RIM just purchased Jaycut, a Web-based video editing software package, to bolster the multimedia aspect of the Blackberry Playbook Software. This might be good for an extremely small demographic that might use this software, but this adds to the argument that RIM is losing sight of its core business values and is spread out to thin trying to compete against the iPad.
Apple has the most mobile video editing potential in the iPad 2, with software such as iMovie. Apple will also soon debut a mobile version of Final Cut Pro for the iPad HD. The purchase of Jaycut, which only has seven employees, allows RIM to offer their own version.
Jaycut will take advantage of the strong web browser that the Playbook employs, which allows the device to offer a rich internet experience. The hardware of the Playbook will even allow for video recording and live audio recording.
Research in Motion is in my opinion losing sight of its core values with secure email and enterprise level delivery to companies and people concerned with security. RIM has never been a “sexy” device, but instead it has been a practical device for a very specific demographic. In trying to compete against the iPad and other tablets, they are aiming at a broader customer base and not delivering the traditional RIM experience.
If the Blackberry Playbook was aimed at only the corporate and business professional crowd it would be a successful product. If it came out of the gates with a secure and working email program and enterprise/Microsoft exchange level support it would catch on. It is true the company offers the Blackberry Bridge application which rides your existing smartphone to access contacts, calender, email, and others. The problem with this is that the tablet loses functionality. Take email for example, on the phone you have TONS of options to delete prior, mark all as read, etc. With the Playbook it does not have this bulk feature to delete all of your email. You have to tediously go through email one by one. This makes people who use a RIM device exclusively for email waste too much time on simple tasks.
I love the essence of the Playbook, it is a super small and lightweight portable device. I can easily carry it around to meetings and it fits in my lifestyle more then an iPad does. The failure of the Playbook is RIM is that it is spread out too thin, trying to compete against other broad consumer devices. The company needs to re-evaluate its position and focus more on business customers rather then 15 year old kids with a penchant for chatting with people or sending texts.
Many people agree the Playbook is in serious trouble and many be discontinued. The company’s official position is that it is not in trouble, but the recent departure of one of the oldest project managers of the Playbook begs to differ.
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.
