∞ RIM declares 'Amateur Hour is Over'

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I saw a link on Twitter to a new ad campaign from RIM that states “Amateur Hour is Over.”

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]My first thought was that RIM had given up and taken the PlayBook off the market. Afterall, that is the only “amateur” tablet on the market. Turns out they are still selling it.

Then I thought maybe the co-CEOs quit and are turning the company over to someone who has vision and strategy. As it turns out, that is not true either.

Surely RIM couldn’t be talking about Apple.

RIM released a product conceived in a Holly Hobbie Oven, half-baked under a lightbulb and they have the nerve to say that Amateur Hour is Over? The only way that will happen is if RIM actually takes that piece of crap tablet off the market.

Interesting to note that while Apple is reporting record sales and profits, RIM on Thursday warned that it would not make its numbers in the next quarter.

Amateur hour indeed.



65 thoughts on “∞ RIM declares 'Amateur Hour is Over'”

  4. DAMN IT JIM!

    I saw the link on twitter and came over here to post a witty comment saying “Haha so RIM is withdrawing from the tablet space.” but you beat me to it.

    Bastard.

  9. You have to give them credit for believing in their product (if they don’t how can they expect me to). But, they should have taken that tack with a product that wasn’t sooo far behind it’s competitor. This just makes them look arrogant AND ignorant.

  10. This is a (weak attempt) to cater to there former core market of “professionals”. People who worked on wall street or at the fortune 500 who thought BB was the required pro tool.

    Unfortunately for RIM, this group is already well aware of iphone’s superiority, and isn’t likely to consider going back to the archaic crap that RIM is foisting. Too bad about that Playbook.

  11. Ok, take the Playbook and the iPad 2, put them on the desks of Fortune 100 company CEOs, and let them decide.

    I cannot for the life of me think that any one of them is going to pick the Playbook.

    Of course, I’m just a silly old software developer. WTF do I know?

  12. Amateur Hour is Over. The world’s first professional tablet.

    But the product is called … the Playbook?

    RIM’s engineering and marketing processes are seriously in need of a reboot.

  13. Arrogant statement by RIM, but I did break down and buy a Playbook. Biggest flaw I see so far, Bridge Browser is not working and perhaps is just getting a software update or the carriers want to figure out a way to charge for it or both?

    Overall, I have to say the device is very impressive though. Is it better than the iPad right now? Its not as polished and could use more options and some minor software updates, but its a matter of getting used to something a little different. It also depends on what sites you want to use, Flash enabled sites of course work without a hitch on the PB.

    PB currently cannot run Netflix or Hulu which is a big deal for many. But it can run Amazon Cloud HD, which could significantly increase your memory using cloud computing in many practical ways. I know right now Amazon is sticking it to Apple by blocking the Cloud HD on their portable devices, but it works perfectly so far on the PB.

    I personally prefer the portability of the 7” form factor to the 10” and I think this is easily the best 7” tablet out there right now. Reviews for the most part are nitpicking “flaws” that simply aren’t relevant…

  15. What and let competition work! Shame on you for comparing the Playbook to the ipad 2. They aren’t even in the same class. That’s not really fair.

  18. Yet you keep coming back. For C’thulu’s sake, just leave and let us have our fun with a company that has no idea what their customers want.

  20. Oh, we shouldn’t make fun of marketing messages now? Especially when the message highlights the fumbling execution of the Playbook? Come on now…

  21. Flash VIDEO works without a hitch. Interactive sites & games most certainly do not without recoding of the mouse/keyboard interactions to handle touch.

  23. Obviously that marketing message was based on a Post-It note from the bunk desks of the twin CEOs. Between the muddled message, the kitchen sink OS, lack of certain basic functionality and steady stream of updates pointing to an unfinished OS, well it’s clear RIM’s message is to themselves.

  24. OK, well you got me there, while your at it, why stop at those games? Why not buy a tablet and sit there and try to run Steam while your at it…

    BTW, I said “sites”, not “games”

  25. Thanks for posting your impressions.

    Just out of interest, have you tried browsing sites made entirely out of Flash, like movie tie-ins for the 2009 Star Trek movie?

  26. At the risk of asking a dangerous question…. How many of the folks above who are making all the sarcastic comments have actually TRIED both tablets?

    i ended up spending some time using a Playbook yesterday: flawed execution right now? yes.
    Potential? yes.
    The thing I noticed the most was going back to my iPad: the screen. I hate to say it,
    but I preferred the Playbook’s screen.

    (disclosure: where I work, we are working on apps for each device: so I have equal access
    to both… The iPad is still superior, but there IS potential in the Playbook. )

  27. “Is it better than the iPad right now? Its not as polished and could use more options and some minor software updates, but its a matter of getting used to something a little different. It also depends on what sites you want to use, Flash enabled sites of course work without a hitch on the PB.”

    So to sum up, no, it’s not better than the iPad. Thanks.

  28. “Amateur Hour is Over.”

    Does this mean Mike and Jim are “no longer with the company”?

  30. “The thing I noticed the most was going back to my iPad: the screen. I hate to say it,
    but I preferred the Playbook’s screen.”

    Why compare a obsolete first gen device (the iPad) to a second gen device (The Playbook)? The iPad 2 has a much better screen, principally because of the glass thinness. I have both the first and second gen iPad, and I assure you the screen is significantly improved.

  31. I actually purchased the PB. Have to say outside of a few minor issues (Bridge Browser not working, no Hulu/Netflix, and some minor features/customization that I think I software update would improve) its actually pretty good.

    The screen looks great, the sound is as good or better than any tablet I have played around with, the regular web browser works really well, and the QNX OS and UI are really impressive. Its a damn good tablet, better than any other 7” tab out there and while I still see the iPad2 as the current benchmark, this DOES have the potential to surpass it with some fine tuning in its current model, it has that kind of hardware and OS.

    The feature I am hoping gets fixed or resolved (with the carriers) the most is the Bridge Browser. I hope its free when things are worked out, but I have a bad feeling about that one…

  35. apologies: I WAS vague.
    iPad, iPad 2, ipod touch, Playbook, etc.
    so, yes, lots of screens… I liked the playbook’s screen the best, followed by iPad 2.

    but the original iPad screen is -hardly- “obsolete”!!!

    I think we’re all getting too gadget crazed if we think that something a year old is already obsolete.

  36. I would say no its not… yet. A few software updates, it very well could be though. But if you want a 7” tablet, its already the best one out there.

  40. Well, unless they’re carrying a Blackberry, they’ll then choose the iPad 2nd. They’ll go for something that they sorta know as an accessory to the BB but discover won’t work until summer so they’ll settle for something they may know and have seen but works NOW.

  42. It was a serious question. Will you be using it for work or recreation? What apps will your employer provide for it? Will they be QNX-native or not? What entertainment will you use it for?

    Is it useful now, or are you waiting for it to become useful at some later, unspecified date? What workarounds will you have to put up with to overcome its current limitations?

    You used the word “potential.” What does it do right now?

  43. I’ll tell you one thing it does right now, it uses the Amazon Cloud Hard Drive so it has all my media files readily accessible on it, thats right, even all of my itunes. So even though I bought the smaller 16gig version, I have 20gigs on the Amazon Cloud HD fully accessible, so its like a 36gig device right now!

    Another thing, I can bridge it to my Torch with the OTA work around Crackberry has to dl the Bridge app that AT&T blocked on launch day, all features working perfectly except the Bridge Browser, really slow and must be in the testing phase.

    The screen is killer, the sound is great, the QNX OS is such a vast improvement over anything I have seen in any BB device, its not without a few bugs, but damn if this doesn’t give iOS a run for its money right now! It runs Flash sites with ease and I view this as a way to compensate for lack of apps, why use an app when you can surf all the real formed pages? Apps are for smartphones, to fit a phone screen and streamline weaker devices, websites are for real computers.

    I can take it anywhere in its 7” form factor (which is one of the main reasons I have not gotten an iPad yet).

    But here is where I will be critical, it is a WiFi only device obviously it still does have limitations. I cannot share data for web browsing without paying for tethering as of now, currently I cannot turn my Torch into a WiFi hotpsot which is common on Android phones and jailbroken iPhones to get free data sharing. So I acknowledge there are still some key improvements I would like to see, this being the top priority. Also Hulu and Netflix are not available unless you pull some work arounds.

    Is it perfect right now, nope. But within a few months, it certainly could be..

  44. So it’s a media player, it can browse (in the presence of a wifi network), and — with a workaround — do several of the business-specific things it was hyped as capable of. Sounds a lot like a bigger iPod touch, except without the apps that make that device attractive to the general public. Making excuses for a lack of apps is something I expect to hear from gadget nerds. The general public won’t be interested in workarounds or “potential.”

    You seem to feel it’s worth what you paid for several months of limited functionality. I doubt most consumers will agree. It sounds a lot like the Xoom. Rushed to market before it was ready.

  45. Some of the things I mentioned cannot be done on the iPad as of now, so does that make the iPad incomplete and rushed to market too? No? OK, just checking…

  46. None of those things matter to the people who are seeing what the iPad can do. The original iPod was similarly mocked for not meeting the laundry-list requirements of gadget fans, and yet somehow it became the definition of a PMP for its time.

    You’re making excuses for a device that doesn’t deliver what its makers have been promising for months. What did Apple promise about the iPad that they haven’t delivered to people who don’t astroturf?

  47. OK, so your standards are dictated by what Apple does only? So the original iPad was perfect from day one and was never criticized for anything?

    I remember when it first came out it was being called by some an “iPod Touch with a bigger screen” or people were overly critical for no cameras, no Flash, no SD cards or any expandable memory, many sites not being accessible at first, etc. Has Apple fixed some of those issues with improvements to apps to the original iPad and slight hardware improvements with the iPad2? Yes, I would say for the most part they have.

    I mean it still lacks Flash, but the popularity of the format has many app sites instead or alternative mobile versions. It still doesn’t have expandable memory I can think of thats easily accessible and has potential to go more into Cloud computing, but isn’t there with the PB yet with that. It has all the most popular apps you will find on iPhones and Ipod Touches.

    My point, as good as the iPad and iPad2 have been, they are not as perfect as you make them out to be.

    Look, the iPad is a fine tablet and the current benchmark for current tablets, not denying that. But as of right now, my preference is for a 7” more portable tablet, the current benchmark for a tablet of that size, like it or not is already the Playbook.

    The Playbook with a few software updates and corporate deals could very well be every bit as good or even better than the iPads in just about every practical way. I know, thats a bold statement, but the hardware, OS, screen resolution, speakers, BB functionality all exist already. Its a matter of fine tuning.

    I am happy with my purchase and if the Bridge Browser starts working correctly, its really not even competitive for my uses at that point. Playbook then moves ahead of the Ipads…

  48. My standards for this issue are “dictated” by a high-quality device that achieved almost immediate overwhelming consumer popularity, despite potential shortcomings. That happens to be something Apple has managed to achieve repeatedly for over a decade now.

    I’ve never said the iPad was perfect (that’s you projecting your own defensive rhetoric and putting words in my mouth, again). I said it never mattered whether it was or wasn’t perfect, because the iPad was good enough to capture the interest of millions of people who don’t feel a need to pursue that geek checklist of features you keep reciting on every discussion at this site. That’s what you’re deliberately ignoring: few consumers care about the things you consider vital. The original iPod got similar criticism when it appeared, too.

    Glad you’re happy with something that “could very well be every bit as good or even better.” If that’s what you call a “bold statement,” you’re certainly grading the Playbook on a curve.

  49. You have an angry tone towards someone just for buying a 7” tablet that is not an Apple product? Enjoy your own iPad, I will enjoy my Playbook. Just saying its been unfairly criticized, its actually the best 7” tablet right now and dare I say it, a few software updates, it might just be the best tablet out there period.

    So I cannot bring up things the iPad cannot do and you dismiss them as a “geek checklist”? But if I criticize the iPad for running phone apps to run certain sites, I am being overly critical? I dunno, I think you are letting blind Apple fanboyism get the best of your overall judgement.

    I have said it before and I will say it again, right this minute, the iPad2 is the best overall tablet. So calm down. The Playbook though can only get better, which is fascinating to me, since it is already pretty damn good…

  50. You’re projecting again. My “tone” is one of weariness because you keep accusing me of things I haven’t done. The factors you keep citing as important to this issue are not ones the general public cares about. We’ve seen that demonstrated repeatedly in device sales since 1998.

  51. 1998? Why 1998? Is that about when Steve Jobs returned to Apple?

    OK, forget the factors you believe to be important for a second. The features “critics” of the Playbook were nitpicking a week ago, no native email on a WiFi only device, a small clicking power button, lack of apps, extra Blackberry feature functionality were a bit overboard, wouldn’t you agree?

    On top of that, didn’t the original iPad have far fewer apps at launch too? Didn’t read this kind of hate for it.

    I predict the Playbook will rank 2nd in tablet market share by the time 2011 is over. I would agree in it being far behind iPad sales, but still it is a quality tablet, I thnk it has a significant market there and can only get better.

  52. Actually, having read all of the comments, I also think you project an angry tone.

  54. To be fair, Mike and Jim have been leading RIM for a long time. In particular, Mike is the engineering brain who led the development of the BB. Regardless of the current situation, they are telecommunication pioneers.

  55. I submit that from now on whenever a company shoves out a half-baked product a year after the competition, slashing company profits, causing its stock to plummet, shall be referred to as a RIMjob.

  59. Clarification:

    RIM: Acronym for the company name (Research in Motion)
    RIMM: ticker symbol on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

  60. Give Rim a chance, even a half baked playbook is better than an ipad 1 or 2. At least it has a flash player. The first ipad was nowhere near perfect, and the ist iphone was far from perfect. ( no email) You have to use a case on the iphone 4, because they screwed up with the antenna! what a joke. And speaking of a joke, Steve jobs introduced the ipad 2, wearing the same $10 pair of jeans he wore when he introduced ipad 1. Vision and strategy?

  61. That was a great summary of false equivalence, disproved FUD, and non-sequitur.

    By “giv[ing] RIM a chance,” do you mean we all should buy a Playbook, or just stop criticizing RIM’s problems?

  63. I’m just a little tired of people slamming products that they havent used. The playbook is Rims first tablet, do you not think they deserve some time to fix the problems? I think it is a great device, and given a little time and patience, will be pretty hard to beat, even by Apple. And the people that bought the playbook and have or will be returning it, didnt you check out the reviews before buying it? I knew it had some issues, and its nothing that cannot be fixed with updates, if you cant wait then return it, and buy an ipad. The biggest beef seems to be the absence of native email. Email can be accessed through the browser, or through the bridge if you have a bb phone.

  64. How much time do you figure RIM will need to get it right? When do you think we can justifiably start making fun of them for releasing a product that wasn’t ready to deliver on all the enterprise and consumer promises they made for it?

  65. Maybe the same amount of time Apple needed to get their first tablet right. I owned the first ipad, wifi only. Eccept there was a problem with the wifi, losing the connection every five minutes. At first I thought it was my Router, so I changed it for a brand new one, with the same result. It turned out there was an issue with the wifi in the ipad. It took at least a month to get it right.

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