, for me, is the lack of apps. With apps, I could - in theory - replace a bit of native software that the PB came with. IE: Streaming radio. I use a service called "TuneIn Radio". Natively, nothing on the PB works with the web player. Streaming radio doesn't work. Ok, so download an app that will handle that function. Oops, there isn't one. The only apps out there are stupid - STUPID games. I'm sorry, I didn't spend almost a thousand dollars to play Need for Speed, the Piano, Gone Fishin' or paper plane, dammit! I want a media handler that can display my images (without all of the PB's defoult Demo Wallpapers being mixed in with MY portfolio!) or display a movie file I shot with my Canon 5D MKII to lay without the audio and video coming unsynced every 4 minutes (which can only be fixed by closing the program and re-opening it) - I want to be able to open a browser and navigate to my website without the browser crashing and closing - I want the battery to last all day, not drain out in 2 hours because I didn't open the chat program, raise one foot off the ground while facing south with one eye closed..I want to be able to compose a messag on the PB with the same ease that I can compose a message on my HTC Desire - autocorrect for the win. Auto caps, punctuation, etc. I know how to spell, of course, but the suggest feature on a device makes life better, and is SO MUCH less time consuming. And why is there no Android Market on the PB yet? 80% of the reason I bought this thing was because the rep told me that I could download, install and run Android apps on this thing. And, ummm. NOPE. A blatant, BS promise.
There are so - SO many complaints with this thing, it's not even funny. Read these forums, browsethe topic list - it's complaint anfter complaint after frustrated user looking for a place to voice their displeasure. There are a LARGE number of people who put their faith in the PB and RIM, and right now, it's the users that are doing all the legwork to fix the thing, to get it to work right, and to find solutions. I have tried to be patient, but why do *I* need to spend hours on end on the phone, trying to get help from RIM? Why does this thing not just WORK as it was advertised? I feel like I was conned, I'm not happy. I would like to see RIM offer some customer service of some sort, and acknowledge my (and others) frustrations and tell me what they're doing - or PLANNING to do - to fix it.
I hate Apple, and I hate being told how to use the device I own, but you know what? I'm ready to switch. The iPad2 just WORKS. Apps, GPS, google maps, image rotation, battery life, everything. it just WORKS. At this point, I'm just ready to have it WORK. I hate that I blew $800 bucks, and I'm still using my **bleep** iPod.
