BlackBerry PlayBook: Epic Disappointment Continues
My ongoing attempt to purchase a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet continues to get more and more unsatisfying, and in fact I’m starting to feel like I’m the victim of some sad prank. (Hey, perhaps it’s true that Punk’d is returning and with Justin Bieber as host.)
Two weeks ago today RIM released the PlayBook. After many years as a BlackBerry phone owner and given my strong interest in the whole tablet space I’d placed a pre-order for the 64Gb model at BestBuy. Alas, RIM shipped only the entry level 16Gb model to Bay Area BestBuys and it became clear after several days of phone calls with my nearest store that I wasn’t going to get my 64Gb model any time soon. I clearly misunderstood the concept of preordering.
Today, given no further word from BestBuy, I thought I’d try alternative sources. Office Depot’s web site said they had models in stock, so I called the nearest store and was told they had inventory. Hurrah! I quickly motored over but learned that while their computer said they had one in stock that was apparently the (non-existent) display model and there were, alas, none to be had there or at any other Bay Area Office Depot stores. So, my open ended wait continues…
I’ve not been idle during these frustrating weeks, however. I’ve been watching various Internet sites for postings from others who’d decided on the 16Gb model and in doing so have learned something even more amazing than the fact that RIM apparently didn’t see fit to ship any top-of-the-line models to Silicon Valley.
The PlayBook doesn’t actually work on AT&T’s network. (As luck would have it I am an AT&T subscriber…)
At first I thought that couldn’t possibly be true but after checking and double checking I am forced to conclude that it’s quite the case.
Here’s why. By design, the PlayBook is missing several pieces of functionality including 3G wireless connectivity, email, calendar, instant messaging, and contact management. Instead these critical services come by tethering the PlayBook to a BlackBerry phone and using the phone’s built-in capabilities remotely from the tablet through separate “BlackBerry Bridge” software. This “codependency” has been widely discussed in articles such as Walt Mossberg’s review in The Wall Street Journal.
What’s less widely discussed is that the Bridge software doesn’t ship with the PlayBook but must be downloaded and installed on the phone separately via the BlackBerry App World on-line store. However, you CANNOT download the Bridge software if your phone is on the AT&T network. That’s because AT&T has not approved the software for distribution to any of its customers. This means that AT&T subscribers cannot successfully tether their PlayBook to their BlackBerry phone to access the 3G wireless network and associated services. Total bummer.
AT&T’s official explanation is that they just recently received the Bridge software and are still testing it “to ensure it delivers a quality experience for our customers.” Some have speculated that AT&T isn’t happy that the Bridge software gives BlackBerry PlayBook owners free tethering access to data services when AT&T charges all their other customers (including BlackBerry phone customers) $20 extra a month on top of their existing data plan for the ability to do tethering. Hopefully that’s quite wrong and AT&T is just being far, far more careful as they are the only carrier blocking PlayBook owners from accessing and installing the Bridge software.
Not surprisingly intrepid geeks have circumvented AT&T’s efforts and made the Bridge software available unofficially through other web sites. Apparently AT&T hasn’t done anything to disable the Bridge software on their network so once installed the software works as required. That could change, I suppose, if AT&T felt duly motivated.
Certainly I could use my BlackBerry phone and PlayBook on any other operator’s network. Or I could download and install the unofficial workaround. And I could probably compromise and find a 16Gb model instead of waiting for a 64Gb PlayBook that would hold my normal collection of media. Many folks have encouraged me to just go order an iPad and save myself much anguish especially since it’d be the same price as the PlayBook. I am, however, seriously interested in fully experiencing the PlayBook to appreciate its hardware design and new operating system as well as contemplate what RIM has in mind for the future. Alas that curiosity and technological respect is taking a serious pounding from the sheer difficulty of getting a PlayBook and using it.
For now I’ll hang in there and see what happens first — my 64Gb preorder arrives, AT&T releases the Bridge software, or I give up and go with Plan B…
