Available now at Chapters and Indigo bookstores is the most unlikely of devices, the Blackberry Playbook.
For the longest time Chapters and Kobo have had a great relationship and Indigo books even owns a controlling interest in the company. Over the course of the last year and a half, the only digital device to be purchased at Chapters/Indigo locations was the Kobo e-Reader. This all changed over the course of the last few days when Chapters locations all across Canada have quietly stocked the new tablet from Research in Motion.
Considering how many tablets are out on the market, and have been for the last two years, it is very interesting to see the Playbook as their first offering at all retail locations. I think this is mainly attributed to the fact that both Kobo and RIM are Canadian based companies, as is Chapters.
That being said, you can buy all 3 versions of the Playbook at most Chapters locations, but from various stores I visited today most of the staff remains untrained on the device, so do not expect comprehensive information on the tablet.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.