Clever image there, I actually chuckled at work for that one.

The fact that the PlayBook is widely available shouldn't impact those who do want the product. That being said, I'd like to see how the system matures by the 3G\4G launch and see if they change their stance.

That's a blow. I live in the UK, and O2 not carrying a device will hurt. It's the biggest UK provider, and it always gets the best technology. If O2 doesn't carry something then it gives the impression it's inferior to products that it does carry.

I know that's not the case, as I imported a Playbook on release day, but that's the perception. Look at the Palm Pre 2.

yeah, the biggest problem is the negative publicity, and loss of a sales channel although this could be temporary....

I wonder what they mean by customer experience? I have a PB and my only concerns are apps that freeze in the background (multitasking) and Bridged email/browser that turn white and become unresponsive....

Looks like O2 couldn't find a way to charge for the Bridge Connection.....They went one step farther than AT&T did.

I believe this is smoke and mirrors. Basically they dont want people tethering with their existing O2 data plan. (ATT anyone?) It's easier to blame RIM and go with all the Kool-Aid drinkers instead of actually saying they want to charge you a separate fee.

@anastasiophan- great minds think alike, and apparently almost at the same time! ;)

I am surprised that some people here in the UK think O2 have that much influence. There are many other places to buy the Playbook in the UK and I don't think it does O2 many favours adopting this holier than thou approach.

Oh that's a shame was looking to change to O2 for my Bold Touch and PB 3G... booo.

Lovin my PB wifi! :D

CrackBerry could have done a little legwork to discover, as others have pointed out, that O2 doesn't stock the iPad 2 either.

"end to end customer experience"
What exactly does that mean?

"End to end user experience" could pretty much mean anything. I know a few of my PlayBooks had dead pixels, and it was annoying to go back and exchange. Best Buy is cool though and I finally got the perfect one. I could imagine that it would sort of be distruptive for a smaller store like the O2 (ie. Not essentially a warehouse sized store like BestBuy, Staples, OfficeMax) to deal with the hassles of frequent exchanges. Then again, I tend to believe that O2 just couldn't find a way to charge for the Bridge, and not carrying the PlayBook is just the UK version of at&t NOT enabling the bridge feature.

It may be that O2 wanted to charge extra for the tethering, but I don't think that's entirely it.

Most likely, it's what everyone who isn't wedded to the BlackBerry platform thinks: there's no built-in e-mail, calendars, contacts, or BBM. Try selling that in a store; sure, you can use Bridge to get those features in, but tell a customer that it all goes away if they don't buy a BlackBerry phone and subscribe to a data plan. Not a very good "end to end experience."

so thats 2 carriers that had apple exclusives on the iphone that have come down against RIM? coincedence or something else?

Can people just not go into the web browser & access their e-mail on the web, google, yahoo etc

02 wont want it because they wont make enough money off of it, once you buy it thats it. they'll probably be all over it once the 3G/4G version comes out. Really odd though as BB is pretty big on 02 so why they wouldnt push the bridge feature to existing BB users is an odd one.

Theres plenty other places to buy one so its 02's loss.

Of course its the tethering!!! Just as it is with AT&T and Verizon.

They'll all come on board when the 3G/4G version arrives.

I don't even use my device for email. Why would I? I've got a BlackBerry if I need to do email on the move.

The video, music, internet browsing and ebooks are why I have the device.

BGR said that the carrier thought the Playbook was an unfinished product and from all the reviews I have read I would have to agree.

A few months ago, before it was released, they mentioned that they still didn't have portrait mode working and I thought to myself that this should be pretty basic functionality and not to have it working this close to the release date suggested another half-assed Blackberry release.

The original Storm was marginal at best and the Storm 2 also was half baked when launched. I don't understand why RIM continues to release products well before they are ready. I hate that manufacturers think that they can release crappy products and just update them later.

errr, I think O2 is pretty lame for not selling the playbook... It just makes them look cheap.

does anyone know if they've prevented tethering i cant get my storm to tether with them even though i am on os 5 i have a data plan with o2 and i do have it paired with bluetooth is it my storm?

Yes!...I picked up my new Playbook yesterday and set it up fine no problem.

I managed to bridge / tether my O2 BB 9700 to the Playbook fine.....

Something told me to check my account balance today and imagine my horror when i discovered that I had run up an additional £56 in data charges in 24hrs.

I'm on on an original "UNLIMITED DATA" Blackberry O2 tariff and so it seems that I have been well and truly shafted!

I have called them, and the nice lady on the phone had never even heard of a Blackberry Playbook. I said that I couldnt afford to take the chance on additional data charges and that for the time being I would have to use wifi only. It seems to defeat the object......WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY!

I dont think this is going to help RIMS UK sales and I hope something get sorted...........