RIM Introduces the 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet

[Wayne]

You guys are continually missing the point here. The killer app for a tablet is document reader - everyone has a phone that they carry with them everywhere so a bigger tablet makes sense and being able to fit a 7" tablet in your pocket isn't really necessary and it really isn't practical anyhow. A 7" screen is too small to use as a document reader.

I now have two corporate iPads, one for my regular company and one for using for board materials for another company where I sit on the board. Corporates are not buying 7" tablets for their employees, they are buying iPads, despite security issues requiring additional apps and other glitches. Take a look around in Business class on a flight or in the Air Canda lounges at an airport like YYZ. You see a lot of iPads and almost no other tablets but you still see lots of BB phones and I think that is the best combination for most people in the business world, a BB phone plus a 10" iPad.

[TorontoColin]

Originally Posted by Wayne

The killer app for a tablet is document reader ... A 7" screen is too small to use as a document reader.

I completely disagree, on both counts. Even for the average corporate user, I think a web browser and email software will get more use than a document reader, and for the average consumer, a document reader is fairly low on the list. I've also used several 7" tablets (including a wifi Playbook) and had no trouble reading documents. Even if your vision isn't great, it shouldn't be a problem if you hold it horizontally and scroll.

We've talked about this before, but you are not the market Apple or RIM covets. "Board members" are a niche group, and while both companies would love to sell you something, neither will design their tablets specifically for your needs because you aren't nearly big enough to be worthwhile. Your needs don't accurately represent the needs of the larger market, and that's what Apple and RIM care about.

Originally Posted by Wayne

being able to fit a 7" tablet in your pocket isn't really necessary and it really isn't practical anyhow.

Couldn't disagree more. Though far from the only one, portability is always a factor. If it wasn't, everyone would be using macbooks and ultrabooks.

Originally Posted by Wayne

Corporates are not buying 7" tablets for their employees, they are buying iPads

But they're buying them because they're iPads, not because they're bigger than 7". If the only factor was screen size upon which to read documents, IT departments would be buying 10.1" Android tablets at $300 each instead of iPads. If the only factor was screen size upon which to read documents, someone would be making a killing right now selling low-power, 10 inch eInk tablets for $150-200 each. They're buying iPads instead because iOS is really good and it serves their needs well, and because their users want iPads.

You're arguing a point that has already been proven wrong. There is indisputably a market out there for 7" tablets. That has been proven now by sales of 7" tablets. The market may be smaller than that for larger tablets, but it definitely exists. That market may not include a few thousand high-level corporate executives, but neither does the market for the Toyota Camry, and they still seem to sell ok.

Many posts from this thread have been moved to the Future of RIM thread. Please use this thread to discuss the Playbook 4G only, and that thread to talk about the greater issues surrounding RIM.